BIOL 101 – Fundamentals of Biology
Summer 2007
General Info
Instructor: Dr. Holly Pinkart
Office: Science 236D
Office Hours: 3:30-4:30 MT
Meeting Time: Mon, Wed – Fri 5-8 pm SCI 240
Lab Time: Tues 5-8 pm SCI 146
Phone: 963-2710
Email: PinkartH@cwu.edu
Course Rationale
The purpose of this course is to help you become familiar with fundamental scientific concepts
and develop an understanding and appreciation of biology. The goals of this course are to help
you begin to understand scientific principles and to think critically about scientific issues. Since
it is not possible to cover the entire field of biology during this course (or any course), we will
concentrate our efforts in a few essential areas of study. During this process you will hopefully
come to understand biology as a scientific process and its place in modern society.
Required Text
Essential Biology, 2nd or 3rd edition by Neil Campbell and Jane Reese
Objectives
In order to accomplish the goals of this course, you will spend a great deal of time engaged in
discussion, thinking, and activities that relate to biology. In general, people learn most effectively
by doing and by interacting with others and their environment. The objectives of this course are
designed to help you:
 Understand the processes of biological science.
 Develop a better perspective regarding the place of biology in our society.
 Critically think about contemporary issues in biology that influence your life.
This course is part of the CWU General Education Program, and supports its goals of:
 Effective reasoning – the ability to think clearly and become fluent in reading, writing, and
oral communication as well as master basic principles of logical, mathematical, and
scientific reasoning.
 Broad and deep learning – a broad understanding of how arts and sciences evolve, how
diversity contributes to new ideas and learning opportunities, and how knowledge from
different areas is interconnected.
 The inclination to inquire – a commitment to seek out and acquire important knowledge and
skills (both for their intrinsic value and for the good they contribute to our common and
individual lives) and to develop a disposition
Course Expectations and Policies
In order to best facilitate your learning, my expectations of you are:
 Ask questions. One of the best things you can do in any course, but especially
biology, is to ask lots of questions. It is likely that if you aren’t clear on something,
there are others who are equally unclear on the same topic.
 Be informed. Our world is full of people that use scientific information to persuade
others to behave and make decisions in ways that are not always to your benefit. If
you don’t understand scientific issues, you can’t make informed decisions about
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science. Be curious; try and found out all you can about something before you make a
decision that may have profound effects on your life.
Think critically. This course is designed to help you develop your critical thinking
abilities; these skills will be useful not only in this course but in all your courses.
People that analyze, infer, evaluate, and make reasoned judgments do better in college,
make better daily decisions and, in most cases, are preferentially hired after college.
Be enthusiastic. Biology is fascinating. Don’t be afraid to be enthusiastic or show
your excitement to your peers as you investigate the wonders of biology in this course.
Be respectful. I expect all students to respect others’ right to express their opinions
(including mine) even if you disagree with them. Respectful discourse is an
expectation of every student. Respect also includes things like turning off your cell
phone during lecture/lab times, not talking during lectures/films, etc.
Use common sense. Don’t cheat on quizzes or exams.
Learning Performance Evaluation
People have different styles of learning; some people excel at taking exams while others do better
with projects and group discussion. To accommodate different learning styles, your performance
in this course will be evaluated in four ways: 1) small group lab projects, 2) individual exam/quiz
scores, 3) group discussion, and 4) peer evaluation. The overall evaluation of your performance
will be determined through a weighted grading system using these four components as follows:
Item
Large group discussion/participation
Laboratory Project/Presentation
Peer evaluation
Quizzes
Exam I
Exam II
Relative weight
10 %
15 %
15 %
10 %
25 %
25 %
Quizzes and Exams
There will be 9 quizzes. These will be on-line quizzes you will take through BlackBoard. They
will consist of 5 questions (mostly multiple choice), and you will have 5 minutes to take it.
Exams will be given using Respondus, an on-line format accessed through BlackBoard. Questions
will consist of multiple choice, true-false and matching style questions. Scores on exams will be
according to standard intervals (below). I will curve if the grade distribution warrants such an
action. Just be aware that a curve is a statistical distribution around a class mean, not tacking on 5
points to a particular grade…..
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90-100%
80-89%
70-79%
A
B
C
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60-69%
0-59%
D
F
Discussion
Each Wednesday, the last hour will be spent in discussion of some contemporary issue in biology.
I will post a paper on BlackBoard, and will provide discussion questions in class. You will work
in small groups to answer the questions. Each student will be expected to contribute to the
discussion. During the discussion, I will randomly ask students to describe what they have found,
their opinion of the issue, and most importantly, how well they can support their opinion. My
evaluation of your discussion participation will be included in your final course grade. Material
from discussions may appear on exams.
Peer evaluation
Most of you have probably been in situations where someone takes more credit than they deserve
while others get less credit for their contribution. When you work in small groups, ultimately you
are the best person to evaluate the contribution of others in your group. As a result, each person
in a collaborative lab team will evaluate the contributions of their peers at the end of the course.
This evaluation will help me to better understand who should get proper credit for their work, and
will be calculated into each student’s final course grade.
Online Learning with Blackboard.com
This BlackBoard, a tool (http://courses.cwu.edu) that makes the course syllabus, lecture notes,
reading materials, and important announcements available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Enrollment in this course will automatically enroll you in BlackBoard. This tool also has a feature
that allows for viewing of grades. Quiz and exam grades will post immediately.
Schedule of Course Topics
The following is a schedule of topics and is subject to change as time permits. July 4 is a holiday,
so we won’t meet then.
Date
6/18
6/19
6/20
6/25
6/26
6/27
7/2
7/3
7/9
7/10
7/11
7/16
7/17
7/18
7/23
7/24
7/25
Topic
Scientific method, Chemistry of life
Laboratory: Scientific Method, design group projects
Early earth, evolution of cellular life Discussion-origins of life
Energy generation in prokaryotes
Laboratory: group projects – data collection
Information flow in prokaryotes, Discussion- Antibiotic resistance
Eukaryotes: evolution, cell structure, energy generation
Laboratory: group projects – data collection, Exam I
Eukaryotes: information flow, viruses
Laboratory: group projects- data collection/analysis
Eukaryotes: reproduction, biotechnology Discussion - HIV
Evolution and biodiversity
Laboratory: group projects- data analysis/ prepare presentations
Ecology – Discussion – Global warming
Ecosystems and Human Impacts
Lab – Projects/presentations
Exam II
Chapters
2, 3
1
15 (p58, 69)
5, 15, readings
10, readings
4, 6, 7
10, 11
8, 9, 12
13, 14
18
19, 20
My take on this summer course:
A three-hour block of lecture is challenging (for you and me). I plan to include breaks at
reasonable intervals, and will intersperse lectures with films and other items. I chose the time
block so people could enjoy some outdoor activities/work during the day, but also have Thursday
and Friday evenings free as well. Having accommodated those issues, I expect you to attend class
regularly and on time. You are responsible for things like remembering to take quizzes, working
on your group projects, showing up for exams, etc. If you miss an exam, you will have to have a
doctor’s note or a copy of a death certificate to take a make-up.