BIO112.02 Principles of Biology II
Spring 2011
Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. James B. Ferrari
112 Munroe Science Center
Office Phone: 757-5227
Home Phone: 757-0293 (before 9PM please)
Office hours: Monday 10:00 - 11:00 AM
Tuesday 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Wednesday 10:00 - 11:00 AM
Thursday 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Friday 10:00 - 11:00 AM
or by appointment
Feel free to drop by anytime (8-5), but since I may be in and out of my office your best bet is to make an appointment
Textbook: BIOLOGY (8th Ed.) by Neal Campbell and Jane Reese 2008.
Pearson/Benjamin/Cummings. Student Package ISBN: 978-0-321-54325-7
Lab Manual: Principles of Biology II Laboratory Manual. 2011. Wesleyan College.
A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory. Van de Graaf and Crawley.
Morton Publishing Co.
Class Meeting: Period B (T/Th 9:45-11:00 AM) Munroe 128
Laboratory and Exam Meeting: Periods D-E (Tuesdays 3:00-5:45PM Munroe 128
Course description and objectives: Principles of Biology II is a four credit hour course designed to familiarize prospective biology majors and other interested students with the unity and diversity of the living organisms that inhabit the earth and to examine the structures and processes used by living things to accomplish the requirements of continued existence. This is a required course for biology majors and a prerequisite for higher-level Biology courses. Successful completion of Principles of Biology I (BIO 110) or an equivalent course is an absolute prerequisite.
Course content: The course includes a systematic survey of the major groups of organisms from the bacteria to the higher vertebrates, as well as a systems approach to the functioning of living organisms from the cellular to the whole organism levels. The lecture and laboratory components of the course are strongly interdigitated and mutually supportive.
Preparation and Participation: It is very important that you come to class each day having read through the assigned readings for that week. It is even more important that you come to laboratory meetings having read through the laboratory exercise in detail. I hope to make our class sessions as interactive as possible. The more preparation you bring into class, the more easily and productively you will be able to interact with me and with your classmates, and the more you will learn. If you do not prepare for the labs, you will waste a great deal of your limited lab time trying to figure out what you should be looking at and what you should be doing.
Attendance: You are expected to attend classes regularly and any absence is potentially problematic. Excessive absences (4 or more) from class will be reported to the Dean in accordance with college policy. Because the actual experience gained in the laboratory is considered to be as important as the information provided, any absence from the lab portion of the course may result in a lowering of the semester grade. NO LABS WILL BE MADE UP IN A LATER WEEK.
Classroom Etiquette:
1) Please be in class and lab on time, as a courtesy both to me and to your fellow students; latecomers are very disruptive.
2) Turn off or silence all cell phones before coming to class and lab; better yet, leave them in your room. Absolutely no cell phones or other electronic devices will be allowed during examinations.
3) Laptops are not permitted in the classroom, unless specified by the instructor.
Wesleyan College Statement on Classroom Conduct: In this classroom, we will treat each other with respect, faculty and students alike. Personal conversations, rude behavior, walking in and out of the classroom during class, use of cell phones, sleeping, eating, working on other classes’ assignments, and other disruptive behaviors interfere with other students’ rights and with the instructor’s ability to teach. Therefore, anyone exhibiting unacceptable behaviors during the class will be asked to leave and will be counted absent for that class period. Failure to cooperate with this process will result in disciplinary action that may include withdrawal from the class or dismissal from the college.
Time Expenditure: There is a general expectation at Wesleyan that you will spend at least two and ideally three or more hours working outside of class for every semester hour of credit. For this course, this amounts to a minimum of eight hours per week in addition to the three hours of class time and three hours of lab time. The laboratory materials are available to you in room 128 at any time the MSC is open (excepting use of that room by other laboratory sessions), precisely so that you can spend much of this time working directly with them to practice with new terminology and specimens. For a variety of sound reasons, this will likely be one of the most demanding courses you take at Wesleyan. Reconcile yourself to this and allow yourself adequate study time.
Grading: The semester grade will be computed on the following basis:
Lecture Lab Exam I 13% 5% Exam II 13% 5% Exam III 13% 5% Final Exam (cumulative) 18% 8% Weekly Quizzes 10% Laboratory Worksheets 10% TOTAL 100%
Late Penalty: The penalty for late assignments is 10% per day (including weekends), with extensions given only for serious medical reasons or family emergencies. I maintain this policy to be fair to those students who respect deadlines and do not ask for extensions, even though they may not be turning in their best quality work or performing at their highest level.
