Biology 105: Man and Environment, Fall 2014
Tue 7pm-9:50pm; Rm: S 103
Instructor: Michelle Giffin
Phone: None – Please e-mail
Email: Mgiffin@cerritos.edu
Office: S129 Office Hours: Tue By appointment
Course Description: To develop a better understanding of environmental problems, including those related
to genetic diversity, pollution, overpopulation, over-consumption, and available natural resources. We will
emphasize how these problems are related and how an understanding of environmental principles can help us
to live on our planet more intelligently and more successfully.
Required Text: Environment, 6th or 7th Edition. Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl. 2008.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend every lecture session. If you must miss a class, it is your
responsibility to learn all materials covered on that day, as well as pick up any handouts which were passed
out during class. Lectures are not available online and you are encouraged to have an in class contact who
can provide you with any materials missed due to absence. Any quiz, classwork, or exam missed due to
absence can NOT be made up. You can be dropped from the course for missing more than 5 class
sessions; however it is also your responsibility to WITHDRAW from the course if you choose to stop
attending. Failure to withdraw from the course may result in a grade of ‘F’ at the end of the semester. If you
are late to class or leave early it is possible you may be counted absent for that class period.
Expectations:
 Attend every lecture and be on time. Tardiness beyond 15 minutes may be counted as an absence.
 Be prepared for each quiz by reviewing the material to be covered
 Ask for clarification on any lecture material prior to the following week’s quiz/exam
 Keep all cell phones, pagers, beeping equipment, etc… turned off during class and put away.
 No food or drink should be consumed in the lecture hall.
Classwork/Homework: Class assignments may be given during a class period. If you are absent or late at
the time the assignment is given, you will not be able to take it late or make it up. There are no make-ups
for missed classwork.
Exams: There will be four exams, consisting of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions
throughout the semester, each worth 100 pts. (see lecture schedule). You will need to bring a scantron 882
for the multiple choice portion of the exam and a blue/green book for the written portion of the exam. The
final exam will be worth 100 pts. Make-up exams may be arranged prior to the exam date and on a case-bycase basis. If you miss or will miss an exam you must contact me as soon as possible for this arrangement.
There are no late make-ups for exams.
Quizzes: There will be ~5-6 quizzes consisting of multiple choice and true/false questions. Quizzes will be
given randomly throughout the semester and will be done at the beginning of class. These will be short 15
min exercises worth 10 pts. each. At the end of the semester the lowest quiz grade will be dropped. There
are no make-up quizzes. You will need scantron #815-E.
Grading: Your final grade will be assigned on a straight scale and based on the possible points below.
A (90% - 100%)
B (80% - 89%)
C (70% - 79%)
D (60% - 69%)
F (less than 60%)
4 Exams – 100 pts. each
6 Quizzes (1 dropped)- 10pts each
Class Assignments/Homework – 10pts each
Total Points Possible
= 400 pts
= 50 pts
= 50-100 pts
= 500-550 pts
Being Successful
As a science, biology will require a lot of time outside of lecture and lab to be successful. There is a lot of
vocabulary to learn and this class will move at a fast pace. You will need to be willing to spend at least 10
hours a week (not counting lecture and lab) studying. I recommend that you use the resources available to
you such as tutoring, forming study groups, the internet, etc. so that you can be successful. Biology is not a
subject that you can cram for the night before the test. Stay on top of your reading and studying from the
beginning! I want you to be successful so let me know how I can help you.
Academic Support Center
The ASC is located in the lower level of the library, LRC east, and has tutors available in most subjects.
Each student is entitled to 30 hours per semester at no cost.
Student Services Information about these services can be found online at: http://www.cerritos.edu and in print in
the current Cerritos College Schedule of Classes. The Habits of Mind are a common set of skills and practices
that successful students possess. iFalcon is a Cerritos College website dedicated to helping students understand
and use the skills and practices that successful students possess.
Below is a summary of the six skills described in iFalcon
Focus on the work to be done
Advance your skills and education by always improving
Link Up with other like-minded students, faculty, and campus services to help you along your educational path
Comprehend your course material instead of just reading and absorbing it
Organize your life to reach your goals
Try New Ideas to accelerate your learning and improve your skills
By exploring and practicing these strategies, it is anticipated that enhancing these skills will aid in your ability to
comprehend the course material, while increasing the possibility of success in this course.
Note: Adjustments to the syllabus may be made at the instructor’s discretion to better meet the needs of the
class. You are responsible for any changes made during class.
