Course Syllabus
Spring 2009
Instructor: Melanie Loo, Seq 414, 278-6573, mwloo@csus.edu
Office hours: M 11-11:50, F 11:30-12:30, and by appointment
Website: www.csus.edu/indiv/l/loom
Course Information:
Laboratory: (Sequoia 104) Wednesday 9:00am - 11:50am
Description: Introductory laboratory investigation of the major principles of biology, including properties of all living things, the unity and diversity of organisms, structure and function of cells, energy and metabolism, genetics, ecology, evolution, and the scientific methods of investigation employed by biologists.
Prerequisites or corequisites: BIO 9, 10, or 20
Text: Biology 15L Laboratory Manual, Spring 2009 edition
(Available at Copy Central; 925 Howe Ave or on-line)
Course Format/Requirements: This 1-unit laboratory course will meet once a week for three hours. Students will work in groups to complete laboratory exercises to gain an understanding of the underlying biological concepts. This course employs a hands-on approach to learning about biology, and participation by each student is required. Students are also required to come prepared to each lab, having a basic understanding of the biological concepts and procedures for that week’s lab by reading the lab manual BEFORE coming to lab. At the beginning of each lab the instructor will present an overview of the lab in order to clarify and build upon these biological concepts and procedures.
Evaluation: Student grades will be based on points earned from quizzes, worksheets, homework assignments, attendance and participation.
At the start of each lab (except the first one) a 10-point quiz will be given to test students understanding of the material from the current week as well as the previous week. Questions for the current week will be based strictly on the concepts and materials found in the laboratory manual, while questions about the previous week will ask students to integrate and apply the concepts explored in the previous lab. Each student’s lowest quiz score will be thrown out.
Worksheets found in the laboratory manual will accompany each lab. These worksheets will be used by the students to make predictions, record observations, as well as answer questions about the underlying biology of the lab. A total of 140 points will come from worksheets.
Throughout the course two writing assignments will be given worth a total of 40 points. Additionally, 20 subjective points will be given to each student at the outset of the course. These points will be deducted from if a student shows poor participation in laboratory exercises, is consistently late or unprepared for labs, improperly cleans up their lab bench, etc.
Summary of Points Available
Lab Quizzes (13 x 10) 130
Worksheets (14 x 10) 140
Writing Assignments 40
Participation 20
Total 330
Grading: Final letter grades will be assigned as follows:
A 90-100% Outstanding achievement
B 80-89% Excellent performance; clearly exceeds course requirements
C 70-79% Meets course requirements
D 60-69% Passed, but not at average achievement standards
F < 60% Failure to meet course requirements
Breaking points for plus and minus grades will be decided at the end of the semester.
Attendance: It is mandatory that you attend the laboratories. Missing two laboratories will lower a student’s grade one letter grade. Missing three laboratories will result in a WU grade.
Drops or Incompletes: Students may drop the course online during the first two weeks of class for any reason. Dropping any day after this requires a documented serious or compelling reason as well as signatures from both the instructor and Department Chair.
Academic Misconduct: Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. The first offense will result in a score of zero on the assignment, and any subsequent offenses may result in failing the course and/or being dismissed from the university. Academic dishonesty includes two main behaviors. The first is cheating by copying from someone else or using unauthorized sources of help during a quiz, test, or individual assignment. The second is plagiarism. Plagiarism includes using the words or main ideas of another person on a writing assignment without giving him/her credit by a citation.
The most frequent cases of academic dishonesty that occur in this class are when lab mates turn in a homework assignment that has exactly the same wording for some or all of the answers. You may work together but make sure you write your answers in your own words. If you are turning in a graph or figure, make sure that YOU made it and it is not just a copy from someone else. The most common cases of plagiarism involve written work where some of the information is gathered from the internet and then copied and pasted into the student’s work without the student putting quotes around it and citing it. Even using most of someone else's words with a few words changed and failing to cite the original source constitutes plagiarism. If you are in doubt about whether or not what you intend to do is plagiarism feel free to ask and/or check the CSUS Library website: http://library.csus.edu/services/inst/Citing.html
Tentative Laboratory Schedule
|
Date |
Topics |
Page |
|
January
28 |
Laboratory
Safety (Laboratory
Safety Awareness Verification Form) |
i (v) |
|
February
4 |
Lab Topic
1: Characteristics of Life |
6 |
|
February
11 |
Lab Topic
2: The Scientific Process |
12 |
|
February
18 |
Lab Topic
3: Enzymes and Biological Molecules |
22 |
|
February
25 |
Lab Topic
4: Observing and Classifying Life |
34 |
|
March 4 |
Lab Topic
5: Pond Water Micro-communities |
53 |
|
March 11 |
Lab Topic
6: Photosynthesis |
67 |
|
March 18 |
Lab Topic
7: Cellular Respiration |
74 |
|
March 25 |
Lab Topic
8: Mitosis and Genetics |
84 |
|
April 1 |
Spring
Break--No Lab |
|
|
April 8 |
Lab Topic
9: Ecological Footprint |
96 |
|
April 15 |
Lab Topic
10: Human Genetics |
104 |
|
April 22 |
Lab Topic
11: Sensing and Responding to the Environment |
115 |
|
April 29 |
Lab Topic
12: Ecology |
126 |
|
May 6 |
Lab Topic
13: Adaptations |
135 |
|
May 13 |
Lab Topic
14: Natural Selection and Evolution |
142 |