Hawaii Pacific University
BIOL 2052 General Biology II Section ____
Semester and year, meeting times
Instructor: Name, contact information and other relevant information about the instructor.
Course description: A continuation of BIOL 2050. The course includes mechanisms of heredity and
biological evolution, the history of life in all its major forms, and the ecological contexts and constraints
of its existence.
Course prerequisite: A grade of C or better in BIOL 2050.
General Education Requirement: This course is classified under the Global Systems Theme and meets
the requirement for a course in Global Systems A: Natural Systems.
General Education Student Learning Outcomes and the Five Themes: HPU’s general education
curriculum is focused around five themes. This course emphasizes the Global Systems Theme and
provides students with opportunities to achieve the following related general education student
learning outcomes.
Students will utilize various systems approaches or theories to comprehend natural global
processes. The scientific method, evolution and ecological theory are all systems approaches
or theories used to comprehend global biological processes. Scientific literacy skills developed
in this course are systems approaches to document the results of scientific inquiry.
Students will comprehend the global impact of biological and physical science . . . systems.
Natural biological systems evolve within the physical and biological framework in existence.
An understanding of the effect of global systems on evolving systems and the impact of
evolving systems on current global systems is critical to the understanding of the status of
existing natural system and possible changes in natural systems.
Students will understand the importance of global environmental systems and the
interactions between humans and the environment. Living systems interact with their
environment and are interdependent with other systems. A systems approach to the study of
change to biological systems involves the understanding of the effect of the parameter change
on the population genetics, and the physiology and ecology of the organisms.
The course also addresses the Research and Epistemology Theme by providing students with
opportunities to achieve the following related general education student learning outcome:
Students will utilize methods and technologies appropriate to the discipline to investigate
research questions, generate predictions, test hypotheses and/or solve problems. The
laboratory reports completed as part of the accompanying laboratory class are significant
homework assignments based on class investigations which are written into formal format
scientific reports which specifically require prediction, hypothesis and application of lab
generated results to test hypothesis.
Note: Purple text shows places where specific course information must be filled in. Red text contains
explanatory notes to the instructor which should be deleted before using the syllabus. Blue explanations
above should be rephrased by the individual instructor to reflect the specific approach in that section of
the course. Course-specific outcomes below are an example and may also be rephrased or modified by
the instructor.
Course-Specific Student Learning Outcomes for BIOL 2052 General Biology II
A student that passes this class should be able to successfully demonstrate though exams, quizzes and
homework assignments the ability to:
1. Diagram the stages of mitosis and meiosis, including similarities and differences, and discuss the
evolutionary advantages of sexual reproduction and genetic recombination.
2. Understand how genetic information is inherited and the processes that govern inheritance,
identify Gregor Mendel’s contribution to the understanding of genetic inheritance and discuss
the importance of genetic inheritance to the theory of evolution
3. Diagram the basic structure of DNA and how it is replicated; understand how genetic mutations
occur, how they are corrected and what can happen when they aren’t corrected; and diagram
and discuss what we know about the complex processes of transcription, translation and gene
regulation
4. Define evolution, natural selection and the biological species concept; begin to understand how
natural selection, working together with genetic mutation, could have resulted in the biological
diversity we see today through processes such as microevolution, speciation, gradualism, mass
extinction, punctuated equilibrium and co-evolution by giving examples of each process
5. Distinguish between the different groups of land plants, including mosses, ferns, conifers and
angiosperms, and give specific examples of how each group has become adapted for life on land
6. Briefly describe the differences among the three groups of single-celled organisms present on
Earth today, the archaea, bacteria and eukaryotic protists; give specific examples of how singlecelled organisms affect our daily lives; and discuss the endosymbiotic theory for eukaryotic cells
and it’s implications for the evolution of multicellular organisms including algae and metazoans
7. List the categories biologists use to classify life; discuss major events in the evolution of
metazoans; and list and briefly describe several major phyla of terrestrial and aquatic metazoans
and give specific examples of how each group is adapted to their environment
8. Define population, dispersion, demography and carrying capacity; describe the key concepts of
population biology, including the important abiotic and biotic factors that regulate population
growth; and give specific examples of different life history strategies and their implications for
population growth and survivorship
9. Define community, keystone species, ecological succession and diversity; give specific examples
of ecological interactions such as competition, predation, herbivory, parasitism, disease,
mutualism and commensalism; define trophic transfer and construct a simple food web; and
discuss what we know about the factors that regulate biodiversity
For the rest of these required syllabus items see the details in the faculty handbook. Delete this note
once the syllabus is complete. For online courses there are some additional requirements given at this
link.
Texts List textbooks with ISBN’s and include this language as well
All textbook information (pricing, ISBN #, and e-books) for this course can be found on the HPU
Bookstore website: hpu.edu/bookstore.
If you have any questions regarding textbooks, please contact the HPU Bookstore at:
Phone:
808-544-9347
Or e-mail:
jyokota@hpu.edu
mmiyahira@hpu.edu
Assignments and mode of evaluation
Summary of important dates and deadlines (if the schedule is a separate document and due dates are
not given with the description of the assignments).
Class rules and policies (including regarding attendance, late work and academic dishonesty)
Schedule of events (may be attached separately)