BIOL1610 FACULTY STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES
The following course standards and objectives have been established in order to
1) Meet the guidelines for the SLCC Course Assessment and Articulation Agreements
2) Meet minimum standards for the SLCC Biology Department.
Course Description:
Prereq: MATH 0990 w/C grade or better, or appropriate Accuplacer score; RDG 0990 w/C grade or better, or
appropriate Accuplacer score. Coreq: BIOL 1615. Content: biological chemistry , cell structure, metabolism,
genetics, evolution, and diversity. Three hours of lecture per week with additional lab component (BIOL 1615)
required.
Standard Course Curriculum:
Instructors are expected to cover the below objectives for each chapter outlined below. Instructors WILL provide
(either on MyPage or Canvas) their students the list of below chapter objectives. These standard set of objectives
should meet any requirements for students wanting to transfer credits to a different school for equivalent courses.
Instructions on Specific Assignments and Processes:
Methodologies utilized in this class include: lecture, readings in the textbook, and laboratory work. Reading
assignments are coordinated with lectures. Student performance in the lecture portion of this course will be
assessed using exams and/or quizzes. Exams and quizzes use question formats appropriate to the subject matter,
including (but not limited to): multiple choice, matching, short answer, labeled diagrams, and essay. It is an
expectation of this course that students will express themselves (e.g. exams and writing assignments) using proper
grammar and spelling. Students are expected to attend each lecture and take notes during the entire period.
Reading assignments in the course textbook are provided to broaden the base of information provided to students.
It is the expectation that students will preview appropriate chapters before being lectured, and will read for depth
following the lecture on each topic. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of online study materials
provided by the textbook publisher and/or the instructor.
ASSESSMENT AND GRADING GUIDELINES
All instructors MUST give set of standard questions at the beginning (e.g. pre-quiz) and at the end of each
semester. Standard question will be provided by the department. Instructors are required to provide the quiz
scantrons to the department.
All instructors MUST turn in, to the department office, a full and complete accounting of student scores for each
assignment. This report must delineate HOW grades were determined.
The laboratory score should constitute TWENTY PERCENT (20%) of the student’s final grade.
At least 50 percent of the student’s course grade MUST consist of work (e.g. exams, assignments) assessed IN
CLASS.
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BIOL 1610 - College Biology I: Chapter Objectives
The following objectives represent broad-based concepts that are an integral part of BIOL1610. As a
pre-requisite course, students who master these objectives should be prepared for upper-level biology
courses including BIOL1620, BIOL2020, BIOL2030, BIOL2060, BIOL2320 and BIOL2420. Since
they are not exhaustive, they should be supplemented by material presented in the textbook “Campbell
Biology, 9th Edition and by lectures presented by your instructor. After Completing BIOL1610 at
SLCC, students should have a working understanding of the following basic objectives:
Chapter 1: Themes in the Study of Life
1.1 The primary unifying themes in Biology.
1.2 The hierarchical levels of biological organization.
1.3 Organic evolution and the diversity of life.
1.4 The scientific process.
Chapter 2: The Chemical Context of Life
2.1 The elements that make up living matter.
2.2 The structure and chemical properties of atoms and thus elements.
2.3 The Periodic Table of elements, electron energy levels and valence.
2.4 The different types of chemical bonds and chemical reactions.
Chapter 3: Water and Life
3.1 The formation, structure, and unique properties of water.
3.2 The use of molarity in aqueous solutions.
3.3 The dissociation of water, pH and buffers.
Chapter 4: Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life
4.1 The atomic structure and chemical properties of carbon atoms.
4.2 The structural formulas, shapes and diversity of organic molecules.
4.3 The biologically important functional groups found in organic molecules.
Chapter 5: The Primary Biological Macromolecules
5.1 The synthesis and breakdown of polymers.
5.2 The specific structure and function of the four major classes of biological macromolecules.
Chapter 6: The Cell
6.1 The microscopic study of cells.
6.2 The basic structures and organelles found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
6.3 The structure and function of organelles of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
6.4 The endomembrane system of eukaryotic cells.
6.5 The cytoskeleton, extracellular components and cellular junctions.
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Chapter 7: Membrane Structure and Function
