Dr. Malinda Fitzgerald

Professor of Biology

Class: Biology 111 Lecture and Discussion

Office 203 E

321-3262

malinda@cbu.edu

Office Hours 10:00-12:00 MWF

9:30-12:00 Tuesday

2:00-4:00 Tuesday

Other times available by appointment

Thursday is my research day office campus

What is Biology 111?

This class is the first half of a comprehensive study of contemporary biology, this semester covers biochemistry, cytology, photosynthesis, energy metabolism, cell division, development, genetics, evolution, systematics and taxonomy of viruses, bacteria and protists, and plant diversity.

Purpose of class:

To provide a basic understanding of the concepts of modern biology, emphasizing the flow of energy in living systems, transmission of information, correlation between structure and function at all levels of biological organization, evolution and diversity of life.

• Lecture: 3 credits.
• Discussion: 1 meeting per week.
• Prerequisites: none
• Corequisites: BIOL 111L laboratory
• Course designed for biology majors and it is a prerequisite to all other biology courses.

Text: Biology, 7th. Ed., 2005, by N. A. Campbell and J. B. Reece. Benjamin Cummings.

Prerequisites by topics:

• The student should have developed the necessary skill in reading and writing.
• Basic knowledge of biology (high school biology).
• Basic knowledge of chemistry (high school chemistry).

I reserve the right to change the syllabus requirements. I will notify you of any changes made to the syllabus.

Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all classes. Attendance will be taken. Any student who has missed a total of 8 lectures may be withdrawn from the course, or given a mark of "F" at my discretion. Please, refer to the CBU Catalog. Missing exams is a SERIOUS matter. Make up exams are not given unless prior approval has been obtained from the instructor. Make-up exams cannot be made up. Students should expect the questions and the style of the make-up exam to be different. There is no make up for quizzes. There is no make up for the final exam.

A note from the doctor is not an automatic excuse to be absent from class, tests or quizzes. Prior approval should be obtained. Schedule your appointments so they do not interfere with your attendance to class. I decide what is an emergency that should be considered for a make-up test.

Consistent lateness will be subject to a deduction of letter grade.

Leaving the room without an excuse from me will count as an absence.

Conduct in the classroom and other matters:

• Students must be in their places ready to start when the instructor gives the signal at the beginning of class.
• Silence and respectful behavior is expected.
• Cellular telephones, beepers, alarm watches and any other instrument with alarm must be turned off in class.
• No wireless devices (cell phones, pagers, PDAs or calculators), no programmable calculators, and no devices with ear plugs are allowed in class or during tests or quizzes.
• Students may not leave the room once the lecture has started. Notify the teacher if you must leave before the end of class due to some unusual circumstance. Leaving the room without an excuse from me will count as an absence.
• At the end of field trips, the students must wait to be dismissed by the instructor. Do not leave early.
• Students must check their university email regularly for important messages concerning the course, and keep track of these messages. Students are responsible for any information given in these messages.
• Make sure your traveling plans DO NOT interfere with the final exam schedule. Do not ask for an early final exam.
• The conduct of the students in the classroom and in the Science Building should reflect the mission of the university.
• Students should refer to the student handbook for specific conduct policies as well as disciplinary procedures.

Evaluation:

4 full-period exams x 100 pt. = 400 pt.

5 quizzes (tentative number) x 20 pt. = 100 pt.

2 writing assignments (25 points each)

1 comprehensive final exam x [150 pt.]

No grade will be dropped. The final grade is the percent of the earned points. The final grade is NOT based on a curve.

• Your handwriting must be intelligible. Ambiguous and/or unintelligible handwriting will receive a grade of 0 or F for the question.

GRADES: A = 90-100; B = 80-89.99; C = 70-79.99; D = 60-69.99; F = 0-59.99

Important! Academic dishonesty

Grades are giving as an evaluation of your work. Any attempt to pass somebody else's work as your own will earn you a grade of F for the course. Cheating, plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty will be dealt with according to the procedure stated in the Student Handbook. It is your responsibility to become familiar with the Student Handbook, The Compass, published on the following web page: http://www.cbu.edu/studentlife/handbook/

Check the following sites about plagiarism and related topics:

http://www.cbu.edu/library/faculty/plagiarism/policy.htm

http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/handouts/index.cfm

http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/why/index.cfm

http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/handouts/evaluating.pdf

Schedule for Lectures

This schedule is subject to change and probably will. Use it as a guideline as to what to prepare for in lecture.

Week one August 20-24	Introduction Ten Themes in the Study of Life Chemical Context of Life	Chapters 1-2
Week two August 27-31	Water and the fitness of the environment Carbon and the molecular Diversity of Life	Chapters 3-4
Week 3 September 3-7	Labor Day Holiday Structure and function of macromolecules	Chapter 5
Week 4 September 10-14	Metabolism end material Begin Cell Tour Exam 1 on Tuesday Sept 11 Chapters1- 7	Chapters 6-7
Week 5 September 17-21	Membrane Structure and Function Cellular Respiration	Chapters 8-9
Week 6 September 24-28	Krebs Cycle, Electron Transport	Chapter 9
Week 7 October 1-5	Fermentation, Photosynthesis Cell Cycle Mitosis	Chapter 10-11
Week 8 October8-12	Meiosis Begin Mendel and the gene idea Exam 2 Wed Oct 10 (Chapters 8-13)	Chapters 11-13
Week 9 October 15-19	Fall Break
Week 10 October 22-26	Sex Linkage, chromosomal Disorders DNA structure and function Synthesis	Chapters 14-16
Week 11 October 29-Nov 3	RNA and Translation Viral Genetics	Chapters 17-18
Week 12 Nov 5-10	Bacterial Genetics Control of Eukaryotic Genomes Development DNA Technology Exam 3 Nov 10 Chapters 14-21	Chapters 18-21
Week 13 Nov 12-16	Darwinian View of Life Evolution of Populations	Chapters 22, 23
Week 14 Nov 19-21	Origin of Species Phylogeny and Systematics	Chapter 24-25
Nov 22-25	Thanksgiving Break
Week 15 Nov 26-Dec 1	Prokaryotics Protista	Chapters 26-28
Week 16 Dec 3-7	Continue Protista Fungi Exam 4 Chapter 21-29 Dec 5	Chapters 29-31
Final Exam as Scheduled	Comprehensive!

DISCUSSION SESSIONS

Objectives:

• To familiarize the students with the different academic resources offered by CBU.
• Discuss relevant advances in science.
• To provide the students with the basic skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze and use information ethically and legally – Information Literacy.
• To give tests on the lecture material.
• To review lecture material if needed.
• To make up lectures in case of class cancellation.

Activities

1. “How to study”
2. Visit to the Writing Center - Presentation
3. Visit to the Career Center - Presentation
4. Visit to the Math Center - Presentation
5. Information Literacy: Databases and full text sources
6. Information Literacy: On-line sources like government agencies, research scientists, etc.
7. Information Literacy: Plagiarism

• Discerning Between Scholarly and Popular Literature
• Identifying Primary Research in the Sciences
• Developing a Research Strategy
• Evaluating Information
• http://infodome.sdsu.edu/infolit/learningpackets.shtml#Research