BIOLOGY 121.003 - CONCEPTS OF BIOLOGY Dr. Stewart, Fall 2011 INTRODUCTION. Welcome to BIOLOGY 121. This course is designed to introduce you to the ever advancing and exciting world of the science of living things: cellular metabolism and division, genetics, cell structure and function, unicellular and plant organization and taxonomy, and reproduction. Course objectives include: to develop a basic understanding of the mechanisms of life; to gain an understanding of the major tissues and systems of plants; and to begin to understand how cells and organisms interrelate. My goal for you is that you will leave this course with not only a lifelong interest in these areas but also a desire to continue studying them for a much greater understanding later on. I am Dr. Bob Stewart. I have a B.S. in Microbiology and M.S. in Immunology from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from the University of California at Davis. I have seven years experience in clinical microbiology and immunology at three different medical centers and ten years experience in research at four institutions primarily dealing with the immune responses to viruses. I also have about 30 years teaching experience. ATTENDANCE. We will be meeting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in room S-137 from 11:00-11:50 am. You are expected to attend all lecture classes and labs. It is vital that you read the chapter text prior to class as this will permit you to pose questions more efficiently. If you miss a lecture class for unavoidable reasons, make sure you get the notes from another student as much will be covered in class that is not in the textbook. Please note that it takes about three hours of self study to make up a single hour of lecture missed, and this is in addition to normal prep or study time of two hours per class. More than three absences in LAB for any reason will result will result in automatic failure for both the lecture and lab (BIO 121/121L). Missing an exam will be permitted only by prior arrangement, by death, or by near death experience. Please contact me if there is a problem. Make-up exams, when permitted, will be of an ESSAY type format and will be given only during dead week (Dec 5-9). MATERIALS. LECTURE TEXT: Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology with MasterBiology, 3rd edition, by Simon et al; 2010 by Benjamin Cummings (ISBN-10: 0321602072 or ISBN-13: 9780321602077 (paper)). CLICKER: By the third week of class you will need to have your own clicker, a university approved ResponseCard XR, P/N RCXR-01, from Turning Technologies. See the discussion under Requirements, Review Questions below. OFFICE HOURS. Should you have questions or need additional help feel free to contact me at 936-468-2194 during the day, to come by my office the Miller Science Building, room S-239, leave a note at the Biology Department office (room S-101) or on my office door. You can also E-mail me at rstewart@sfasu.edu. I maintain an open door policy and encourage every student to talk to me freely about any issue that concerns them. My morning office hours on the main campus are MWF 9:00-11:00 and TR 10:30-12:00; alternately you can see me MF 2:00-4pm at my office at the Science Research Center out on the West Loop (US 259). Additionally, I am available by appointment at other times to be arranged. If I am not in my office I will have a note on my door telling you where I am (if in a nearby lab) or when I will return. If you need to contact me apart from my office hours and I do not answer my phone, leave a message on my voice mail. Please make sure you leave both your name and a local phone number where I can call you back (due to the expense, long distance calls can not be returned).
ACADEMIC HONESTY. All work submitted for grading must be exclusively your own. Any dishonesty or cheating may result in a final score of zero ( F ) for the course. SFA Policy A-9.1 is summarized as: Academic integrity is a responsibility of all university faculty and students. Faculty members promote academic integrity in multiple ways including instruction on the components of academic honesty, as well as abiding by university policy on penalties for cheating and plagiarism. Definition of Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes both cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes but is not limited to (1) using or attempting to use unauthorized materials to aid in achieving a better grade on a component of a class; (2) the falsification or invention of any information, including citations, on an assigned exercise; and/or (3) helping or attempting to help another in an act of cheating or plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own. Examples of plagiarism are (1) submitting an assignment as if it were one's own work when, in fact, it is at least partly the work of another; (2) submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise obtained from an Internet source or another source; and (3) incorporating the words or ideas of an author into one's paper without giving the author due credit. Please read the complete policy at http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/academic_integrity.asp STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. To obtain disability related accommodations, alternate formats and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), Human Services Building, and Room 325, 468-3004 / 468-1004 (TDD) as early as possible in the semester. Once verified, ODS will notify the course instructor and outline the accommodation and/or auxiliary aids to be provided. Failure to request services in a timely manner may delay your accommodations. For additional information, go to http://www.sfasu.edu/disabilityservices/. CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS. Standard classroom decorum is expected. Please do not carry on a separate conversation that might be distracting to other students. If you have a cell phone or pager, please make sure it is either turned off or set to silent operation. Behavior that interferes with the learning environment will not be tolerated. If necessary, students violating these standards will be removed from the classroom. Additionally, please arrive in class a bit early as we will be starting promptly on time. LECTURE OUTLINES. The notes presented in class each day on the graphics projector should be considered an outline only and not a substitute for actually taking notes. If I am talking, you should be writing. The classroom outlines are available to you in three ways: you can simply copy them in class (bad idea), you can bring a flash drive or writable CD to my office and I can download them for you (a bit better), or access the files on line through MySFA Blackboard (best choice) WITHHELD GRADES, SEMESTER GRADES POLICY (SFA POLICY A-54). Ordinarily, at the discretion of the instructor of record and with the approval of the academic chair/director, a grade of WH will be assigned only if the student cannot complete the course work because of unavoidable circumstances. Students must complete the work within one calendar year from the end of the semester in which they receive a WH, or the grade automatically becomes an F. If students register for the same course in future terms the WH will automatically become an F and will be counted as a repeated course for the purpose of computing the grade point average. The circumstances precipitating the request must have occurred after the last day in which a student could withdraw from a course. Students requesting a WH must be passing the course with a minimum projected grade of C.
