BIOL 1010 FACULTY STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES
The following course standards and objectives have been established in order to
1) Meet the guidelines for the SLCC General Education Program and
2) Meet minimum standards for the SLCC Biology Department.
Course Description:
Introduction to Biology for non-science majors. A survey of living diversity from bacteria to
plants and animals. Introduces cell structure and physiology, inheritance, evolution and
classification. Three hours of lecture per week with additional lab component (BIOL 1015)
required. This course fulfills the General Education Biological Science credit (BS) required of
degree seeking students by the Utah State Board of Regents.
Standard Course Curriculum:
Instructors are expected to cover Chapters 1-15 (Chapters 11, 12 and above 15 are optional).
Additional optional topics include Ecology (included in textbook), Plant or Animal Form and
Function (available on web). These standards should meet any requirements for students wanting
to transfer credits to a different school.
Instructions on Specific Assignments and Processes:
Methodologies utilized in this class include: lecture, readings in the textbook, and laboratory
work. Lectures, where possible, will be coordinated with laboratories. Reading assignments are
coordinated with lectures. Student performance in the lecture portion of this course will be
assessed using exams and/or quizzes and a minimum of one writing assignment (see below).
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. If appropriate, the class may meet in other settings.
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.
Students will be REQUIRED to complete a writing assignment in this course that will be
uploaded to the student’s General Education ePortfolio. At the instructor’s discretion, writing
assignments can take many forms including but not limited to a research paper, issue paper, short
essays or journal summaries. An important component of the writing assignment should be for
the student to critically evaluate a topic in biology (organic evolution, embryonic stem cell
research, human cloning, global climate change etc.) that is either controversial or of current
importance. Writing assignments should be prepared in an electronic format and uploaded to the
ePortfolio.
Grading and Assessment
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.
For SLCC assessment purposes, ALL sections of BIOL1010 are REQUIRED to take a
comprehensive Department Final Exam. The Biology Department will provide each faculty
member a copy of the questions. The departmental questions will be based on the course
objectives and can be incorporated into the instructor’s comprehensive final exam or can be used
as the final exam in its entirety. Each instructor is responsible for turning in a combined Item
Analysis form to the department along with the above mentioned grade report.
1) The laboratory score should constitute TWENTY PERCENT (20%) of the student’s
final grade.
2) The Departmental Final Exam should constitute no more than TEN PERCENT (10%)
of the student’s total grade.
3) At least 50 percent of the student’s course grade MUST consist of work (e.g. exams,
assignments) assessed IN CLASS.
The following statements MUST be included on each syllabus:
General Education Statement:
This course fulfills the Biological Sciences requirement for the General Education
Program at Salt Lake Community College. It is designed not only to teach the information and
skills required by the discipline, but also to develop vital workplace skills and to teach strategies
and skills that can be used for lifelong learning.
General Education courses teach basic skills as well as broaden a student’s knowledge of
a wide range of subjects. Education is much more than the acquisition of facts; it is being able to
use information in meaningful ways in order to enrich one’s life. While the subject of each course
is important and useful, we become truly educated through making connections of such varied
information with the different methods of organizing human experience that are practiced by
different disciplines. Therefore, this course, when combined with other General Education
courses, will enable you to develop broader perspectives and deeper understandings of your
community and the world, as well as challenge previously held assumptions about the world and
its inhabitants.
General Education ePortfolio Statement:
Each student in General Education courses at SLCC will maintain a General Education
ePortfolio. Instructors in every Gen Ed course will ask you to put at least one assignment
from the course into your ePortfolio, and accompany it with reflective writing. It is a
requirement in this class for you to add to your ePortfolio.
Your ePortfolio will allow you to include your educational goals, describe your
extracurricular activities, and post your resume. When you finish your time at SLCC,
your ePortfolio will then be a multi-media showcase of your educational experience.
For detailed information including a Student ePortfolio Handbook, video tutorials
for each ePortfolio platform, classes, locations and times of free workshops and other inperson help, visit http://www.slcc.edu/gened/eportfolio.
