Bio Sci 100: Experimental Biology Laboratory
Course Code: 05400 & 05405
Fall 2008
Peter J. Bryant
Bio Sci 100LW: Experimental Biology Laboratory
You are required to carefully read the course syllabus and outline. The syllabus should be
kept as a permanent part of your notebook and should be brought to class each day so
necessary changes can be made and important dates can be highlighted. This syllabus is
a contract between you and the instructor.
Your lab instructor may have additional information in their lab section syllabus.
Course Coordinator
Dr. Debra Mauzy-Melitz
Steinhaus 113
dmauzyme@uci.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 3:00-4:00 pm
Wednesday 1:00-2:00 pm
CLASS MEETINGS
All Course Lectures:
Section A: TuTh 5-6:20 pm, PSLH 100
Section B: MWF 3-3:50 pm, SH 134
Labs Sections: (SH 230 and SH 236).
MTuWTh 9-11:50 am
MTuWTh 1-3:50 pm
Tu 6:30-9:20 pm
M W 6:00-8:30 pm
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The goal of Bio 100LW is to give you the opportunity to develop basic intellectual and
mechanical skills by forming hypotheses, designing experiments, working efficiently in a
group, analyzing results, recording and organizing data, and presenting findings. Although
the skills are fundamental to all disciplines, they will be introduced in this course as they
are used in experimental biology.
All students are required to attend a course-wide lecture that provides background material
Bio 100LW Experimental Biology Lab
Course Code: 05400 & 05405
Fall 2008
for the coming week's laboratory investigation and assignment. The first lecture of the
week will focus on different aspects of scientific writing. The last lecture of the week will
provide additional background content for the laboratory exercises. Each student is also
assigned to a 3-hour laboratory section which meets weekly. Laboratory section meetings
are led by Graduate Student Teaching Assistants and Lecturers and involve investigation,
discussion, and computer resources.
COURSE WEB SITE & EEE: https://eee.uci.edu/08f/0400/
The course web site is an integral component of this course. The home page has links to the
syllabus, instructor information and Week 0 though 11 class information. The weekly web pages
will have links to reading materials, and information about class assignments and activities.
Please check the site frequently for updates
GRADING POLICY
Percentage
96.5-100%
93.5-96.4%
90-93.4%
86.5-89.5%
83.5-86.4%
80-83.4%
Grade
A+
A
AB+
B
B-
Percentage
77.5-79.5%
73.5-76.4%
70-73.4%
66.5-69.5%
60-66.4%
<60%
Grade
C+
C
CD+
D
F
All scores will be posted in EEE Gradebook. You should check to make sure these have
been correctly recorded. If you notice a mistake in the posted Gradebook, you must
contact your lab instructor within a week after the posting of the score. At the end of the
quarter, each section's performance on the final exam, quizzes and lab assignments will
be compared with its performance in the writing assignments. Any sections that fall
substantially below the norm will have grades adjusted to the norm by adding points to
each student's score.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
(Refer to policy in UCI Catalog http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/appx/appx.2.htm)
Cheating will not be tolerated under any circumstances. We intend to maintain a positive
learning environment for all students, free from the distraction and negative effects of
unethical behavior. Anyone caught cheating on an exam or in plagiarism in any aspect of
the course will be reported and appropriate action taken which may include failing the
course. Cheating affects the entire class learning experience and I repeat will not be
tolerated. In addition, the appropriate deans will be notified. If you have any doubt about
whether some behavior constitutes academic dishonesty, first, assume it does, and then
ask the instructor or your TA to be sure. Please see the University's official policy at
http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/appx/appx.2.htm for more details.
2
Bio 100LW Experimental Biology Lab
Course Code: 05400 & 05405
Fall 2008
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
In addition to exams and assignments, appropriate behavior is a requirement for every
student both in lecture and in lab.