REQUIREMENTS. EXAMS: There will be four lecture exams and a final exam. These exams will be primarily of an objective nature (multiple guess and matching). Most (about 90%) of these exam questions will come from material covered in class with the remainder from reading requirements in the text. About 75% of the lecture material will originate from the text and about 25% from other sources (therefore: don't miss class or you will miss about 1/4 of the material that will be covered on an exam). Each Lecture Exam will be worth 100 points and the Final Exam will be worth 200 points. Additionally, because the Final Exam is partly comprehensive, I will automatically substitute your score on the Final for any one lower exam score. Together these exams will be worth 600 points, or 57% of your total grade. REVIEW QUESTIONS: To help me assess your progress in this course I will start giving three to five multiple choice question review quizzes at the start of each class period starting the third week. These quizzes will start promptly at 11:00 am and will cover the previous day s material only. To answer these questions you will need your own University approved ResponseCard XR (Clicker), P/N RCXR- 01, from Turning Technologies. Additionally, at the end of each chapter or unit I may add an additional review quiz covering the entire chapter or unit. Your responses to each question will be recorded and the accumulated score at the end of the semester will count 100 points, or 10% of your total grade. LABORATORY: The laboratory segment is handled completely separately from the lecture portion. You will be given the grading requirements when you meet with your lab instructor. One third of the overall grade for this course will come from the lab. Lab attendance is mandatory and more than three absences for any reason will result in automatic failure for the whole course. CLASS EVALUATION. At the end of the semester you will need to complete an on-line evaluation of the course and professor (me). We will cover the mechanism in class at the appropriate time. Not completing this evaluation will result in a 1% reduction of your total grade. GRADING CRITERIA. Lecture Exams 4 @ 100 pts = 400 pts (38%) Final Lecture Exam 1 @ 200 pts = 200 pts (19%) Review Questions minimum of 100 pts = 100 pts (10%) Laboratory 1 @ 33% = -- (33%) TOTAL = 100% Your final grade will be calculated as follows: 100-90% = A 89-80% = B 79-70% = C 69-60% = D Below 60% = F
COURSE SYLLABUS, BIOLOGY 121.003 (MWF 11:00-11:50 am) Fall 2011, S-137 Date Text Topic, Notes M, 29 Aug Introduction, Administrative - W, 31 Aug Chapter 1 Introduction to Biology F, 2 Sep Chapter 2 Cell Chemistry M, 5 Sep Labor Day Holiday - NO CLASS W, 7 Sep Chapters 2, 3 Cell Chemistry F, 9 Sep Chapter 3 Cell Chemistry M, 12 Sep Chapter 4 QUIZ; Cell Structure W, 14 Sep Chapter 4 QUIZ; Cell Structure F, 16 Sep Chapter 4 QUIZ; Cell Structure M, 19 Sep EXAM 1 (Chapters 1-4) W, 21 Sep Chapter 5 ----- Enzymes F, 23 Sep Chapter 5 QUIZ; Enzymes M, 26 Sep Chapter 6 QUIZ; Catabolism W, 28 Sep Chapter 6 QUIZ; Catabolism F, 30 Sep Chapter 7 QUIZ; Photosynthesis M, 3 Oct Chapter 7 QUIZ; Photosynthesis W, 5 Oct Chapter 7 QUIZ; Photosynthesis F, 7 Oct EXAM 2 (Chapters 5-7) M, 10 Oct Chapter 8 ----- Mitosis W, 12 Oct Chapter 8 QUIZ; Meiosis F 14, Oct Chapter 9 QUIZ; Inheritance M, 17 Oct Chapter 9 QUIZ; Inheritance W, 19 Oct Chapter 10 QUIZ; Replication F, 21 Oct Chapters 10, 11 QUIZ; Transcription M, 24 Oct Chapter 11 QUIZ; Translation, Regulation W, 26 Oct EXAM 3 (Chapters 8-11) F, 28 Oct Chapter 12 ----- DNA Technology M, 31 Oct Chapter 12 QUIZ; DNA Technology W, 2 Nov Chapter 15 QUIZ; Viruses, Bacteria and Protistans F, 4 Nov Chapter 15 QUIZ; Viruses, Bacteria and Protistans M, 7 Nov Chapter 15 QUIZ; Viruses, Bacteria and Protistans W, 9 Nov Chapter 16 QUIZ; Fungi and Plants F, 11 Nov Chapter 16 QUIZ; Fungi and Plants M, 14 Nov Chapter 16 QUIZ; Fungi and Plants W, 16 Nov EXAM 4 (Chapters 12, 15, 16) F, 18 Nov Chapter 18 QUIZ; Ecology M, 21 Nov Chapters 18, 19 QUIZ; Ecology; Population Ecology W, 23 Nov Thanksgiving Holiday NO CLASS F, 25 Nov Thanksgiving Holiday NO CLASS M, 28 Nov Chapter 19 ----- Population Ecology W, 30 Nov Chapter 20 QUIZ; Communities and Ecosystems F, 2 Dec Chapter 20 QUIZ; Communities and Ecosystems M, 5 Dec Chapter 13 QUIZ; Evolution W, 7 Dec Chapters 13, 14 QUIZ; Evolution; Diversity F, 9 Dec Chapter 14 QUIZ; Diversity M, 12 Dec Final Exam, 11am-1pm 50% new material, 50% comprehensive