Camosun College Biology Department Biology Course Outline Fall, 2005.

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1 Camosun College Biology Department Biology Course Outline Fall, Instructor: Bruce Hardy Office: F324A Phone: Camosun: Home: (leave a message) hardy@camosun.bc.ca (this is the best way to contact me) Office hours: 5:30-6:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays; other times to be arranged. Course Description: Biology 080 is an introductory course for students interested in learning more about the structure and function of the human body, and for students wishing to obtain grade 12 equivalency. The major areas of study are biological chemistry, cell biology, cellular processes, genetics and human anatomy and physiology. Course Timetable. Mondays, 18:30-21:20, room F244. Wednesdays, 18:30-21:20, room F238 ( unless otherwise noted see schedule). Course Materials: A. Required: 1. Enger, Ross, Bailey, Concepts in Biology, 11 th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill. 2. Camosun College Biology Department, Biology 080 Lab Directions. B. Optional: 1. Kapit, W and L. Elson, The Anatomy Coloring Book. New York,: Harper and Row (or any other human anatomy colouring books). I. INTRODUCTION. Welcome to Biology 080! While all Biology is relevant, this is the most obviously relevant, as it is about you and your anatomy and physiology. For that reason it is, of course, very useful as background for any of the health-related fields. However, it is also extremely relevant to understanding yourself and any other living things for general interest. If you think of it as being relevant to your own body, you will find it much easier to learn the extensive amount of information in the course. II. SOME HINTS FOR STUDYING. (1) Caution!!! A course like this seems to start off gradually, and there is a tendency to let things slide for awhile. However, the material accumulates rapidly, and it is easy to rapidly get behind. After that, it s hard to catch up. So... don t get behind!!! The course is set up to allow you to study independently, or in groups, but attendance at lectures is highly recommended, and attendance at labs is mandatory in order to pass the course. (2) Bruce s Teaching Approach: I won't cover every single item in the lectures. However, I will try to do six main things:

2 discuss the highlights, with emphasis on difficult parts; and with reference to the Outcomes and Objectives. give strong hints about what is more important and what is less important; introduce some new and interesting information which is not in the text. provide supplementary audio-visual aides which will help clarify some of the material, and provide summary information which will link the various assigned subjects together (this is especially important). Gives lots of information about the origins and meanings of the many words covered in the course. (3) Some Study Hints. Whether you attend regularly or not, and whether you have studied Biology before or not, you will probably find that there is more information than you can possibly absorb. Here are a few hints for how you can study effectively, get lots out of the course, get decent marks, and still enjoy Biology. Look at the first page of each chapter, which lists the chapter concepts and introduces the major idea of the chapter. *** The separate list of goals and study objectives,, is your guide to what you should study. If you learn the material in those, you should be able to get a good mark on tests, although you will need to attend regularly to assure top marks. The Outcomes are the overall concepts that you should gradually be adding to and reinforcing, while the Objectives are the specific items you should study for each test. The list of objectives is the single core guide to what you need to know. Skim the section you are planning to learn, to get an overview of the highlights, BEFORE you try to learn the details When you have finished the chapter, read the Summary and the other summary sections, and try the Learning Connections section. At the end of each section, there are references to the Online Learning Centre. I haven t had time to check this out thoroughly, so cannot tell you how useful it would be. However, it is certainly another useful study tool Look over the day's material BEFORE coming to class THIS IS REALLY HELPFUL.!!! If there is more than you can absorb easily, first absorb the general concepts rather than the details. Once you know the generalities, you have a mental framework on which to attach the details which will give dimension and meaning to the general concepts. Work from general to particular. Details which fit into a pattern are much easier to remember than isolated details which don't relate to anything. Besides learning the objectives, you can form patterns by drawing diagrams, organizing your notes into tables, graphs or meaningful pictures, by mnemonic devices, and in other ways. One framework on which to build information is your own body.

