Tahquitz High School Dual Enrollment Biology 115
Fall 2015
Instructor: Anne Rizzacasa
Email:
Class Meetings: Room 528 Lecture: Period 1 M, W, F
Lab: Period 0 & 1 T, Th
Office Hours: Period 0 M, W, F
Biology 115 is an introductory course with a lab designed for non-science majors and those who need a biology foundation before entering the science major’s curriculum. This course emphasizes scientific inquiry in investigation of biological principles presented in an evolutionary context and an ecological framework. Principles covered include molecular and cellular biology, biochemical processes, genetics, classification, comparative study of the diversity of life, ecosystems, mechanisms of evolution, and current issues as they develop in the subject area.
As students of this class, you are expected to spend a minimum of 1-2 hours a day, outside of class time reading the textbook and studying the lecture materials. The textbook has a free companion website that offers a number of study tools to help you as well. [
Biology 115 General Course Information
Necessary Course Supplies:
1. Bazzone, Donna and Douglas Green. Biology for the Informed Citizen with Physiology. ISBN: 978-0-10- 538199-3 [required]
2. Topics in Biology lab manual (purchased from the bookstore) [required]
3. Three ring binder (1 inch width – minimum) for your lab activities [required]
4. A spiral notebook for in class notes [recommended]
5. 4 scantrons for exams, 882-E [required]
6. General supplies including; college ruled lined and graph paper, pens (blue or black), pencils for diagrams and graphs as well as exams, colored pencils for laboratory drawings, scientific calculator (may be helpful for some labs, activities, and may be used on exams)
Attendance, Make-Up, and Late work Policy: Attendance for any class is especially important. You need to attend each class, be on time, be prepared with the necessary materials, and participate actively. You must be present for the entire class to be considered “present.” If you leave early, you will not receive credit for attending a specific class. Lecture, laboratory activities, or quizzes, if missed, cannot be made up. All assignments will have specific due dates which will be well announced beforehand. Late work is not accepted, unless extraordinary circumstances have occurred which can be proven with documentation and arrangements have been made with me.
Note: If you miss any class days, it is your responsibility to get the notes from a willing fellow student. All of your fellow students have the right to refuse to allow you to copy their notes. After 4 class absences, I reserve the right to drop you from the course. However, DO NOT ASSUME I WILL DROP YOU because you are no longer attending class. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to drop the class in order to avoid receiving a failing grade. There is no make-up option for missing the midterm or final exam without arrangements having been made prior to missing the exam.
Classroom etiquette: Be on time for each class. Bring all necessary materials. Treat your fellow students and me with respect. Use appropriate language. Dress and act according to a professional work environment.
No food or drink allowed in the classroom (exception – bottled water with a sports bottle top). Students violating classroom etiquette will simply be asked to leave. CELL PHONES OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES OUT DURING CLASS ARE NOT ALLOWED. If you are caught with a cell phone or other electronic device, points will be lost from the instructor assessment section.
Email etiquette: Email is considered an official method for communication for this course; as such you are expected to check your official email regularly. You should also expect a response to email during normalwaking hours, Monday through Friday with an approximate 24-48 hour lag time, often with a response comingsooner. Unless otherwise specified, email may not be checked and/or responded to over the weekend. If youdo not receive a response within a timely manner, resend your email (it may not have gone through or mayhave been filtered into the junk folder) or talk to the instructor when you next see her/him.Prior to sending questions via email, make sure that the question is not answered in the course syllabus or onthe course website. Be professional in your email, including the use proper grammar, spelling andpunctuation. This includes not using "IM speak" (i.e. LOL, BTW, ROFL), profanity or slang. Include a detailedsubject line as well as providing your full name at the end of everyemail. Think about what youare asking before writing and sending your email, meaning keep your message concise and precise.
Cheating and/or Plagiarism: Cheating on an examination, lab practical, quiz or copying another student’s work as if it were your own on any regular assignment is unacceptable, and will at a minimum receive a failing grade on that particular assignment. Plagiarism (copying directly from another source as if it were your own work) is also considered cheating. Having someone else complete your assignment violates basic ethical standards. Students involved in such acts will be referred to the appropriate administrator for possible, further disciplinary action after receiving no credit for the assignment. More than one incident of cheating/plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the course.
Disability Statement: Students in this course who have a disability that might prevent them from fully demonstrating their abilities should meet with a counselor in Disabled Student Services Program (DSPS) as soon as possible to initiate disability verification and discuss accommodations that may be necessary to ensure full participation in the successful completion of course requirements.
Student Learning Outcomes: Biology 115 (Topics in Biology) emphasizes the following six student learning outcomes through interactive lectures, discussion, article research, and laboratory investigations. Upon course completion, all students should be able to:
Explain and appreciate how scientific knowledge is obtained and verified.
