Biology Biological Concepts II. Dr. Ray S. Williams Office: RSN 217 Phone:

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1 Biology Biological Concepts II Dr. Ray S. Williams Office: RSN 217 Phone: willmsrs@appstate.edu Course Description: This second semester of the Biology core sequence focuses on three areas; (1) biodiversity and the processes by which it arises, (2) physiology of plants and animals, and (3) ecological concepts. While it might appear that these are unrelated topics, in fact they are woven together by the process of evolution. This will be emphasized in the class. What you learn in this course will hopefully give you a greater appreciation of the living world and prepare you as you move into upper level courses within the department. Text: Required: Freeman, Scott Biological Science, 3 nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ; Pearson Education. Lab Manual: Windelspecht, M and B. Harris Biology Dubuque, IA; Kendall-Hunt Publishing You are expected to own a copy of the textbook (ebook or print) and electronic laboratory manual. Lecture Attendance: In any biological science course there is a direct correlation between attendance and academic performance. Because material will be added to the lecture that is not available from course websites or the textbook, your attendance to class becomes even more important. Be aware that all lecture material is testable. Attendance in the course will be monitored randomly using a sign-in sheet. While attendance will not be directly factored into your course grade, I reserve the right to consider attendance in cases where students are at the margins of letter grades. The attendance sign-in sheets may be made available to University counselors and advisors without the permission of the student in accordance with University policy. Finally, your fellow students and I will greatly appreciate you being on time for lecture. Grading Policy: Your grade will be determined from your lecture and laboratory performance. The lab will count as 30% of your overall grade, while the lecture grade will count as 70%. Your lecture grade will be determined using four in-class exams, each worth 100 points, for a semester total of 400 points. Each exam grade will be recorded as a percentage (example 79/100*100= 79%). At the end of the semester all four exams will be averaged for a final average on exams. At this point the percentage of extra credit earned will be added. Since the lecture represents 70% of your grade, your average percent grade is multiplied by.7, and the percentage earned in laboratory added. A letter grade is assigned based on the final percentage grade. Online quizzes are used to generate extra-credit points. There will be a maximum of 20 extra-credit points available during this term, representing 5% of the total of 400 points. Your percent of these 20 points you earn will be determined by your final percent grade on the online quizzes. For example, a final quiz average of 90% would result in 18 extra credit points (20 X.9= 18). This number is converted to a percentage and added to your final average percent from exams. More information on the quiz format, when they are offered, and methods for taking the quizzes, will be announced in class and presented on the Moodle site. There are NO make-up quizzes. See a further description of grading in the Grade Determination document on the AsULearn site for BIO Incompletes in this class will only be awarded due to very exceptional circumstances. The student must be passing the course with a grade of at least 60% at the time an incomplete is awarded.

2 As a matter of Biology Department policy- If you receive a grade of 60% or lower in either the lab or lecture, you will receive a grade of F in the course. Grades: Your grade will be determined by: Exam I 100 points Exam Exam Exam Total 400 points Grading Scale: All grades are absolute. A % B % B 80-86% C % C 70-76% D % D 60-66% F 59% or below Important note: your laboratory grade is determined solely by your laboratory instructor. Please direct questions regarding your laboratory grade directly to them. Testing Policy: Exams are to be taken on schedule! If you are excused from an exam for a documented reason, you may make up an exam in a format, place, and time decided by me. Under no circumstances will you be allowed to make-up an exam if I am not notified as to your absence by the scheduled exam time. Acceptable excuses include documented illness, death in the family, travel for athletic events (with a written request) and a university sanctioned leave of absence. Decisions on whether or not to excuse you from an exam are made entirely by me. An unexcused exam results in a O% for that exam. No student is allowed more than two make up exams. All exams will be announced in class and on the ASULearn site in advance (see also the Lecture Schedule below). Failure to attend a lecture session does not excuse you from an exam. I reserve the right to alter the dates, material covered or format of any exam after notifying the students in advance. Be aware that as a student you are responsible for awareness of test dates and materials. The format for exams will be discussed in class and information posted to the AsULearn site. AsULearn Module: This course relies heavily on the AsULearn site found as BIO The material for lecture is arranged in Sections to organize the presentation of material. Resources found here are designed to supplement the lecture and enhance the student s ability to learn the material. These include the Power Point Shows used in lecture and supplementary learning materials. These resources are not designed as a replacement for regular lecture attendance! It is the student s responsibility to ensure they have access to this website (asulearn.appstate.edu). The instructor is not responsible for the operation of the network system, access to network resources, or the performance of personal computers. Class materials, including lecture Power Point Shows, will be posted in a timely manner. However, conditions may occur which prevent access to materials. It is

