BSC 1005 Life in its Biological Environment

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is an introduction to biological structure, function processes, principles, and concepts. This course fulfills the General Education Requirement, three contact hours, 3 semester hours credit.

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Dianne M. Fair OFFICE: D-122

E-MAIL: dfair@fccj.org OFFICE PHONE: 646-2310

OFFICE HOURS: TBA or by appointment. If you find that you need additional help for this course, PLEASE ask. It is not a great idea to wait until late in the term to get extra tutoring help.

REQUIRED TEXT: Biology, a guide to the natural world by David Krogh, Prentice-Hall publishers, 2000.

Special note: please be considerate of the instructor and other students. Pagers and cellular phones should be switched to their silent modes.

GRADING: The course grade will be based upon your performance on four in-class tests, a short research paper and five quizzes. Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

A 90-100% D 60-69%

B 80-89% F below 60%

C 70-79%

IW Grade: You may be withdrawn from the course if you have attended fewer than 75% of the classes by the withdrawal date. A warning letter will be sent to you if you have missed 25% of the class meetings.

I Grade: If you are unable to finish the course due to extenuating circumstances, you may request in writing that you receive an (I) incomplete for the course. However, you must have a passing grade average at the time of your request. Incompletes will not be awarded as a “substitute” for failing grades.

N/P Grades: Not given. This is a grade that is not recognized by many universities, and is often treated as an F on transfer.

ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance to class meetings is essential for you to succeed in this course. Roll will be taken at some time during each class period. Students who attend class and participate typically score 10-25 points higher than students who do not. There may be test questions derived exclusively from our discussions; this information may not be available in the textbook.

TESTS: There will be four in-class lecture tests, spaced at approximately one-quarter intervals throughout the term. Test questions will be a mixture of multiple choice and true-false, depending on the material covered in class. QUIZZES will be given frequently throughout the term to make sure that students are keeping up with the class material. The lowest quiz score of the five will be dropped (no make-ups for quizzes).

MAKE-UPS FOR MISSED TESTS: Make-ups are offered only in extreme circumstances, such as personal illness, illness of an immediate family member, death in the family, car trouble, jury duty or court appearances. Please provide appropriate documentation for excused absences. The schedule for the term is attached; please plan ahead for quiz and test dates.

RESEARCH PAPER: We will cover a wide variety of biological topics, and you are welcome to choose anything related to biology and biological systems as the topic of your research paper. The body of the papers will be at least 4 pages in length, typed in 10 or 12 point font, and double-spaced. Feel free to use as many or as few references as you need for your required "references" section. Books, magazines, videos, interviews, television programs, internet, etc. are all excellent sources of information. More details to come.

SUMMARY OF EARNED POINTS:

4 Tests at 100 pts each 400

Research paper 100

5 Quizzes at 25 pts each, drop lowest 100

Total possible points 600

Special note: Beginning fall semester, 1997, according to guidelines established by Florida House Bill (HB) 1545, all students may enroll in a specific college credit course only twice at the regular tuition rate. If the first two attempts are unsuccessful (all grades will count as an attempt including audit, IW, AW, W, and NP), the third time a student enrolls in a course, he/she must pay the full cost of instruction. This cost is equivalent to the out-of-state tuition rate, approximately four times the cost of regular tuition or $157.40 per semester hour. Only “drops” submitted by the advertised deadline date (during the first week of a term) will not count as being enrolled.

Tentative topics and semester schedule, subject to change:

Day	Date	Topics
M	8/28	Introduction, Syllabus, Taxonomy
W	8/30	Chemistry and Biochemistry
F	9/1	Biochemistry
M	9/4	No classes: Labor Day holiday
W	9/6	Biochemistry and Cells
F	9/8	Cells
M	9/11	Cells and Metabolism
W	9/13	Metabolism and Respiration
F	9/15	Respiration
M	9/18	Respiration
W	9/20	Review for test
F	9/22	Test #1
M	9/25	Photosynthesis
W	9/27	Photosynthesis
F	9/29	Mitosis
M	10/2	Cancer and Meiosis
W	10/4	Meiosis and Mendelian Genetics
F	10/6	Mendelian Genetics
M	10/9	Mendelian and Human Genetics
W	10/11	Human Genetics
F	10/13	Human Genetics
M	10/16	Review for test
W	10/18	Test #2
F	10/20	DNA technology
M	10/23	DNA technology
W	10/25	DNAà RNA à proteins
F	10/27	DNA à RNA à proteins
M	10/30	Genetic engineering
W	11/1	Genetic engineering
F	11/3	Immunity
M	11/6	Immunity
W	11/8	Immunity
F	11/10	No classes: Veteran’s Day holiday
M	11/13	Review for test
W	11/15	Test #3
F	11/17	Human diseases
M	11/20	Human diseases
W	11/22	Human diseases
F	11/24	No classes: Thanksgiving Day holiday
M	11/27	Human diseases
W	11/29	Human diseases
F	12/1	Human diseases
M	12/4	Microevolution
W	12/6	Speciation and Macroevolution
F	12/8	Macroevolution and Fossil evidence
M	12/11	Review for test
TBA	TBA	Test #4 (during Finals’ week)
W	12/20	End of term, grades due