Course Learning Outcomes:
The following learning outcomes have been broken into two categories: 1) General Objectives
and 2) Specific Chapter Objectives. All instructors are expected to provide students a general
understanding of each of these learning outcomes. The General Objectives meet the guidelines
for the SLCC General Education Program. The Specific Chapter Objectives meet minimum
standards for the Biology Department and are consistent with the current text: The SLCC Custom
Edition “Concepts of Biology”, 2011. 2nd Ed by Sylvia Mader. Please use the Specific Chapter
Objectives to guide instruction and assessment and to prepare students for the Comprehensive
Department Final Exam.
Biology 1010 General Objectives:
A person educated in the life sciences should have an understanding of these essential concepts:
Concept 1 - Unifying Themes of Life: Students will be introduced to and will show mastery in the
major unifying themes of biology. These themes include: 1. The domain and process of science,
2. The chemical basis of life, 3. The cell as the basic unit of life, 4. Evolution and the diversity
of life, 5. DNA and the continuity of life, and 6. The interrelationships of living organisms. The
concept of organizational levels and emergent properties of life will also be emphasized.
Concept 2 - Unity and Diversity of Life: Students will understand and be able to describe the
“atoms to ecosystem” organizational system of living organisms, namely: atoms → molecules →
cells → tissues → organs → organ systems → whole organisms → populations → ecosystems.
They will be able to discuss the basic conditions that define “life”. They will be able to compare
the major kingdoms of living organisms.
Concept 3 – Chemistry of Life: Students will understand the chemical basis for life. This will
include both inorganic and organic molecules.
Concept 4 - Metabolism: Students will understand and be able to compare the metabolic
processes carried out by living organisms in the different kingdoms. They will be able to
describe the inter-relationships of these metabolic processes.
Concept 5 - Cell Biology: Students will appreciate the cellular basis of life and be able to
compare cellular organization among the various kingdoms. They will understand the structure
and function of cellular components.
Concept 6 - Cell Division and Reproduction: Students will understand the events of the cell cycle
and how sexual life cycles and asexual life cycles are used by various organisms. Students will
appreciate the need for both genetic stability and mutability.
Concept 7 - Transmission Genetics: Students will be able to describe how genetic traits are
passed from one generation to the next. Students will be able to predict resulting offspring from
various parental crosses. Students will appreciate the relationship between chromosomal
behavior or genetic transmission.
Concept 8 - Molecular Genetics: Students will understand and be able to discuss the chemistry of
DNA, including its structure, replication, and expression.
Concept 9 - Evolutionary Biology/Population Genetics: Students will appreciate that the
diversity of life existing today has arisen through the process of evolution. Students will
understand and be able to describe forces that increase genetic diversity and decrease genetic
diversity in a population.
Concept 10 - Diversity of Life: Students will understand and be able to compare the major
kingdoms of living organisms.
Concept 11 – Interactions: The interactions of organisms with each other and with their
environment. The consequences of interactions between humans and the biosphere.
Biology 1010 Specific Chapter Objectives:
Chapter 1 –Biology, The Study of Life:
Each student should understand:
1. That evolution explains why organisms are characterized by diversity and unity.
2. The characteristics that describe living organisms (life).
3. The hierarchy of biological organization.
4. The diversity and general classification of living organisms
5. That human beings are living organisms dependent for survival and quality of life on the
biological and physical natural world.
6. The value and use science as a process of obtaining knowledge based upon observable
evidence.
7. The method and practice of scientific inquiry.
Chapter 2 – Basic Chemistry and Cells:
Each student should understand:
1. That all matter is composed of chemical elements.
2. The elements that make up living organisms.
3. The structure and chemical properties of atoms.
4. That atoms react with one another to form molecules though chemical bonds and attractions.
5. The structure and unique properties of water.
6. The dissociation of water, the pH scale, and buffers and the harmful effects of acid deposition.
Chapter 3 – Organic Molecules and Cells:
Each student should understand:
1. The chemical properties of carbon atoms.
2. The diversity of organic molecules makes life diverse (e,g, functional groups, monomers)
3. The synthesis and breakdown of biological polymers.
4. The basic structure and function of the four types of biological macromolecules.
Chapter 4 – Structure and Function of Cells:
Each student should understand:
1. That cells are the basic units of life.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The different sizes and types of cells and how cells are studied.
The basic structures found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
That the synthesis of macromolecules is a major function of cells
That cells carry-out energy transformations.
The functions of vesicles and vacuoles, the cytoskeleton and cellular junctions.
