Phone: 874-2335

Email: wetherbee@uri.edu

Office: BISC A127

Office Hours: Mon 12-1, Wed 11-12 or by appointment

Lecture: MWF 12:00-12:50 BISC Auditorium

Laboratory: BISC 118A

Text: Solomon, Berg & Martin, Biology 8^th ed. Thomson Publishers.

Students are responsible for reading this syllabus and for the information contained

Course Description:

This course offers an introduction to some of the major principles of biology at the cell and organismal level, and is the first half of a year-long biology course (Bio101-102). This course will follow a hierarchical scheme from molecules to cells, tissues, organs and systems in whole organisms. Lectures will focus on materials necessary for life and the processes that occur within normal functioning living things.

Instruction:

The primary means of communicating information for this course is lectures. Given that lecture time is limited students are expected to supplement their understanding of the concepts covered in lecture by reading the associated chapters in the textbook. The textbook provides much more detailed information about topics covered, and students should keep up with assigned reading. Because of the large amount of material presented in this course, students will benefit tremendously by regularly reviewing lecture notes. If you are having trouble understanding course material do not hesitate to ask for help from your instructor, TA or fellow students. Tutors, study groups and review sessions may be arranged through the Academic Enhancement Program located in Roosevelt Hall and these resources are beneficial for many students having difficulties in the course. There is not much that can be done about a grade at the end of the semester so don’t wait to ask to for help.

Exams:

There will be four exams during the semester and a final exam. Material for exams will come primarily from information presented in lectures. All exam questions will be on subjects covered in lecture, but questions will be specific and you should expect to know material in the lecture notes well to score high on exams.

o Exams will be multiple choice, 50 questions for midterm exams and 75 points for the final exam.

o The final exam will be approximately half comprehensive and half from material covered during the final quarter of the semester.

o Note exam dates ahead of time and make semester travel plans accordingly, especially for the final exam Friday December 12 from 3-6 pm. Please be prepared to take the final exam on the day that it is scheduled.

o Due to the large number of students in this course there are NO MAKE UP EXAMS, but your lowest exam score will be dropped. In the event that an exam is taken on a date different from the scheduled date, the exam will be ESSAY format consisting of 4-5 questions.

Section 8.51.12 of the University Manual states:

Students who expect to be absent from classes or examinations for University sanctioned events shall discuss this with the appropriate instructor(s) at least one week in advance of the sanctioned event(s). The instructor(s) concerned shall then offer the student an alternative listed in section 8.51.11. For these purposes University sanctioned events shall be those approved for class excuses by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, a Vice President, a Dean, or the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. No event shall be regarded as University sanctioned until the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs has been notified.

Supplemental Material:

Partial lecture notes, study guides, and practice exams are available on the course website:

http://www.uri.edu/cels/bio/wetherbee/bio101.htm

This supplemental material is provided as an aid to reiterate important topics covered in lecture, but these are by no means required materials. In the event that you miss any of these supplemental materials you should obtain the materials from another student that received them.

Lecture notes – some of the Power Point lecture notes will be provided ahead of time on the course website. The notes will not be complete and may sometimes not be available ahead of time. The intent of making partial notes available is for students to print out the notes or save them to their computer so that during lecture they have the figures and some of the text already recorded and can therefore listen to the lecture rather than frantically writing down everything as fast as possible. These are the sources of notes for the course.

Study guides – study guides consist of a list of questions and concepts covered in class in a summary style as an aid for synthesizing and understanding material covered in the course. Study guides will be posted on the course website prior to exams, but may occasionally be handed out in class as incentive for attending lectures. If you miss class when study guides are handed out then you should contact another student who was in class to get a study guide.

Practice exams – practice exams consist of the exam from the prior semester to give students an idea of what type of questions to expect and what format the exam will take. The practice exams are intended for students to test themselves after they have studied in preparation for an upcoming exam. The actual exam will have different questions than the practice exam, but will be similar. Students will benefit to a much greater extent by finding the answers to practice exam questions rather than just being given the answer. This is particularly true for questions for which a student is unsure of the answer. In the case that the answers are not given to the practice exam questions, it is the responsibility of the student to find the answers in lecture notes or in the book.