7.1 The basic structure, properties and purpose of cellular membranes.
7.2 The primary components of cellular membranes and their function.
7.3 The concept of selective permeability.
7.4 The specific transport mechanisms of cellular membranes.
Chapter 8: An Introduction to Metabolism
8.1 Bioenergetics and basic metabolic pathways.
8.2 Energy and the laws that govern energy transformations.
8.3 The concept of free energy change and chemical reactions.
8.4 The structure, function and cycling of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP).
8.5 The basic concepts of enzyme catalysis
8.6 Allosteric regulation and feedback inhibition.
Chapter 9: Cellular Respiration and Fermentation
9.1 The primary catabolic pathways and their basic molecular formulae.
9.2 The concepts of Redox reactions, electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation.
9.3 Glycolysis, oxidation of glucose and the production of ATP via substrate-level phosphorylation.
9.4 Oxidation of pyruvate via the citric acid cycle.
9.5 Electron transport, chemiosmosis and aerobic (cellular) respiration.
9.6. Aerobic (cellular) respiration and production of ATP as a metabolic pathway in cells.
9.7 The two common types of fermentation and their basic chemical pathways.
9.8 The regulation and connection of metabolic pathways.
Chapter 10: Photosynthesis
10.1 Methods of energy acquisition, autotrophy and heterotrophy.
10.2 The primary anabolic pathways of photosynthesis, where they take place and their basic
molecular formulae.
10.3 The concept of electronmagnetic energy (light) and photosynthetic pigments.
10.4 Excitation of chlorophyll, electron transport, chemiosmosis and production of ATP and NADPH
in the light dependent reactions.
10.5 Reduction of CO2 and the production of G3P and RuBP via the Calvin Cycle.
Chapter 11: Cell Communication
11.1 The importance of cell communication and the basic steps in signal transduction pathways.
11.2. The primary mechanisms of local and long-distance signaling.
11.3 Cellular reception, ligands, and primary membrane and intracellular receptor mechanisms .
11.4 Signal transduction and the primary pathways involving protein phosphorylation cascades.
Chapter 12: The Cell Cycle.
12.1 The various types of cell division involves mitosis, meiosis and binary fission.
12.2 The basic concepts of cell division, genetic material replication and sister-chromatids.
12.3 The phases and sub-stages of the eukaryotic cell cycle and its regulation.
12.4 The primary events and chromosome behavior that occur during mitosis.
12.5 The role of the mitotic spindle during the cell division and the various types of cytokinesis.
12.6 The loss of cell cycle regulation and cancer.
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Chapter 13: Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles
13.1 Genetics, heredity and the inheritance of genes.
13.2 The role of asexual and sexual reproduction in inheritance of genes.
13.3 The variety of sexual life cycles and the importance of chromosomes to these life cycles.
13.4 The primary events and chromosome behavior that occur during meiosis.
13.5 The primary behaviors of chromosomes that result in genetic variation.
13.6 The comparison of mitosis and meiosis.
Chapter 14: Mendel and the Gene Idea
14.1 The experimental approach used by Mendel to identify the two laws of inheritance.
14.2 The concepts of segregation, independent assortment and genetic crosses.
14.3 The complex patterns of non-Mendelian genetics.
14.4 Mendelian inheritance in humans.
Chapter 16: The Molecular Basis of Inheritance
16.1 The historical perspective on genetic material determination.
16.2 The primary components and structure DNA.
16.3 The principles and detailed steps in replication of DNA, telomeres and repair.
Chapter 17: From Gene to Protein
17.1 The concept of gene expression and the genetic code.
17.2 The mechanism and stages of transcription.
17.3 The processing of eukaryotic mRNA.
17.4 The mechanism and stages of translation.
17.5 Changes in the polynucleiotide sequence of DNA can lead to mutations.
Chapter 22: Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life
22.1 The key aspects in the history of evolutionary thought.
22.2. The formation of Darwin’s theory of evolution and the process of natural selection
22.3 The overwhelming evidence that supports organic evolution.
Chapter 23: The Evolution of Populations
23.1 The significance of genetic variation in populations (also see page 259).
23.2 The Hardy-Weinberg Principle and how it can be used to detect evolution in a population.
23.3 The conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and how they can violate this principle.
23.4 The various types of natural selection.
Optional Chapter:
Chapter 19: Viruses
19.1 The Structure and Genomic Classification of Viruses.
19.2 The Reproductive Cycles of Bacteriophages: Lytic and Lysogenic cycles.
19.3 The Reproductive Cycles of Viruses, Enveloped Viruses and Retroviruses.
19.4 Plant viruses, Viroids, Prions.
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