Instructors: Simon Beeching, Dean M. DeNicola, Jack Layne, Jr., Mark Shotwell, William Sigmund, Steven Strain, Jeff Taylor

Objectives: A laboratory and lecture course that emphasizes basic biological principles to prepare students for subsequent sequential courses required for biology majors. The nature of scientific inquiry and its role in the growth of biological thought is an important initial theme of the course. General topics to be covered during the semester include, the molecular and cellular basis of life, metabolism, genetics, origin of life, evolution, and ecology. In the laboartory students will acquire basic laboratory skills allowing further study in biology, and learn effective analytical and communicative skills scientists use when investigating biological problems. The laboratory will also cover searching literature databases, data analysis, and scientific writing style. Multiple sections of this course are offered during the fall semester.

Prerequisites: None

Credit Value: 4

Contact Time: Three 50 minute or two 75 minute lectures and one 3 hour laboratory per week.

Outcomes: Upon the successful completion of this course a student should be able to:

• incorporate basic chemical concepts into descriptions of cell functions
• name basic cell structures and explain their role in the cell
• compare and contrast plant and animal cell structures and functions
• explain the sequence of events in photosynthesis and respiration
• relate the exchange and transfer of energy in the cell to major cell functions
• describe the basic mechanics of muscle and nerve interaction
• describe the roles of DNA and RNA in protein synthesis
• explain the major features of gametogenesis and sporogenesis
• incorporate the concepts of meiosis and mitosis into an explanation of how species maintain a constant chromosome number
• state the basic hypotheses concerning the origin of life
• contrast the theories of evolution
• describe the commonly accepted phylogenetic theories and relate them to modern taxonomy

Assessment:

• Quizzes will be administered throughout the semester.
• Hourly exams: There will be three comprehensive hourly exams administered during the semester.
• Laboratory midterm
• Laboratory quizzes: There will be at least six quizzes adminstered during laboratory periods, with the highest five counted.
• Reports: At least one of the laboratory experiments will be written up in a formal report.
• Partial reports: The laboratory writing assignment will also include portions of the formal report.
• Final examination: The final examination consists of two parts, the first is equivalent to term test four, and the second is general information from throughout the semester.

• NOTE: Assessment format and weighting may vary among instructors.

Lecture Schedule:

• Introduction, scientific method
• Biological chemistry - atoms, bonding, salts, acids, bases, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, pH, buffers
• Organic molecules
• Internal cellular organization, ultrastructure
• The cellular boundary - membranes and walls - exchange mechanisms between the cell boundary and the environment - diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion
• Cellular anaerobic and aerobic respiration
• Binary fission, cell cycle, mitosis
• Meiosis and sexual reproduction
• Mendelian genetics, mono- and dihybrid crosses, test cross, incomplete and codominance, linked and sex-linked genes, multiple alleles, multiple genes, chromosome mapping, human pedigree
• Molecular basis of inheritance, transcription and translation of genes for protein synthesis
• Biotechnology, restriction enzymes, plastids and DNA fingerprinting
• Darwin and evolutionary thought, the Modern Synthesis, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and mechansims of evolution
• Maroevolution, origin of life, history of life on Earth, systematics
• Ecology; autecology, population growth and population interactions
• Ecology; community properties, types, and the flow of energy and cycling of matter in ecosystems
• Final examination

• NOTE: Lecture sequence may vary among instructors.

Laboratory Schedule:

• Introduction to writing a scientific paper, library literature assignment
• Field data collection and data analysis
• The microscope
• Solution preparation, pH, buffers
• Spectrophotometry, diffusion, and osmosis
• Active transport
• Midterm examination
• Mitosis and gentics
• Enzymes
• Photosynthesis and aerobic respiration
• Fermentation
• Principles of evolution, taxonomy, and systematics
• Ecological diversity
• Laboratory final

• NOTE: Laboratory sequence may vary among instructors.