Laboratory:

Laboratory attendance is mandatory and the lab score accounts for 25% of the point total for this course. Labs offer an opportunity for hands-on learning and interaction with your fellow students and teaching assistant. The schedule of labs, information on grading and makeup labs will be provided at your first lab meeting. Laboratories begin the second week of classes NOT THIS WEEK. You are expected to learn the name of your TA and how to contact them.

Grading:

Grades will be based on the 4 midsemester exams, the final exam, and the laboratory. The lowest of the 4 mid-term exams will be dropped. If you miss an exam it will count as the score dropped. There may also be occasional in-class assignments worth extra points that can only be completed if you are in class that particular day. Cumulative point totals for the lecture portion of the course will be posted on the website following each exam and will enable you to be aware of how you are doing up to that point. You are expected to be aware of your scores throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, grades will be based on scores as a percentage of total points possible.

Letter grades for the course will be determined based on the point totals that follow and letter grades do not necessarily correspond to any percentage that may be used in other courses. For example 244 points is 81.3% of the possible points, but is a C in this course, not a B as it might be in some other courses. Based on this point system the grade distribution will be approximately 10% A, 20% B, 40% C, 20% D and 10% F.

Grade Points

Three lecture exams 150 points (50%) A 273-300

Final exam 75 points (25%) A- 269-272

Laboratory 75 points (25%) B+ 266-268

Total Points 300 (100%) B 250-265

Getting or giving help during an exam, plagiarism and copying from your fellow students are not allowed in this course. Cheating will be dealt with according to the university regulations

B- 246-249

C+ 243-245

C 216-242

C- 214-215

D+ 210-213

D 186-209

F <186

Date	Day	Lecture Topic	Solomon Reading	Laboratory
3-Sep	W	Introduction	1
5-Sep	F	Biological chemistry - water	2
8-Sep	M	Biological chemistry - macromolecules	3	Microscopy
10-Sep	W	Cell division - mitosis	9
12-Sep	F	Cell division – gametes and meiosis	9
15-Sep	M	Genetics – Mendel & inheritance	10	Microworlds
17-Sep	W	Heredity	10
19-Sep	F	Exam I (chapters 1-3, 9,10)
22-Sep	M	DNA – structure & replication	11
24-Sep	W	RNA – structure & protein synthesis	12	Molecular Biology
26-Sep	F	Protein synthesis	12
29-Sep	M	Mutations & genetic disorders	12,16
1-Oct	W	Genetic engineering	14,15	Molecular Biology II
3-Oct	F	Cells – introduction	4
6-Oct	M	Cells – organization	4
8-Oct	W	Cells – membranes	5	Calorimetry
10-Oct	F	Exam II (chapters 4,5,11,12,14-16)
13-Oct	M	No Class - Columbus Day
15-Oct	W	Energetics & enzymes	6	Fermentation
17-Oct	F	Cellular respiration – glycolysis	7
20-Oct	M	Cellular respiration – Krebs cycle	7
22-Oct	W	Cellular respiration – electron transport	7	Cell Division
24-Oct	F	Photosynthesis	8
27-Oct	M	Classification of living things	22
29-Oct	W	Bacteria	23	Genetics
31-Oct	F	Protista	24
3-Nov	M	Exam III (chapters 6-8, 22-24)
5-Nov	W	Animals – characteristics & body plans	28	Animal Diversity
7-Nov	F	Animals – protostomes	28
10-Nov	M	Animals – protostomes	29
12-Nov	W	No Class – Tuesday Classes Meet		Sampling Populations
14-Nov	F	Animals – molting animals	29
17-Nov	M	Animals - deuterostomes	30
19-Nov	W	Chordates	30	No Labs
21-Nov	F	Vertebrates	30
24-Nov	M	Exam IV (chapters 28-30 )
26-Nov	W	Animals – organization & structure	37	Human Heart
28-Nov	F	No Class - Thanksgiving
1-Dec	M	Circulatory systems	42
3-Dec	W	Respiratory systems	44	Physiology
5-Dec	F	Excretory systems	46
8-Dec	M	Reproductive systems	48
12-Dec	F	Final Exam 3pm BISC Auditorium	1/2 cumulative 1/2 over chapters 37,42,44,46,48