Points
assigned
Assignment
Examinations and Quizzes
Final Exam
Lab Quiz 1
Lab Quiz 2
Weekly Quizzes
100
10
10
80
Writing Assignments
Authorship Activity
Appropriate selected Journal Articles with
annotations
Methods Section paper
Summary of Primary Research Article
Introduction Section paper
Results Section paper
Discussion Section paper
Summary Revision
Lab report on Isopod Experiment
Poster Design Using PowerPoint
10
15
20
15
15
15
25
75
10
Laboratory Assignments
Post Lab Questions
TA points (assignments vary between TAs)
Lab Participation & Preparation
20
10
45
Other
Clicker participation
Class surveys & evaluations
15
5
5
EXAMS AND QUIZZES
The course has 1 final exam, 2 unannounced laboratory quizzes and a weekly quiz (weeks
2-9). All quizzes will cover lecture or lab material and any associated assigned text
material. The final exam will be in a multiple-choice and short answer format.
Examinations will cover all material in the lectures, supplementary materials, audiovisual
aids, discussions, projects, and class activities.
3
Bio 100LW Experimental Biology Lab
Course Code: 05400 & 05405
Fall 2008
Lab quizzes will be given at the beginning of the lab section. Students who are less than
15 minutes late to their lab section may take the quiz but will need to hand in their quiz with
the class. Students late to class will not be given extra time to finish the quiz. Students who
arrive later than the quiz turn-in will not be given the quiz. Weekly quizzes will be given
through EEE and will cover assign reading and past lecture and laboratory content.
The final examination will be taken in a computer lab during finals week. There will be 4
time slots available to take the finals exam, 4-6 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday. Signed up for the final exam time slots will be through EEE and the time will be
announced during lecture. If you do not take the exam during your assigned time, you will
get an incomplete in the course (provided you are otherwise passing the course).
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
All assignments are due by 5:00 PM on the Thursday of the week indicated. All late
assignments will have points deducted from the assignment grade (20% the original
points per day). All writing assignments except for the PowerPoint Poster must be
turned in to BOTH Turnitin.com AND the class DROPBOX on Thursday by 5:00 PM. An
assignment will be considered late if it is not turned in to both locations.
Schedule of Writing Assignment Due dates (due Thursday at 5:00 pm)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Authorship Activity due in Lab section
PDFs of 2 primary articles with annotations
Methods section (on the Bacterial Transformation Experiment)
Summary Paper
Intro (Yeast Fermentation Experiment)
Figure legends & results (Yeast Fermentation Experiment)
Discussion (Yeast Fermentation Experiment)
Revision of Summary paper
Thanksgiving
Lab report due & Poster session (copy also due in lab section)
LABORATORY
Any Pre-lab questions need to be completed before the given the start of each lab section
you are assigned to. Post-lab questions, data tables, graphs or other associated activities
will be due 1 week after the completion of the lab. Depending on the assignment, they will
need to be submitted either to the lab section Dropbox or quiz utility on EEE. Each student
will be responsible for maintaining a lab notebook. Lab preparation prior to your lab session
is important. You will need to come to class ON TIME! You can earn up to 5 points for
each lab class. You will lose points if you are late, have not prepared for the lab, do not
participate in lab discussions and activities or leave your lab bench messy.
PARTICIPATION IN LECTURE
4
Bio 100LW Experimental Biology Lab
Course Code: 05400 & 05405
Fall 2008
We will use clickers during lecture. To receive full credit starting with week 2, you are
required to have your clicker registered and answer at least 75% of the questions asked
in lecture using clickers and have your clicker registered. You will not be penalized for
incorrect answers. You may purchase clickers at the UCI Bookstore. Batteries are not
included, so you will need to purchase those as well. You will need to register your clicker
at http://www.iclicker.com/registration in order to associate your clicker number to your ID
number. If you registered your clicker last quarter, you will need to register it again since
information from previous quarters is not saved. Next, you must register your clicker's
serial number at the iclicker website. You will also need to provide your UCI student ID
number. To help you follow your lecture participation, the number of times you used your
clickers will be shown in the iclicker Gradebook. The values shown are not points but are
just the number of times you used your clicker.
