Biology 1306 - Introductory Biology
Syllabus, Spring 2005
Course Description: Survey of contemporary biology that covers the chemical basis of life,
structure, function and physiology of the cell, molecular biology and microevolution. Three lecture
hours and one discussion hour a week for one semester. Concurrent enrollment in BIOL 1106
recommended.
General Education Requirements: This course is part of the general education requirements for
Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and satisfies the component area, General Science.
Course prerequisites: Exemption from or completion of WRIT 0300, READ 0300 and ALGE 0301
with a grade of C or better.
Course Objective: To increase knowledge, understanding and critical thinking ability concerning
core biological processes and theories in order to prepare the student to succeed in follow-on biology
courses.
This course is being team taught. The team members are:
Dr. Cynthia Galloway
Office: BES 205 Telephone: 361-593-3790 – email: C-Galloway at tamuk.edu
Web Page: users.tamuk.edu/kfcmg00
Office Hours: 01:00-3:00 M-F, or by appointment. Also, feel free to stop by the office at any time
and if I am there I will be happy to meet with you.
Dr. Jon Baskin
Office: Nierman 106 Telephone: 361 593-3580 -- e-mail: kfjab02 at tamuk.edu.
Office Hours: - M, W or by appointment. I am frequently in my office at other times, and will be
happy to visit with you if I’m not specifically engaged.
Required Text: Solomon, Berg, Martin; Biology, 7th Edition; Thomson/BrooksCole. Each student
is also required to acquire a student transmitter for TurningPoint and a PIN for WebCT. Both are
available through the TAMUK bookstore and may come bundled with a new textbook. This textbook
is also used for BIOL II . The student transmitter will also be used in BIOL II and may be used in
other courses, as well.
Recommended Study Materials: Study Guide for textbook, Biology Now CD (both are packaged
with purchase of new textbook.
Grading: Student grade will be determined in the following manner
Homework.…………….. 100 points
Recitation quizzes……… 100 points
Writing Assignments…... 200 points
Exam 1 ............................ 100 points
Exam 2 ............................ 100 points
Exam 3 ............................ 100 points
Exam 4 ............................ 100 points
Final Exam....................... 200 points
Total
1000 points
Please keep all of tests and assignments, in case there is a question concerning the assigned grade in
the course. Grades will be awarded as follows:
90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, and less than 60% = F
The last day to drop the course with an automatic grade of Q is March 28. After March 28, you must
talk to me before dropping the course. The last day to drop the course with a Q if you have a passing
grade is April 25. It is up to you to take care of all the necessary paperwork
Study Suggestions for Introductory Biology from other universities:
University of Georgia Marshall Darley, http://www.botany.uga.edu/~darley/studybio.html
Southern Plains College, http://www.spc.cc.tx.us/biology/lsmith/lsmith.html#Zoology
Cornell Learning Strategies, http://www.clt.cornell.edu/campus/learn/learn.html
How to Succeed in Biology: University of Miami,
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/~cmallery/ACADEMIC.HTM
Reading Assignments/Homework: There will be a reading assignment prior to each week’s lecture
periods to prepare you for the lecture. The student must complete each assigned online quiz prior to
the applicable lecture. These quizzes are part of the homework. The student will receive a grade
based upon the combined score. Each assignment is worth 10 points, and there will be no make-ups
under any circumstances, except as noted under university computer system problems below.
There will be five or six online essay questions during the semester. Student answers are graded
interactively. THERE WILL BE NO MAKEUPS FOR THESE QUESTIONS UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES. Additionally, you must complete ALL the steps in the process or you will
receive a ZERO for that assignment.
Internet Access: This course is heavily internet based. The reading assignment quizzes and the
writing assignments are all done online. We will have a class WebCT site where we can mail each
other and also have group discussions. You are responsible for all information posted by the
instructor on that site. There are often problems with accessing the internet. The problems may be
with your own computer, with your internet service provider, or with the university system itself.
Problems with your computer, or any other computer you use are not acceptable excuses for missing
an assignment deadline. Problems with your internet service provider are not valid excuses for
missing an assignment deadline. If you wait until the last minute to try to submit an assignment, and
cannot do so because of either of those situations, there will be no makeup.
Problems with the university service MAY be an acceptable excuse for missing an assignment
deadline at the discretion of the instructors. This will normally only be considered if there is a
continuous outage that lasts for more than one day immediately prior to the assignment being due.
Lecture Exams: The FOUR periodic exams and the FINAL exam will cover material presented in
class as well as information from the textbook. The examinations will consist of multiple-choice
questions and short answer questions. All exams will be COMPREHENSIVE, although the first four
exams will emphasize material covered during the exam period. The final lecture exam is also
COMPREHENSIVE, giving you the opportunity to synthesize various topics covered during the
semester. (In general the review questions will come from those topics that were most often missed
on previous exams or homework.)
Multiple-choice questions will be machine graded. Each student must buy FIVE (5) Scantron sheets
from the bookstore, one for each periodic exam and one for the final. Scantron sheets will NOT be
available in class the days of the exams. Bring a Number 2 pencil and your Texas A&M-Kingsville
ID to each examination. The Scantron sheet and the examination sheets MUST be turned in together,
or else you will be given an incomplete (I) grade for the course and a zero (0) for the examination.
You may sometimes have more than one exam scheduled during the same week or even on the same
day. It will be up to you to manage your time properly to deal with such situations. Our schedule in
this course is too tight to modify it to accommodate another class. If you feel you have a problem in
this area, please see me WELL BEFORE the exam.
