______________________________________________________________________________________________

Bio 101:  Syllabus and Course Information

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Instructor:  Sue Kloss, Ph.D.

Office:  D-100, Next to the biology lab

Office Hours: MW 4:30 – 6 pm; TTh 9 – 10 am and by appointment

Email: kloss@ltcc.edu  *make sure to include your name and the words Bio 101 in the subject line 

Course website: http://www.ltcconline.net/kloss/bio101/index.htm

Course Information:  Bio 101 is the first course of a 3 quarter sequence at LTCC.  Consistent hard work and effort is required for you to do well in the class. One excellent strategy is to work hard at taking good notes in class; in the evening, recopy your notes and review them for 30-45 minutes. Answer the homework questions as we cover that material in class.  Repetition, repetition, repetition is necessary to master the quantity and quality of material you will be required to know for this course.  To do well in this course, you must spend time to learn the material!

Final Exam:  Monday Dec. 7, 6 – 8 pm – No exceptions! 

Text:  Biology  8th ed. by Campbell.  If you choose to use any other book, including earlier editions of this one, you are responsible for any differences in the material. 

Lab Book:  Biology Laboratory Manual by Sylvia Mader, 10^th ed.  This book is required in the correct edition.

Course Requirements for Bio 101 Lecture: 

Quizzes:  For each lecture, I will provide an outline with a set of vocabulary terms as well as learning objectives in the form of questions that provide you with a specific way to learn the material we cover. You will be able to answer all quiz and exam questions if you know this material.  Quizzes will be given on Mondays at the beginning of each lecture.  I will also occasionally throw in pop quizzes.  No makeups for any reason!  I will drop your lowest quiz grade for the quarter.  Quizzes are worth approximately 10% of the course grade.

Exams:  There will be a midterm and a final exam in this course.  The midterm is worth 20% of your grade, and the final, which is cumulative, is worth 25% of your grade for the course.  You are responsible for all material covered in lectures, labs, discussions and readings. 

Discussion Paper:  Students will be assigned 2-3 papers to read, and will prepare a discussion paper for a class discussion about each assigned article. Your discussions/papers are worth 8% of your course grade.  Please see handout.

Homework:  Homework will be assigned each week, and will appear on the website.  All homework is OPTIONAL, and due at the beginning of your lab period the week it is assigned.  If compete, bumps your quiz grade for that week by up to 3%.

Course Requirements for Bio 101 Lab:

Lab Reports:   At the conclusion of each lab, your team will submit your lab notebook/lab report with your instructor.  Notebooks will be collected and graded during the quarter as well.  Lab reports are worth 15% of your course grade.  You may make up one missed lab only.  If you have not missed any labs, you may use the assignment for extra credit.  This is the ONLY way to get extra credit. 

Lab Exam:  Given as a practical exam at the end of the quarter.  Worth 10% of your course grade. 

Course Requirements for Both Lab and Lecture: 

Attendance/Participation:  Being on time, participating, for the whole time, (and awake!) gets you 7% of your course grade.  Active participation during discussions is highly regarded.  Absences from lab will affect your lab notebook grade, your lab quiz grade and your participation grade.  You don’t lose too much for one absence (especially if you do a make up) but if you miss a second lab you lose 20% of your participation grade for each absence.  If you have excessive absences from lab (3 or more) you may be dropped from the course.  Spot checking will be used to monitor attendance in lectures and labs.

Grading summary:                                           Grading Scale:

10% - Quizzes                                                   A = 90 -100

20% - Midterm                                                   B = 80 - 89

30% - Final Exam                                              C = 70 - 79

10% - Lab exam                                                D = 60 - 69

15% - Lab reports                                              F = below 60

8% - Discussion                                               

7% - Participation         

100% total 

Attendance Policy:  Make every effort to attend! It is very important to me that students come to class, on time, for the entire time scheduled. Please make every effort to arrive on time for class.  Having people coming in after class has started can be very disruptive to other students.  If you do miss class, you are responsible to find out what was covered.  Attendance will be monitored on a spot-check basis. Turn off electronic equip. before class begins, please.  All electronic devices are prohibited during exams.  No electronic submissions of assignments, please.  If you arrive late to lab or leave early, you will not receive full participation points. 

Exam Reschedules: You may reschedule an exam only by discussing it with me in advance.  (Emails and phone messages do not satisfy this requirement).  If you arrange a makeup and take the exam within 2 working days of when it was originally scheduled, you forfeit 8% of the total possible.  If you complete the exam within 10 days you lose 30 %.  You may not retake an exam more than 10 days after the scheduled original.  If you miss a lab practical you will retake it in alternate format, subject to the above penalties.  No early final exams will be given.    

Study Buddies: Choose 2 or 3 people for your study buddies.  These are the people who will pick up handouts for you if you are absent, and who will share notes with you for the class you missed. With your study buddies, you can ask about material you don’t understand, divvy up study chores, prepare for exams, etc.  Learning cooperatively is wonderful, but it doesn’t work if every one doesn’t do an equal share of the work.  Take good care of your buddies!  Do not take advantage of them! You may always discuss course information and assignments together (except on exams), but all answers must be your own.  Do not use the same wording as anyone else on any assignment.  When you use someone else’s idea, be sure to provide a citation.  This class will abide by the LTCC’s student honor code (please see the college catalog). 

Student Learning Outcomes
1. Identify the characteristics that define life, and those characteristics that distinguish various life forms.
2. Analyze structures and functions of atoms, molecules, and cells to account for the diversity of living organisms.
3. Diagram flow and expression of biological information at the molecular, cellular, and organismic levels.
4. Diagram how energy is transformed and used physiologically in various organisms at the cellular and molecular levels.
5. Apply quantitative and other analytic techniques in using the scientific method to develop knowledge or to evaluate information from texts, journals, and popular media.

The above jargon-filled sentences are confusing, but the following objectives are subsets of these 5 SLOs:

Students will:

1. describe characteristics of living things.
2. apply the scientific method in a laboratory setting.
3. describe the structures of atoms and molecules, and explain what causes substances to be reactive or inert.
4. describe structure and characteristics of four major classes of organic molecules.
5. explain why and how enzymes are so important and relate their function to physiological processes.
6. diagram cell structure including organelles and relate cellular processes to structure and function.
7. describe the reactants, products, structures and important intermediates of aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration, and relate them to cellular structure and function.
8. describe the chemical equation for photosynthesis, and describe reactants, products, structures and important intermediates of photosynthesis and relate them to cell structure.
9. distinguish between mitosis and meiosis, and explain the processes by which cells divide in each of these ways.
10. define and apply Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
11. determine, using Punnett squares, the genotypes and phenotypes of monohybrid and dihybrid crosses.
12. demonstrate genetic mapping using recombination data.
13. construct a basic DNA model and describe its structure and replication.
14. explain how gene regulatory processes occur in prokaryotes and viruses.
15. describe gene expression and regulation in eukaryotes.

 * Students with disabilities who may need accommodations for this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) early in the quarter so that reasonable accommodations may be implemented as soon as possible.  Students may contact the DRC by visiting the Center (located in room A205) or by phoning 541-4660, ext. 249 (voice) or 542-1870 (TTY for deaf students).  All information will remain confidential.