Syllabus
LIFE ON EARTH (15Biol 104)
Monday
6:30-9:10 P.M.
FALL, 2006
300 Braunstein
Professor:
Dr. Denis Conover (conovedg@hotmail.com).
Office Hours:
Room 604 Rieveschl: Monday 5-6; Wed., Thurs., and Friday 11-12, plus by appointment
Pre-requisites:
There are no pre-requisites for this course. The General Biology sequence is designed for nonscience majors and can be used to fulfill the A&S Distribution Requirement for Natural Science.
Required Text:
BIOLOGY 9TH EDITION by Sylvia Mader. The U.C. bookstore has a paperback, customized version
(ISBN 0-07-332374-8) that is less expensive ($93) than the regular version. Some other versions of the
same book that are acceptable are:
Biology (Reinforced NASTA Binding for Secondary Market): ISBN 0073258393
Biology 9th Edition (downloadable digital text): ISBN 0072464631
Biology w/ARIS bind in card (Hardcover): ISBN 0073209287
Note: In some cases we will only be covering portions of the chapters listed below. I will only test you
over material that we cover in class. I will let you know in class which portions to read to prepare for the
exams. It is important that you attend the lectures and take notes. This is not a distance learning course!
LECTURE SEQUENCE AND DATES OF EXAMS
(this is a tentative schedule which is subject to modification)
Sequence of Topics to be Covered
Chapters in
Textbook
A View of Life; Darwin and Evolution;
1, 17
Process of Evolution; Origin and History of Life
18, 19,
+ pg. 294
Classification of Living Things; Biodiversity: Viruses, Bacteria,
20, 21-24,
Archaea, Protists, Fungi and Plants, Animals
29-31
Human Evolution; Ecology: Populations; Communities;
32, 46-49
Ecosystems; The Biosphere
Dates of
Exams
Oct. 9
Oct. 23
Exam 1
Exam 2
Nov. 13
Exam 3
Chapters on
Each Exam
1, 17
18, 19,
+ pg. 294
20, 21-24,
Dec. 4
At 6:30
Exam 4
29-31
32, 46-49
Blackboard and Communication:
The blackboard site (http://blackboard.uc.edu/) will be an important source of course information. You
need to check the site on a regular basis. I will communicate with the entire class through Bb
announcements and with individuals by email. I will use the email that is listed on Bb for you, so make
sure the address is correct and that you check that address for messages.
The syllabus, all announcements, sample exam questions, study guides, PowerPoint lectures, etc. will be
posted on Blackboard under Course Documents. I will be making the PowerPoint slides available on
Blackboard, but the slides are only an outline of the material presented in class. Therefore, you must
attend class and take notes to do well on the exams. Your class notes are a very important study aid for
the exams.
IMPORTANT: Your textbook provides you with a tutorial website (www.mhhe.com/maderbiology9)
which you will find VERY useful. The site provides you with interactive materials such as Self-Tests,
Review Questions, Flash Cards, Animations and other materials. There are sample quizzes in the
Glossary and FlashCard section. Do not email the results of the sample tests or quizzes to me. They are
for your use to study only.
Course Objectives:
You will be exposed to a significant amount of information this quarter. Do not panic! Overwhelming
you with “facts” is not an objective of the course. Instead, it is expected that you will learn; specifically
that you will learn some fundamental concepts about life on earth. First, we will examine the logic of
how life emerged and changed over long periods of time. With this in mind, we will then look at the
diversity of contemporary groups of living things and how they fit into the environment as populations
and as members of communities.
My goal is to help you to connect and to integrate the ideas within these big areas (i.e. evolution of life,
diversity of current life forms, and the ecology of life). Hopefully, you will understand these concepts
well enough that you can independently evaluate and incorporate new information into your personal
“body of knowledge”.
Suggestions for how to do well in this course:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Come to class, take notes and ask questions.
Read the assigned chapters in your textbook.
Work on the questions at the end of each chapter.
Use your textbook’s web site.
Use the PowerPoint slides and study aids that I post on Blackboard.
Keep up with your reading assignments. Do not wait until the last minute to study for a test.
Attendance:
Attendance is important because I will talk about information in class that will be on the exams that is
not on the PowerPoint Lecture slides.
Courtesy in the classroom:
Rules of common courtesy must be followed during lectures. This includes arriving on time, not carrying
on conversations in the classroom, and turning off your cell phones and pagers. If the noise level in the
room becomes excessive, the lecture will simply stop, but the material listed in the syllabus will still be
covered on the exams. You are encouraged to sit toward the front of the classroom. The screen is more
visible there, you can hear the lectures better, and there are fewer distractions.
Exams:
There will be 4 exams. Each exam will be worth 25% of your grade. The last exam will only be over
material covered after the third exam.
The material tested on the exams will include information covered in class lectures, as well as those parts
of the text that cover the same topics. The assigned chapters are listed on your syllabus. The exams will
be composed of multiple-choice questions. You will have to bring a #2 pencil with you to fill out a
scantron sheet during the exams. Do not erase anything on the scantron sheet. Be sure of your answer
before you mark it on the scantron sheet so you will not have to erase anything. Do not put extra marks on
the scantron sheet.
Please bring a picture ID to all exams; you may be asked to show your I.D. when you turn in your exam.
Your grades will be posted on Blackboard.
If you have a legitimate excuse (illness, injury or death in the family) for missing one of the first three
exams you will be allowed to take one make-up exam at the time of the final exam. Note: The make-up
exams will be more challenging than the regular exams, so try not to miss any of the regular exams. You
cannot miss more than one of the first three exams. If you miss one of the first three exams you must see
me, provide documentation of your excuse, and sign up to take the make-up exam.
Grading policy:
A 90% in the class is an A, an 80% is a B, a 70% is a C, and a 60% is a D.
Any grade below 60% is an F.
Academic Integrity Statement:
The University Rules, including the Student Code of Conduct, and other documented policies of the
department, college, and university related to academic integrity will be enforced. Any violation of these
regulations, including acts of plagiarism or cheating, will be dealt with on an individual basis according to
the severity of the misconduct. The Student Code of Conduct document can be accessed at:
http://www.uc.edu/ucinfo/conduct.html.
Supplemental Instruction (SI):
Biology 101 is considered to be a historically difficult course here at the University of Cincinnati.
Historically difficult courses are those that have a high rate of D or F grades and withdrawals. SI
provides regularly scheduled, out-of-class, peer-facilitated sessions.
SI sessions are designed to help you integrate how-to-learn with what-to-learn. You attend the SI
sessions to develop study strategies for note taking, graphic organization, questioning techniques,
vocabulary acquisition, and test preparation as you process information and review course material for
this class. SI provides you with the opportunity to become actively involved with your classmates as they
process the text, supplementary readings, and lecture notes. SI uses the course content as a vehicle for
developing learning skills. Your attendance is on a voluntary basis and no effort is made to segregate you
based on your academic ability. Since SI is introduced on the first day of classes and is open to everyone,
SI is not viewed as remedial.
During the first week of class a representative from the SI program will talk to the class about the
program and will conduct a survey in order to determine the SI session times that are best for the majority
of students.
The other instructors in this sequence (Biology 102 and 103) will explain their policies at the beginning of
each term. They may not be exactly the same as mine, though they will be similar. As an example, the
materials posted on Blackboard may be different, study aids may be different, and the policy regarding
makeup exams may be different.
Disclaimer:
All portions of the syllabus are subject to change. Students are responsible for any changes announced in
class and on blackboard. For example, modifications may have to be made if there are snow days this
quarter.