Visit http://iclicker.com/registration/index.html to complete clicker registration.
REQUESTS FOR REGRADES
Requests for regrades of ANY quiz, writing assignment, other assignments or final exam
must be submitted to class Dropbox using the regrade request form (on the class website).
Requests should be typed and very concise. All such requests must be made within ONE
WEEK of the return of the return of the assignment in question. Instructors will only
address re-grade requests from the Dropbox. A regrade request will not be considered
after the deadline has passed. Please note: all regrades are subject to a thorough review
of the entire assignment and therefore it is possible for a score to go up or down during the
regrade!
MAKEUP LABS, QUIZZES or ASSIGMENTS
All requests for a make-up will require official documentation explaining the reason for the
absence. The ONLY reasons for which a make-ups will be considered are: personal
medical emergency - a doctor's note clearly outlining the student's situation, along with the
student's name and the date of the emergency, will be required for verification or a death
in the immediate family - a note from the funeral home or doctor will be required. If you
miss a quiz given during the laboratory session for any reason that does not qualify for a
make-up, you will get a zero on that quiz. If you know of another conflict that will cause
you to miss a lab, you must contact both your TA and the course coordinator prior to the
missed lab. Any make-ups of labs MUST occur within the same week and with the
permission of the coordinator. If you miss a lab, you will lose any associated points for the
lab. You will still be able to write any associated writing assignments for the lab but will
need to contact the TA for any data needed.
COURSE MATERIALS
5
Bio 100LW Experimental Biology Lab
Course Code: 05400 & 05405
Fall 2008
1. Campbell, N.A. and J.B. Reece. 2002 or 2005. Biology. 6th or 7th edition. Menlo
Park, CA: The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. 1247 p. Or you may
use the Bio 93 and 94 UCI Custom editions of Campbell and Reece (93) and
Freeman (94). Readings in the lab manual are for the 7th edition of Campbell and
Reece which will be on reserve at the Science Library.
2. Pechenik, J.A. 2004 or 2007. A Short Guide to Writing About Biology. 5th or 6th
edition. New York: Pearson/Longman. 302 p. (5th edition on reserve at the Science
Library for Bio 100).
3. Laboratory Research Notebook: Any bound laboratory notebook with quadrille
(graph paper) ruling will suffice (e.g. Roaring Springs #'s 77108 or 7759; or National
#53-108, #52-110, #43-648, or #43-591) Please do not get a spiral notebook or one
with carbon copy paper.
4. Recommended: Ebest, S.B., G.J. Alred, C.T. Brusaw, and W.E. Oliu. 2003. Writing
from A to Z. 4th edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company. 505 p.
Earlier or later editions are fine too. You should have this from your lower division
writing class. Please use it!
Lecture and laboratory materials and PowerPoints can be found in the course Dropbox on EEE or
the course website
PREREQUISITES
All students must have satisfactorily completed the Lower Division Writing Requirement
and have completed or be concurrently enrolled in Bio Sci 97 and 194S unless they have
the instructor's permission.
LAB FEE
A laboratory fee must be paid at the Cashier's Office as part of your Zot bill. If you fail to
pay this fee, your fees will be considered incompletely paid and you may lose your course
enrollment and/or be unable to sign up for next quarter's classes. Be sure to pay your
complete Zot bill to avoid such complications.
ADDING/DROPPING THE CLASS
Adds/Drops will be done only via WebReg (this means the Instructor will NOT be signing
any add/drop cards). Adds, drops and section changes are allowed only during the
adjustment period (online) before the first day of class. Please do not try to add during
lectures and/or office hours. THERE WILL BE NO DROPS ALLOWED OF ANY BIO SCI
UPPER-DIVISION LABS (Bio Sci 100LW).

According to the School of Biological Sciences, the LAST DAY TO DROP THE
CLASS is Wednesday September 24, 5:00 PM!
6