Explore and appreciate the facts and principles concerning heredity, variation and diversity, the cell, evolution and natural selection.
Explain and appreciate the cycling of matter and the flow of energy in living systems.
Achieve basic literacy in the language of biology.
Think critically about issues using their understanding of biology.
Explore the ethical and social considerations inherent in biology.
Specific Course Objectives (Lecture):
1. Develop methods of scientific inquiry, observation, and measurement.
2. Relate the basic principles of chemistry to biology at the cellular, organismal, and ecosystems levels.
3. Learn the language of biology and correctly use terms in written and oral communication.
4. Describe the characteristics that define life and discuss biological organization extending form molecules to ecosystems.
5. Compare and contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells with regard to structure and function, illustrate traffic across membranes, and inspect the acquisition and use of energy in metabolic processes.
6. Diagram mitosis, meiosis, and the flow of information from genes to protein.
7. Demonstrate Mendelian principles of inheritance, and evaluate the significance of DNA technology.
8. Examine how structure correlates with function at all levels of hierarchical organization.
9. Evaluate the interactions between organisms and the interactions organisms have with their environment. 10. Analyze the various mechanisms by which organisms maintain homeostasis.
11. Describe the unity and diversity of all organisms within the Kingdoms and Domains of classification. 12. Compare the mechanisms of evolution, and analyze the evidence in support of evolutionary theory.
13. Relate the interdependent nature of science to technology, and evaluate the role of society in shaping the application of scientific knowledge.
Specific Course Objectives (Laboratory):
1. Engage in the collection of data using various measures, apply scientific methods to investigate biological principles, observe phenomena, test hypotheses, solve problems, and report in scientific format. 2. Using the periodic table, diagram atoms, molecules, bonding capacities, and assemble models of macromolecules.
3. Demonstrate proficient understanding of the principles of microscopy in the study of cells and microorganisms.
4. Identify cell types of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, compare and contrast their structures, and use staining methods to differentiate organelles.
5. Examine osmosis occurring across a semi-permeable membrane, and deduce direction of net water movement under isotonic, hypertonic, and hypotonic conditions.
6. Investigate enzymatic and metabolic processes with the proper use of a spectrophotometer, manometer, or other available laboratory equipment.
7. Diagram the phases of mitosis and meiosis through direct observation of mitotically dividing onion root tip cells and other prepared slides.
8. Use the laws of probability, a Punnet square, and Chi-Square analysis to solve inheritance problems.
9. Investigate the complexity of DNA by creating a model, extracting DNA from cells, and or witnessing DNA technology and its applications. 10. Analyze natural selection including differential survival, reproduction, and or Lek mating in a simulation exercise. 11. Identify and examine representative organisms of the five kingdoms, major phyla of Kingdoms Animalia and Protista, classes of vertebrate animals, major divisions of Kingdoms Plantae and Fungi, and bacterial and fungal microorganisms. 12. Locate and identify external anatomical structures and internal organs in a frog and compare their presence and function to that of human anatomy. 13. Use scientific inquiry to measure sensory perception in humans. 14. Simulate foraging strategies of animals and apply scientific method to analyze the methods of specialists and genera
Brief Explanation of Assignments
Notebooks: Each student is required to keep a laboratory, three-ring binder in which all laboratory activities will be kept. The laboratory investigations will be collected twice – on the dates of the practical exams. The investigations that will be evaluated should be clipped together including the table of contents and title page with your name and section number clearly written on the front when turned in. At these times, your investigations will be evaluated primarily for completeness, accuracy, and depth of understanding of the main concepts presented. Lecture notes should be taken in a separate spiral notebook. The laboratory binder and your lecture notes will serve as valuable references when studying for examinations and for future course work in biology should you continue to take additional classes in this subject.
Laboratory Investigations: Most laboratory investigations will be found in the packet purchased from the campus bookstore. If an investigation is not included in the packet, I will provide you with copies. Each day one or more laboratory investigations will be conducted in class. Some investigations will require several laboratory sessions to complete. In general, students will be working in groups of 2-4 to complete most of these investigations. However, all students must write their own answers to specific questions and/or write their own summaries/conclusions. Unless specified otherwise, all parts of each investigation are to be completed. During the course of the semester, two laboratory practical exams will be administered. Be prepared ahead of time by reviewing all materials and topics covered on all laboratory investigations completed prior to the laboratory practical.
Pre-lab Assignments: All pre-lab assignments are to be completed prior to the start of class each day one is due. You have a hard copy in the laboratory manual you purchased from the bookstore. Each of the pre-lab assignments will be available as a multiple-choice quiz via blackboard one week prior to the date the lab is to be completed. The hard copies will not be accepted for credit. Those are for you to keep for your own records and to use to study from for the lab practical. You must login to your blackboard account and complete the assignments through blackboard for credit.