Lectures: The lectures will often cover material in addition to what is contained in the text, and will
assume that you have completed the quiz for the pre-lecture reading assignments.
Recitation: This time allows for increased interaction with the instructor. There is no advance
schedule of activities. The primary purpose is to help students better understand topics that are not
clear.
Guided Notes: You will be provided access to a set of guided notes prior to each chapter. These can
be downloaded from the class web site are designed to assist you in note-taking during lecture. They
are NOT intended to be comprehensive.
Tentative Schedule
Week of
Reading Assignment/Lecture Topic
Jan 11
Ch 1, A View of Life;
Ch 2, Atoms & Molecules: The Chemical Basis of Life;
Jan 18
Jan 25
Feb 1
Ch 3, The Chemistry of Life: Organic Compounds
Ch 4, Organization of the Cell
Ch 5, Biological Membranes
Exam 1;
Ch 6, Energy & Metabolism;
Ch 7, How Cells Make ATP: Energy-Releasing Pathways;
Ch 8, Photosynthesis: Capturing Energy
Feb 8
Feb 15
Feb 22
March 1
March 8
March 15
March 22
March 29
Apr 5
Apr 12
Apr 19
April 26
Apr 30
Chap 9, Chromosomes, Mitosis, & Meiosis;
Exam 2
Ch 10, The Basic Principles of Heredity;
Ch 11, DNA: The Carrier of Genetic Information;
SPRING BREAK
Ch 12, Gene Expression
Exam 3
Ch 13, Gene Regulation
Ch 16, Genes & Development
Ch 17 Introduction to Darwinian Evolution
Ch 18, Evolutionary Change in Population ;
Ch 19, Speciation & Macroevolution
Ch 22, Understanding Diversity: Systematics; Exam 4
Ch 23, Viruses & Prokaryotes, Ch 24, The Protists
Final Exam: 10:30 AM
H/W due by
8:00 AM
Ch2 only 1/13
1/18
Ch 17
Ch 18
Ch 19
Apr 26
Make-up Policy: There will be NO make-ups for unexcused missed exams. If you miss one lecture
examination, the percent score on the final will be substituted for the missed test. You will receive a
zero for each additional missed exam. In the case of crises and emergencies (that you can document
and that are considered a valid excuse by me), talk to me (or phone me) BEFORE the exam and more
flexible arrangements may be scheduled. (Under those conditions the exam may be unique, and may
be more difficult) BONUS: If you take all four lecture exams, you may substitute your lowest grade
with the final exam percent grade, if the final exam grade is better.
Classroom Decorum: Cell phones shall be turned off during class. If your cell phone rings during
class a 25 point deduction will be made from possible bonus points.
Do NOT carry on personal conversations once lecture has started. Repeated offences will
result in you being removed from the lecture.
Other: There is no policy of required attendance. However, it is unlikely that you will earn an
acceptable grade if you do not attend class regularly. Attendance will be recorded for each lecture
and will be considered in the final grade, especially in borderline cases. Attendance alone does not
guarantee a passing grade. It is important that you take complete and comprehensive notes of the
lecture material. It is also essential that you study regularly.
We reserve the right to drop a student for regular non-attendance or for regularly failing to
turn in assignments or take exams. Regular attendance in both lecture and recitation, plus active class
participation can result in up to 75 bonus points at the discretion of the instructor. This will normally
be the only extra credit opportunity available during the semester.
The university offers special workshops for students who need to improve their note taking
and study skills.
The last day to drop the course with an automatic grade of Q is November 1 at 5:00 PM.
After that, you must talk to us before dropping the course. The last day to drop the course with a Q
with instructor permission is November 29. It is up to you to take care of all the necessary
paperwork. If you want to learn directly from us your final grade in the course leave us a stamped
self-addressed envelope during finals week.
Disability Statement: Students with disabilities, including learning disabilities, who wish to request
accommodations in class, should register with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) early
in the semester so that appropriate arrangements may be made. In accordance with federal laws, a
student requesting special accommodations must provide documentation of their disability to the SSD
coordinator.
Academic misconduct statement: You are expected to practice academic honesty in every aspect of
this course and all other courses. Make sure you are familiar with your Student Handbook, especially
the section on academic misconduct. Students who engage in academic misconduct are subject to
university disciplinary procedures.
Forms of academic dishonesty:
1) Cheating: deception in which a student misrepresents that he/she has mastered information on an
academic exercise that he/she has not mastered; giving or receiving aid unauthorized by the instructor
on assignments or examinations.
2) Academic misconduct: tampering with grades or taking part in obtaining or distributing any part of
a scheduled test.
3) Fabrication: use of invented information or falsified research.
4) Plagiarism: unacknowledged quotation and/or paraphrase of someone else’s words, ideas, or data
as one’s own in work submitted for credit. Failure to identify information or essays from the Internet
and submitting them as one’s own work also constitutes plagiarism.
Nonacademic misconduct: The university respects the rights of instructors to teach and students to
learn. Maintenance of these rights requires campus conditions that do not impede their exercise.
Campus behavior that interferes with either
1) The instructor’s ability to conduct the class
2) The inability of other students to profit from the instructional program, or
3) Campus behavior that interferes with the rights of others will not be tolerated.
An individual engaging in such disruptive behavior may be subject to disciplinary action. Such
incidents will be adjudicated by the Dean of Students under nonacademic procedures.
Sexual misconduct: Sexual harassment of students and employers at Texas A&M UniversityKingsville is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Any member of the university community
violating this policy will be subject to disciplinary action.