INSTRUCTOR: Dr. J. A. NIENOW
COURSE GOALS: The primary goal of the non-majors biology courses is to introduce you to the many fields of biology. This semester (Biology 1030) you will be exposed to cell and molecular biology and how these influence and contribute to our current understanding of how an organism (such as a human) works. Because this is an introductory course, we won't study any particular topics in great detail. However, you should have sufficient background at the end of the semester to pursue interesting topics on your own. It is also hoped that you will gain an understanding of how biologists and other scientists approach problems.
ATTENDANCE: Students are responsible for attending class and for the material presented in all classes. There will be no make-ups of missed labs, quizzes, and other assignments. EXAMS MISSED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION OF THE INSTRUCTOR MAY BE MADE UP, BUT THE FINAL SCORE WILL BE REDUCED BY 25%. Students who have missed 20% of regularly scheduled class meetings, especially labs, are subject to a failing grade for the course.
EXAMS: There will be four unit exams, each worth 150 points. The
exams will include a mixture of short answer and multiple choice questions.
The dates of these exams are included in the attached schedule of lectures.
REMEMBER, DO NOT MISS THESE EXAMS WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION. Estimated total
from exams--600 points.
ARTICLES: Each student is required to read and summarize articles of interest to biologists. The article may be from any source, newspapers, magazines, or scientific publications, but must be at least 1000 words long.The summary should be no more than 200 words long. Each summary should be accompanied by a copy of the first page of the article. Articles and summaries may be turned in at any time, but no more than three summaries may be turned in during any calendar week. Summaries are graded on content, grammar, and neatness. A good summary is worth 10 points. You are expected to do five articles, but may do an additional 3 for extra credit. (Expected total--50 points.)
OTHER ASSIGNMENTS: Your instructor will periodically assign some tasks to be completed during class or outside of class. These can be based on lab exercises or lecture material. Be prepared. Your grade will be determined by how well you complete the assignment. The estimated total from miscellaneous assignments is 200 points.
GRADING: Your grade will be based on the total number of points you
earn during the quarter. Your point total will be compared with the total
number of assigned points (including 10 articles). If you receive 90-100%
of the points you will receive an A, 80-90% you will receive a B, 70-80%
you will receive a C, 60-70% you will receive a D, and below 60 % you will
receive an F.
Note: There will be about 850 points assigned this semester.
Suppose you decide not to do any outside work, so you can concentrate on
the exams. Now suppose you earn 100% of the exam points. What would your
final grade be? An A, right? Well, not exactly. You would end up with 600
out of 850 points, a mere 71% of the total points, earning you a C for
the course. Since the probability of scoring 100% on all of the exams is
close to zero, your actual grade would probably be lower, much lower. DO
NOT NEGLECT THE OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENTS.
DROPPING A COURSE WITHOUT PENALTY: In order to officially drop a course without penalty, a student must obtain and fill out a drop/add form from the Registrar's Office, acquire appropriate signatures, and return the completed form to the Registrar's Office before the designated date (published in the academic calendar). If you don't officially withdraw, and instead just stop coming to class, you will receive an F for the course. It will then take three A's in science classes cancel out that F and bring your GPA back up to 3.0 so you can maintain your scholarship.
SPECIAL NOTE 1: Grades will be neither posted nor given out over the telephone.
SPECIAL NOTE 2: Students requiring special accommodations because of disability should discuss their needs with me as soon as possible. Those needing accommodations who are not registered with the Special Services Program should contact the Special Services Office, room 2164 Nevins Hall (phone: 245-2498).
| 6/14 | Intro to course; The methods of science | -- |
| 6/15 | Variations on a theme--the structure of organisms and the cell theory of life | Chapters 1, 34 |
| 6/16 | The structure of cells--cell boundaries | Chapter 4 |
| 6/17 | Eukaryotic cells | Chapter 4 |
| 6/18 | Bacteria and viruses | Chapter 20 |
| 6/21 | EXAM I | -- |
| 6/22 | Specialization--what makes cells different--metabolism and the role of proteins | Chapter 5 |
| 6/23 | Controlling protein activity--the basics | Chapter 10 |
| 6/24 | More on the basics | Chapter 11 |
| 6/25 | Signal transduction and cell-to-cell signalling | Chapters 36,42 |
| 6/28 | An example--neuronal control of movement | Chapter 41 |
| 6/29 | A second example--human development | Chapter 44 |
| 6/30 | EXAM II | -- |
| 7/01 | HOLIDAY | -- |
| 7/05 | HOLIDAY | -- |
| 7/06 | Keeping us alive--nutrition and the laws of thermodynamics | Chapters 2, 3, 5, 7 |
| 7/07 | More on nutritional requirements | Chapters 3, 6, 35 |
| 7/08 | Distributional pathways | Chapters 37, 38 |
| 7/12 | Hormones and homeostasis | Chapters 36, 39 |
| 7/13 | Defense systems | Chapter 40 |
| 7/14 | Failures in the system--death and disease | -- |
| 7/15 | EXAM III | -- |
| 7/19 | Continued survival and evolution of species--an intro to evolution | Chapter 15 |
| 7/20 | Asexual and sexual reproduction as sources of new individuals | Chapters 8, 10 |
| 7/21 | Asexual and sexual reproduction as sources of variants | Chapters 9, 10 |
| 7/22 | Variation in families and populations | Chapters 9, 12 |
| 7/26 | Population genetics and Darwinian evolution | Chapter 16 |
| 7/27 | By-passing Darwin--creating new variants as needed | Chapter 13 |
| 7/28 | Future trends? | -- |
| 7/29 | UNIT EXAM IV EXAM @ 3:00 PM | -- |
Continue
with the outline of Unit I
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Nienow's HomePage