3 the student s responsibility to obtain class materials. Be aware that any attempt to access the AsULearn module using a false username, or another persons username, will be considered to be a violation of the ASU Academic Integrity Code. This includes any attempt to take online quizzes for another person. Finally, you are responsible for checking your University and the Moodle site for announcements. If you do not use the University system, configure your so that it is forwarded to the account that you do use. Academic Integrity: All students who are enrolled in the introductory biology program agree to abide by the ASU Academic Integrity Code, which states a. Students will not lie, cheat, or steal to gain academic advantage. b. Students will oppose every instance of academic dishonesty. By honoring this code a student commits to doing their own work- much more rewarding than depending on another! Please check the honor code website for a detailed description of expectations and penalties for violations- In this course any evidence of cheating, or collaboration in cheating, will result in a grade of zero for that portion of the course (e.g. exam or quiz) or depending on the severity of the incident result in a failing grade for the course. Classroom Policies: Cell phones and pagers must be either turned OFF or on SILENT (vibrate) prior to entering the classroom. No personal phone calls will be permitted during lecture. Due to the ASU emergency alert system, cell phones officially registered with this system may be kept where they can be answered (see policy above about the ringer being OFF) in the case of an emergency. Under no circumstances will the use of a phone for texting or any other purposes be tolerated in the class. If you need to put dates on your calendar, etc., this can be done once the class has ended. I reserve the right to confiscate for the duration of the class a cell phone or pager from a student not adhering to this policy. Devices needed for medical purposes or used by emergency response personnel are allowed so long as I am notified prior to class. Activated PDAs, pagers, laptop computers, CD players or other electronic devices are not allowed in an exam room. Pursuant to the ASU emergency alert policy, registered cell phones may be kept on silent during the exam so long as they are not on the desktop. Use of any of these devices during an exam will be considered an attempt to compromise the test. Recording devices are allowed with my prior approval but must not interfere with the class environment. Laptop computers used for following lectures or note taking are allowed so long as the volume is OFF. A student using a computer for purposes not associated with the class, such as surfing the web, playing games, etc. will be asked to turn the machine OFF at my discretion. Repeated violation of this request will result in the student not being allowed to bring a laptop to class. No food or drink is allowed in the classroom. Office of Disability Services: Appalachian State University is committed to making reasonable accommodations for individuals with documented qualifying disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of Those seeking accommodations based on a substantially limiting disability must contact and register with The Office of Disability Services (ODS) at or Once

4 registration is complete, individuals will meet with ODS staff to discuss eligibility and appropriate accommodations. Learning Outcomes for Biology : At the end of this course you should: (1) have a working knowledge of how species arise and are related using phylogeny concepts, (2) have a basic knowledge of the diversity of life and its major characteristics in the three domains, (3) understand basics of form and function especially from an evolutionary perspective, and (4) have achieved the basic ground work for more deeply exploring the ecology of earth. Lecture Schedule: The sequence of lecture topics is listed below, corresponding to the Sections on the AsULearn site. Note that the Sections do not directly correspond to chapters in your text. Follow the sections outlined for readings as a guide as to what chapter is being covered. While it is not necessary to bring your book to class each day, it is in your best interest to read the assigned material prior to coming to the days lecture. I think you will find your textbook a good read so don t make a stranger of it. On the Moodle site you will find the Power Point Show for the topic and sections that we will cover in your text. From time to time supplementary materials such as animations or review materials will be posted to the Moodle site under the appropriate topic. Please consult the site frequently. Some material covered in lecture may not be in your book. I hope to keep to this schedule as closely as possible but be aware that modifications may be made. In such cases the student will be informed promptly. A word to the wise- we will cover a large amount of material in this class. If you keep up with it on a regular basis it will definitely help at exam time. Please be aware that this schedule is subject to modification. Students will be informed promptly of changes. Class Overview, Introduction to Diversity Section 1- Review of Tree of Life, Evolutionary Processes and Speciation; Begin Section 2- Life s History Section 2 (cont.) Section 3- Bacteria and Archaea Section 3 (cont.), begin Section 4- Protist Section 4 (cont.) Begin Section 5- Plants EXAM 1- Sections 1-4 Section 5 (cont.) Section 6- Fugi Section 7- Introduction to Animals and Protostomes Section 7 (cont.) Section 8- Deuterostomes Section 8 (cont.) EXAM 2- Sections 5-8 Section 9-Viruses Section 10- Plant Physiology and Reproduction Section 11- Animal Form and Function Section 11 (cont.), Begin Section 12- Gas Exchange Section 12 (cont.) EXAM 3- Sections 9-12

5 Section 13- Animal Reproduction Section 14- Ecological Principles and Behavior Section 14 (cont.) Section 15- Community and Population Ecology Section 15 (cont.) Section 16- Ecosystems EXAM 4 (Final)- Sections 13-16