Testing format: Because lecture and lab material are highly integrated, lecture and lab tests will be given together during regularly scheduled lab periods (see below). The lecture exams will include some objective style questions such as multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and identify or define the terms given. In addition, there will be essay style questions of two types. The first is a basic describe/explain - compare/contrast type. The other essay style question that I may ask is a synthesis question, wherein you will need to apply your acquired knowledge to solve some novel problem or respond to some hypothetical situation. I will cover the exam format in greater detail in class as the first exam approaches.
Laboratory exams will involve a series of practical stations which will test your working knowledge of the specimens, biological relationships, instruments, and ideas which you have explored in the lab. Here too, I will explain the format in greater detail in lab.
Quizzes may contain short answer, fill-in-the-blank, matching, multiple choice, and/or true/false questions. They are designed primarily to give you feedback on how well you are keeping up with the material in the course. Quizzes may be administered in a traditional paper format or via the PRS system which the instructor will be using to enhance Powerpoint presentations. Quiz times will be announced at least two days in advance.
I will make every effort to return exams to you within one week. This means that you should expect to have your graded exam returned by the lab session following the one in which you took the exam.
Laboratory Worksheets: These will be short (1-2 page) worksheets that you will complete after each laboratory and turn in at the start of the next laboratory session. These are designed to make sure that you think about what you learned in lab, understand any experimental methods and results from the lab, and are prepared for the laboratory portion of each exam.
Laboratory Cleanup: You will be expected (required!) to clean up your work area after each laboratory exercise.
STATEMENT ON DISABILITIES
Statement on Disabilities: Wesleyan College is committed to equal education and full participation for all students. Any student who requires reasonable academic accommodations or the use of auxiliary aids in class must first identify herself to the Director of Student Disability Services in the Academic Center. Documentation is required which will be evaluated and appropriate accommodations recommended. The student will then be expected to collaborate with each of her professors. Please contact Christy Henry in the Academic Center.
2011 Class and Laboratory Schedule
(NOTE: this is a tentative schedule and is subject to change)
Date Class Topic(s) Chapts. Lab (Wednesday) Jan 13 Phylogeny; Origin of Life 25, 26 no lab meeting Jan 17 Martin Luther King Holiday, no classes 27, 28 Jan 18,20 Monera; Protista 1: Taxonomy/Evolution Jan 25, 27 Fungi; Animal Evolution 31, 32 2: Mon/Pro/Fungi Feb 1, 3 Invertebrates; Vertebrates 33, 34 3: Invertebrates Feb 8, 10 Vertebrates; Plant Evolution I 29 Class/Lab Exam I Feb 15, 17 Plant Evolution II; Plant Structure; Plant Structure 30, 35 4: Vertebrates Feb 22, 24 Plant Growth, Development, & Transport 35, 36 5: Plants Mar 1, 3 Plant Nutrition, Reproduction, & Control 37, 38 6: Plant Physiology March 5-13 SPRING BREAK, no classes March 15, 17 Plant Response; Animal Structure 39, 40 Class/Lab Exam II March 22, 24 Animal Nutrition, Digestion & Circulation 41, 42 7: Digestion/Respiration Mar 29, 31 Animal Gas Exchange & Internal Environ. 42, 44 8: Circulation/Excretion April 5, 7 Animal Endocrine & Reproduction 45, 46 9: Reprod./Development April 12, 14 Animal Reproduction & Development 46, 47 no lab meeting April 13 Student Scholarship Day, no classes Apr 19, 21 Nervous System, Sensory Mechanisms 48, 49 Class/Lab Exam III April 22 Good Friday Holiday, no classes Apr 26, 28 Sensory and Motor Mechanisms 49, 50 10: Nervous/Muscle May 3 Immune System 43 no lab meeting May 5 READING DAY FRIDAY MAY 6 8:30 AM CLASS AND LAB FINAL EXAM
(Note: Final Exam is Cumulative)
Wesleyan College Department of Biology Policy on the Honor Code:
All students of Wesleyan College have agreed to abide by the Wesleyan College Honor Code and strict enforcement of the Honor Code will be practiced by all Biology faculty. Any violation of the Honor Code including plagiarism or cheating on exams, quizzes or any assignment will not be tolerated and will be reported to the Wesleyan College Honor Court. Cheating (giving or receiving any unauthorized information or supplying information from any source other than your memory) on any exam will result in a course semester grade of F. Plagiarism and/or improper citation on any assignment will be dealt with on a case by case basis, but also may result in an F grade for the assignment or the course. If a student is unclear about violation of the Honor Code for any assignment, she should contact the instructor before handing in the assignment.