For 2026: Please note that units are considered "under revision" until two weeks before the class date, and page content, web assignments, and exercises may change before that deadline.

Unit 12: Invertebrate Organisms

Preparation

• History Web Lecture:

  We continue our use of primary source material, this time looking at Aristotle's description of invertebrate animals. As before, this will require fairly careful reading, with the student looking for Aristotle's reasons for concluding how the various animals function. Rather than reading for information that can be memorized by rote, the student needs read analytically, looking at the arguments that Aristotle uses in order to support his conclusions. For example, what characteristics does Aristotle use to conclude that the motionless sponge is not a plant?

• Science Web Lecture:

  The considerations of classification carry over from the website reading; here they are discussed without reference to the particular species.

• Homework:

  Check the Homework assignments early. The Mastery Exercise is due as usual, but students are each assigned individual reports instead of short essays, and these should be posted to the Moodle Forum before class.

• Discussion:

  Our discussion will center on the characteristics of the different invertebrates as presented in the students' reports, on what characteristics are best for classification, and on the limitations of classification systems.

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