Exams: There will be 3 midterm exams and one final. Exams will be given at the beginning of class. Each exam will consist of 75 multiple-choice questions and you will have the entire lecture period to complete the exam. The final will be cumulative and consist of 100 questions. THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS UNLESS EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE OCCURRED WHICH CAN BE PROVEN WITH DOCUMENTATION AND ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE WITH ME.
Chapter Worksheets: Each chapter will have a puzzle worksheet that will be given out in hard copy form in class when we start the chapter it is associated with. These worksheets will also be posted on Blackboard in case you need to print off another copy. Worksheets are due in packet form on the day of the exams. Make sure all of your worksheets are stapled together with your name and section on the top sheet.
Instructor Assessment: Each student will be assessed during each class meeting, based on bringing your lab manual and any necessary materials, participating in lab activities and discussions, treating fellow students and your instructor with courtesy and respect and cleaning up after completion of lab activities.
Extra Credit: You may earn a maximum of 20 extra points by completing various additional assignments (you will be notified if they are extra credit), attending independent field trips and completing the associatedworksheets, etc. Not all extra credit options have been pre-determined, so I may add more options as thesemester progresses. Keep in mind; you cannot earn more than 20 points of extra credit. This means if youcomplete 30 points worth of extra credit, only 20 of those points will count when your final grade it tabulated.
Grading Breakdown
Assignments / # of each assignment / Points per assignment / Total points for all assignments / Percent breakdown out of 920 possible pointsReading Quizzes / 18 / 5 / 90 / 9.8%
Chapter Worksheets / 18 / 5 / 90 / 9.8%
Exams / 3 / 75 / 225 / 24.4%
Final Exam / 1 / 100 / 100 / 10.9%
Notebook Checks / 2 / Varies / 170 / 18.4%
Practical Exams / 2 / 50 / 100 / 10.9%
Pre-lab Assessment / - / Varies, 0.5 point each question / 100 / 10.9%
Instructor Assessment / N/A / N/A / 45 / 4.9%
TOTAL: / 920 / 100%
** May be altered based on the number of pre-labs and the number of questions **
Final Grades: There will be one grade for both lecture and lab. Final grades will be assigned according to the following point breakdown:
Points Earned / Percentage / Grade824 - 920 / 90 – 100% / A
732 - 823 / 80 – 89% / B
640 – 731 / 70 – 79% / C
548 – 639 / 60 – 69% / D
0 – 547 / 0 – 59% / F
Tips to help you succeed in Biology
1. Success takes effort. Success in science is no different. The study of how life works involves learning a new language and a new way of analyzing the world around you. This can lead to frustration as unfamiliar material appears out of reach. Have patience, seek help, and don’t give up!!!
2. Study. Treat studying like a job. Dedicate at least 8 hours per week to study for this class. Don’t multitask while studying. Multitasking dramatically decreases the effectiveness of studying and results mainly in wasted time.
3. Learning science has two important aspects. First, learning science is like learning a new language. There are many new terms that you must learn in order to succeed in science. Treat this class as you would treat a foreign language course (e.g., use the terms in everyday life, practice speaking and writing it regularly.) As with any language class, spelling and grammar count. Word choice is important. Second, learning science is about learning concepts. Often these concepts are like stories. Just like you watch TV shows and learn about different characters and what they do, science is very much the same way.
4. Read the book before class. Not only will material from readings be on the quizzes, if lecture is the first time being exposed to new material, you will not learn as much as if you had at least familiarized yourself ahead of time.
5. Don’t procrastinate. The labs take time and rushing to finish a few hours before the due date is a recipe for disaster. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the lab.
6. While in class, stay engaged. Ask questions and take good notes. Your brain retains material better if you are actively engaged. Continue to engage your brain immediately after lecture by reviewing lecture material as soon as possible after class. The longer you wait, the more you will forget. The sooner you review the more material you can cement into memory. This includes any recordings you made of the lecture. Recordings are useless unless you listen to them.
7. To prepare for an exam, get into my head. Think about possible test / quiz questions as you are studying. Write your own quizzes and tests then take them. Use the quizzes available on the companion website as well as the questions at the ends of each chapter to test yourself at home.
8. Form study groups with your classmates and study together. You know you’ve learned a topic when you can teach it to someone else. Take turns teaching each other various topics throughout the semester. Share the quizzes and exams you’ve made. Take turns explaining the material to each other, even if you aren’t confident in the material. If you knew the material already, you wouldn’t be studying and you wouldn’t be taking the class in the first place.