Bio 111:  Syllabus and Course Information*

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Biology 111 - 5 units

Instructor:  Sue Kloss

Office:  D-100, Next to the biology lab

Office Hours: Mon, Tues, Wed 9 - 10  am; Thur. 12 – 1 pm, and by app’t.

Phone:  541-4660 x244

Email: kloss@ltcc.edu

Website: http://www.ltcconline.net/kloss/bio_111.htm 

Course Information:  Bio 111 gives an overview of the diversity of life on earth.  Topics covered include origin of life, evolution, the three major domains and five major kingdoms of organisms, animal and plant behavior, symbiosis, ecosystems, biomes, and environmental issues.  Laboratory time emphasizes taxonomy, plant systems, and invertebrate structure. 

Final Exam:  Dec 10 12 – 2 pm

Text:  Essential Biology.  2 or 3rd edition. by Campbell et. Al.

Lab Text: Biology Laboratory Manual, 8^th edition, by Sylvia Mader 

Course Requirements for Bio 102:      

Exams:  There will be two exams in this course.  The midterm is worth 150 points of your grade, and the final is worth 250 points of your grade for the course.   Exams may include all material covered in lectures, discussions and readings. 

Quizzes:  You will have 9 - 10 quizzes - one quiz each week.  You may not make up a quiz for any reason.  Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped.  Each quiz is worth approximately 10 - 11 points for a total of 100 pts.

        Projects:  Please see the handout.  Worth a total of 75 points.

          Lab Notebooks: At the conclusion of each lab, you will check your lab notebook/ lab report with your
        instructor.  There are 9 labs reports, worth 20 points each, for a total of 180 pts in the course.  
       
          Lab Exams:  You will have one lab exam, a practical, for the lab portion of this course.  The lab   
        practical is worth 100 points.

Attendance/Participation: Being on time, participating, for the whole time, (and awake!) gets you a 100 pts. Your attendance in the laboratory portion of the course is very important.  Your lab instructor will review the lab attendance policy.

Lab Quizzes:  One lab quiz at the end of lab each week, worth 4.5 pts each for 45 total points.  You may not make up a lab quiz if you miss one.

Homework:  Each week, you may choose to complete optional homework assignment.  If you complete all specified homework, you will have a 5 pt. bonus added onto your quiz grade for that week.

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 student honor code.   

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.  

Grading summary:                                                                   Grading Scale:

150 pts. - Midterm                                                          A = 90 -100

250 pts. - Final Exam                                                       B = 80 - 89

180 pts. - Lab notebook                                                   C = 70 - 79

100 pts. - Lecture Quizzes                                                D = 60 - 69

  75 pts.-  Poster Project                                                   F = below 60

100 pts. - Lab exam – practical

 45 pts.  - Lab quizzes

100 pts. - Participation

1000 pts. 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 arrive late can be very disruptive to other students.  If you do miss class, you are responsible to find out what was covered.  Get handouts from your study buddy.  You may not make up quizzes.  If you miss 3 labs or 5 lectures without discussing it with me, you may be dropped from the course!!  Your attendance in the laboratory portion of the course is very important. 

Please turn off your cell phones and ALL other electronic devices before coming to class.  They are prohibited in class and during exams. 

Tips for Doing Well in this Course:  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. Prepare for quizzes by reviewing material covered 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!  A lot of hard work will get you through the course, but you must apply yourself. 

Student Learning Outcomes for Bio 111

1. Inventory major components of earth’s biosphere and explain how physical and chemical factors influence life here.
2. Construct models showing how the relationships of organisms to their environments results in genetic change over evolutionary time, propose evolutionary processes, and diagram phylogenetic relationships of main taxa of life forms.
3. Compare structures and functions used by various organisms to maintain homeostasis in their respective environments.
4. Organize and model the important biotic and abiotic structural and functional components of populations, communities, ecosystems, and biospheres.

The above SLOs are jargon-filled ways to say, for example:

1. Students will demonstrate an understanding of how organisms can change over time.
2. Students will give examples of and characteristics of common representatives of all major kingdoms of living things
3. Students will describe the reproductive life cycle of all major plant  and animal phyla or divisions.
4. Students will indicate an understanding of the structure and function of all major plant systems.
5. Students will compare major ecological concepts relative to various ecosystem structures and processes and analyze how humans impact ecosystems.
6. Students will be able to describe basic behaviors of plants and animals and describe their evolutionary origins.

* 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.                                                                                                         *subject to change

For questions or comments, please contact Sue Kloss - kloss@ltcc.edu