3 For example, the pulmonary artery carries blood from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs. To memorize this from a diagram is difficult, but if you think of it as YOUR heart and YOUR lungs, it will be much more meaningful. If you don't already know how to take notes from lectures, you should work on learning this important skill. If you do know how, it is good to try and improve this skill. The most important skill of note-taking is to write down just enough to summarize and organize what has been said, and to stimulate your mind later when you review the notes. The online material (Biology 080 online supplement) has much which can help you learn more effectively. See the next section for more details. You should ask questions about any parts you don't understand, as soon as you have the problem, rather than waiting until exam time. I still believe that a human being (namely me) is better at teaching than a computer or a textbook. It helps to study with others, or at least to discuss the subject material with others. I will encourage group work as much as practical in this class, especially for projects and labs. Information is retained best if you review it at least once within 24 hours after you have first learned it. The "Principle of Primacy and Recency" states that we remember best that which we first learn, and also that which we most recently learned. This same principle suggests that study in several intense sessions (30-60 minutes) is more useful than extended study of two or more hours at a time. VOCABULARY!!!! Since the science of Biology has many words, it is almost like learning a new language. The important words are referred to in the objectives, and given in bold print in the text. Any language is easier if you break the words into syllables, and know the meanings of some of the key syllables (roots). Some of these will be emphasized and explained in lectures. You will get a separate handout for Vocabulary (called Biology as a Second Language, or BSL), and where possible relate new words to their root meanings in that BSL list. I will give you many hints about this. Throughout the course, I will give further hints for studying and report writing. See also two attached pages. You should consider that 'learning to learn' is at least as important as actually passing the course. III. BIOLOGY 080 ONLINE. 1. The online supplement to Biology 080 will be expanding as the course progresses. You can access the course either in the General Purpose labs or at home, but you will need a global ID and password. See Bruce about that. The initial URL is: : Once you are in that, it will prompt you for your global ID and password. The global ID is your Colleague number, and the password is changeme. Obviously, you should do as it says and change it. 2. Your access to Biology 080 also allows you to get into Biology 060. The main relevant component of that is the Chemistry for Biology modules, which are found in the Lecture Hall. (b) You should find the following useful. You open them by clicking on the appropriate icon.

4 i. The home page has Announcements, which are updated regularly. ii. iii. iv. The LECTURE HALL useful as a review or if you miss a lecture. Generally speaking, one of the online lectures would be the equivalent of about two classroom lectures. The lecture notes tell you what is most important to study, and the Powerpoint Slides give you a useful, concise summary of the material for that lecture. The Answer Keys icon has, as you would suspect, answer keys to lab activities, tests and sometimes exercises which you have done. They are only available after you have finished the activities. Other features will be added from time to time. IV. EVALUATION and GRADING. Out of a total of 100 points, 50 will be for classroom tests, 10 for spot quizzes and other activities, 15 for lab writeups, 15 for lab exams and 10 for a report. The details: There will be four classroom tests one worth 5%, two worth 10% each, and a final worth 25%. Occasional spot quizzes, crossword puzzles, etc., will be worth about 1% each throughout the semester for a total of 10%. That will make a total of 60% of the overall mark. There will be two lab exams - the first worth 5% and the second 10%. Note: no make-up on these. There will be about six lab write-ups, worth about 2%- each, for a total of 15%. Note that the lab write-ups only count if you actually attend the labs. Labs can t be repeated if missed, but it might be possible to go to a later or earlier session, e.g., 8:00 people could go to 6:30. Finally, there will be a special report, which can be done in pairs or by individuals. They will be related to issues such as nutrition, genetic engineering, reproductive technology, disease or possibly other topics. The report will be worth 10% of your total mark. If you work in pairs, I will mark slightly more strictly than if you do it as an individual. There will be a few activities, for those who do everything, which can be used for bonus points. The percents for letter grades will be on Camosun s standard scale (+ or - 2%): A+ = ; A = 90-94; A- = 85-89; B+ = 80-84; B = 75-79; B- = 70-74; C+ = 65-69; C = 60-64; D = 50-59; F = Note that a "D" is considered a passing grade. However, to have success at the next level (i.e., first year Biology), you should earn at least a "C". Good Luck, and enjoy your Biology course!!!

5 Biology 080 Fall 2003 Tentative Schedule Text Week Dates Topics Chapters Labs Assignments Tests 1 Sept. 3 Intro, Chem 1,2 none 2 Sept. 8, 10 Chem 2 Metric Measurement Sept. 15, Organic 3 17 Cells 3 Macromolecules Sept. 22, 4 24 Membranes, enzymes 4 Microscopy/cells 5 Sep 29, Oct.1 DNA/RNA 25 Diffusion/osmosis demo in full class Test Sept 5% 6 Oct. 6, 8. transcription/translation 25 molecular basis of inheritance 7 Oct. 15 Human organization 11 none - full class time 8 Oct. 20, 22 Digestion/nutrition 12 enzymatic hydrolysis 9 Oct. 27, 29 Cardiovascular 13 Cardiovascular fitness 10 Nov. 3, 5 lympathic/immune 14 none - full class time Report - 10% due Oct. 22 Lab exam Test Oct. 10% 11 Nov. 10, 12 resp/excretory 15, 16 fetal pig dissection Nov. 17, 19 nervous/endocrine 17, 20 fetal pig dissection Nov. 24, 26 endocrine/reproductive 20,21 none - full class time Test Nov. 10% 14 Dec. 1, 3. review Lab exam - Dec. 8th to? Final exam period Final exam