General Biology – Laboratory Syllabus
Office Hours –email for appointment
Office – 225M (2nd floor of Sciences Complex)
Instructor Brandon McDonald
Email –bmcdonal@cameron.edu
Phone – (580) 591 - 8009
YOU MUST ENROLL IN A LAB SESSION!
Required Text: General Biology Laboratory Exercises, available @ CU Bookstore
The laboratory section of the general biology course counts for 25% of your overall semester grade.
Grading System
To calculate your final semester course grade
Notebook Check #1
Notebook Check #2
Notebook Check #3
Lab Final Exam
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25 points
25 points
25 points
25 points
(lecture grade)(0.75) + (lab grade)(0.25)
Each student is expected to arrive on time and stay for the entirety of each lab activity.
Missed labs cannot be made up!
At 3 times in the semester, I will ask for your notebook activity for the previous week.
If you are absent on a day that I employ a “random notebook check,” you get a zero – NO
EXCEPTIONS.
A quiz may be given in place of a “Random Notebook Check”
Each student is expected to clean up after themselves – if a student leaves lab without cleaning up,
points will be deducted.
Helpful Hint: By completing each lab activity and subsequently compiling a lab notebook, the student is
creating his or her own study guide for the lab final exam. An incomplete lab notebook will not only be fewer
points for the missing activity but will also be a detriment when it comes time to study for the lab final. An “A”
in lab is obtainable for each student but it requires attendance and participation.
Why Lab is Important
The lab session of the general biology course is intended to act as a hand-on supplement to lecture. Lab is
especially useful for those people who learn by doing (which I think everyone does to some degree). Lab offers
an opportunity for students to experience the biological concepts taught in lecture in a different format. Students
should think of lab as a learning environment supplemental to lecture.
Helpful Quotes
“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’” - Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back)
“There is no substitute for hard work”
“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration” - Thomas Edison (1932)
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I have” - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
“Modern science, as training the mind to an exact and impartial analysis of facts, is an education specially fitted to
promote sound citizenship.” - Karl Pearson (1892)
GENERAL BIOLOGY LAB SCHEDULE - SUMMER 2011
LAB
MONTH
DATE
TOPIC
1
JUNE
06-07
INTRODUCTION/SYLLABUS/SAFETY TRAINING
2
JUNE
08-09
METRICS/MEASUREMENTS/MICROSCOPES
3
JUNE
13-14
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
4
JUNE
14 – 15
PROKARYOTIC/EUKARYOTIC CELLS
5
JUNE
15-16
ENZYMES: SALIVARY AMYLASE
6
JUNE
20-21
CELL CYCLE: MITOSIS
7
JUNE
22-23
MEIOSIS: MAKE A BABY
8
JUNE
27-28
TRANSCRIPTION/TRANSLATION
9
JUNE
29-30
DNA LAB (PART I)
JULY
04-05
INDEPENDENCE DAY (NO LABS)
10
JULY
06-07
DNA LAB (PART II)
11
JULY
11-12
NATURAL SELECTION
12
JULY
13-14
TREE W ALK
13
JULY
18-19
ANIMAL DIVERSITY
JULY
20-21
LAB FINAL EXAM
PAGE # IN MANUAL
N/A