Lecture Schedule
Week
Date
Chapter
Topic
1
Tu
8/18
1
2
Syllabus & Introduction
Environmental Laws
2
Tu
8/26
3
5
Ecosystems & Energy
Living Organisms
3
Tu
9/2
5
6
Living Organisms
Ecology & Exam prep/review
4
Tu
9/9
7
Exam 1 (Ch. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)
Health and Toxicology
5
Tu
9/16
8
10
Population
Energy Consumption
6
Tu
9/23
7
Tu
9/30
11
12
11&12
Fossil Fuels
Renewable Energy
Expand Fossil Fuels & Renewables
Exam prep-Review
8
Tu
10/7
9
Tu
10/14
13
Exam 2, (Ch. 7, 8, 10, 11, 12)
Water Resource
13
14
Water Resources
Soil Resources
10
Tu
10/21
15
17
Mineral Resource
Land Resource
11
Tu
11/28
18
Food Resource
Exam prep – Review – Buffer day
12
Tu
11/4
19
13
Tu
11/11
14
Tu
11/18
15
Tu
11/25
Exam 3 (Ch.13, 14, 15, 17, 18)
Air Pollution
Veteran’s Day – Campus Closed
20
21
Global Climate Change
Water Pollution
21
Water Pollution
22
Pest Management
16
Tu
12/2
22
Pest Management
16
Conservation
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
17
Tu
12/9
16
Conservation
Exam prep – Questions – Review
Final Exam: Dec 16th - Tu - 8pm-10pm
Exam 4 (Ch. 16, 19, 20, 21, 22)
A note to students with disabilities
If you have, or think you have a disability that interferes with your performance as a student in
class, then you are encouraged for academic reasons to discuss this on a confidential basis with your
instructor, the Disabled Student Programs and Services at Cerritos College (562) 860-2451 ext.2333,
www.cerritos.edu/dsps/). If you have a condition that may affect your ability to exit from the premises in case of
emergency, you are urged, for safety reasons, to notify any of the above persons.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completing Biology 105 students will be able to:
1. Students will be able to classify various organisms according to their niche and then insert these organisms
correctly into a food chain, food pyramid, and food web, indicating the flow of energy.
2. Students will be able to recognize the difference between logistic and exponential growth curves and be able to
indicate the presence of a carrying capacity and correctly identify possible limiting growth factors which will
impact population growth.
3. Students will know the three types of fossil fuels where they originate from, how they are each used by
humans, and potential pros and cons of each.
4. Students will be able to identify energy alternatives to fossil fuels and how these alternatives can be harvested
(such as nuclear energy, wind, solar, geothermal, etc.) as well as any pros or cons of each.
5. Students will be able to list sources and effects of air and water pollution on ecosystems and be able to list
methods to reduce these sources of pollution.
Academic Honest/Dishonesty Policy
Your instructors are eager to help you succeed in your studies at Cerritos College. But success means more than just
receiving a passing grade in a course. Success means that you have mastered the course content so that you may use
that knowledge in the future, either to be successful on a job, or to continue on with your education in advanced
classes.
Your success depends on a combination of the skill and knowledge of your instructors, and your own hard work. You
will reach your future goals only if you gain new knowledge from every course you take. That knowledge becomes
yours, and can be used by you, only if it is gained through your own personal efforts. Receiving a grade in a course,
without acquiring the knowledge that goes with it, diminishes your chances for future success.
While in college, you are also shaping the principles which will guide you throughout the rest of your life. Ethical
behavior and integrity are a vital part of those principles. A reputation for honesty says more about you, and is more
highly prized, than simply your academic skills.
For that reason, academic honesty is taken very seriously by the Cerritos College faculty. The following guidelines
have been prepared so that you will understand what is expected of you in maintaining academic honesty.
Academic dishonesty is normally to be dealt with as an academic action by the instructor, reflected in the student’s
grade in the particular course, rather than through college disciplinary procedures.
No specific departmental, divisional or institutional procedures are established for academic dishonesty other than the
normal process for review and appeal of an instructor’s grading procedures. However, plagiarism, cheating, and other
forms of academic dishonesty are violations of the college’s official Standards of Conduct.
Academic dishonesty is defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for work by the use of any
dishonest, deceptive or fraudulent means. Examples of academic dishonesty would include, but not be limited to the
following:
• Copying, either in part or in whole, from another’s test or examination;
• Discussion of answers or ideas relating to the answers, on examination or test when the instructor prohibits
such discussion;
• Obtaining copies of an exam without the permission of the instructor;
• Using notes, “cheat sheets,” or otherwise utilizing information or devices not considered appropriate under
the prescribed test conditions;
• Altering a grade or interfering with the grading procedures in any course;
• Allowing someone other than the officially enrolled student to represent the same;
• Plagiarism, which is defined as the act of taking the ideas, words or specific substantive material of another
and offering them as one’s own without giving credit to the source.
The faculty member may take options to the extent that the faculty member considers the cheating or plagiarism to
manifest the student’s lack of scholarship or to reflect on the student’s lack of academic performance in the course.
One or more of the following actions are available to the faculty member who suspects a student has been cheating or
plagiarizing:
1. Review-no action.
2. An oral reprimand with emphasis on counseling toward prevention of further occurrences.
3. A requirement that work be repeated.
4. A reduction of the grade earned on the specific work in question, including the possibility of no credit for
the work.
5. A reduction of the course grade as a result of item 4 above, including the possibility of a failing grade for
the course.
6. Referral to the Office of Judicial Affairs for further administrative action, such as suspension or expulsion.