Chapter 5 – Dynamic Activities of Cells:
Each student should understand:
1. Energy and the laws that govern energy transformations.
2. The basics of cellular metabolism (endergonic/exergonic).
3. The structure and cycle of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
4. The basic concepts of enzyme function.
5. The structure and function of the plasma membrane.
6. The different types of transport across membranes.
Chapter 6 – Pathways of Photosynthesis:
Each student should understand:
1. That autotrophs are the producers of the biosphere.
2. That photosynthesis is a redox reaction that produces food and releases oxygen.
3. That photosynthesis involves two sets of reactions: The light reactions and the Calvin cycle
reactions.
4. The light reaction absorbs solar energy and converts it into chemical energy.
5. The Calvin cycle (dark reaction) produces a carbohydrate using CO 2
6. That C 4 and CAM plants also produce a carbohydrate but under different conditions.
7. That photosynthesis helps moderate global climate change.
Chapter 7 – Pathways of Cellular Respiration:
Each student should understand:
1. That ATP is universal.
2. That cellular respiration (aerobic) is a redox reaction that requires oxygen.
3. That cellular respiration has four phases. Three phases occur in the mitochondria.
4. The electron transport chain captures much energy.
5. That carbon dioxide and water are produced during glucose breakdown.
6. The types of anaerobic respiration (Fermentation).
7. That other organic molecules can be broken down and synthesized as needed.
Chapter 8 - Cell Division and Reproduction:
Each student should understand:
1. That cell division ensures the transmission of genetic information.
2. That cell division is involved in both asexual and sexual reproduction.
3. That prokaryotes reproduce asexually.
4. That somatic cells have a cell cycle and undergo mitosis and cytokinesis. Mitosis maintains
the chromosome number.
5. That cancer is uncontrolled cell division.
6. That meiosis produces cells that become the gametes in animals and spores in other organisms.
7. That meiosis halves the number of chromosomes because homologous chromosomes separate
during meiosis. Synapsis and crossing-over also occur during meiosis.
8. That meiosis and the importance of genetic variation.
9. The types and causes of chromosomal mutations.
Chapter 9 - Patterns of Genetic Inheritance:
Each student should understand:
1. That Gregor Mendel deduced the Laws of Inheritance.
2. The units of heritance are alleles of genes.
3. That Mendel’s law of segregation describes how gametes pass on traits.
4. That Mendel’s law of independent assortment describes inheritance of multiple traits.
5. That monohybrid and dihybrid crosses are used to show Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
6. The more complex patterns of non-Mendelian genetics (incomplete, complete, polygenic,
pleiotropy etc).
7. The use of pedigree analysis in human genetics and genetic disorders.
8. That chromosomes are the carriers of genes.
Chapter 10 - Molecular Biology of Inheritance:
Each student should understand:
1. That DNA is the genetic material.
2. The Structure of the DNA double helix.
3. The Mechanism of DNA replication and repair.
4. That genes specify the makeup of proteins.
5. The making of a protein requires transcription and translation.
6. The genetic code for amino acids is a triplet code that is virtually universal.
7. That gene mutations are changes in the sequence of DNA bases that affect genetic information
and expression.
Chapter 13 – Darwin and Evolution:
Each student should understand:
1. The development of evolutionary theory.
2. That Charles Darwin formulated natural selection as a mechanism for evolution.
3. The evidences for the principle/theory of evolution.
4. That population genetics tells us when microevolution occurs.
5. The various ways genetic variation arises in populations.
6. The process of natural selection and that it can be stabilizing, directional, or disruptive.
Chapter 14 - Speciation and Evolution:
Each student should understand:
1. That species have been defined in more than one way.
2. That reproductive barriers maintain genetic differences between species.
3. The basic concept of macroevolution and speciation and that the origin of new species usually
requires geographic separation (e.g. allopatric speciation).
4. The other mechanisms of speciation (e.g. sympatric speciation).
5. The fossil record shows both gradual and rapid speciation.
Chapter 15 – The History and Classification of Life on Earth:
Each student should understand:
1. The fossil record reveals the history of life on earth.
2. That continental drift and mass extinctions have affected the history of life.
3. That organisms are classified into categories and that the Linnaean classification system
reflects phylogeny.
4. The three-domain classification system.
* All other chapters/topics are optional as time permits.