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Principles of Biology
(BIOL-12200)
Spring 2011

Lectures – TR 10:50 - 12:05, 225 Williams Hall
Labs :   M, T, W, or R CNS 107 or 110, 1:00 - 3:50 p.m.
See section instructors' sections and TAs here.
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Lecture Instructor: John Hopple (CNS 160)
jhopple@ithaca.edu
274-7052
 Office Hours:
  • Monday 11 – 12
  • Friday 10 – 12, or by appt.





Lab
Instructors:		 TA's:
  • Elise Edwards
  • Stefan Karkuff
  • Naomi Kessler
  • Laura Louon
  • Bonnie Marvin
  • Anthony Veroli



Lecture Schedule     Lab Schedule 



Required Texts/Equipment:
1. Biology by N.A. Campbell, J.B. Reece, L.A. Urry, M.L. Cain, S.A. Wasserman, P.V. Minorsky, and R.B. Jackson, Pearson (8th ed.), 2008.
2. Principles of Biology Lab Manual (available in lab the first week - $15.00).
3. Biology Laboratory Manual by D.S. Vodopich and R.L. Moore (9th ed. - custom version for IC), McGraw Hill, 2011.
4. A Guide to Biology Lab, Rust (3rd ed.), Southwest Educational Enterprises, 1983.
5. Interwrite RF clicker (available at the IC Bookstore).
Course Website: This course is on Blackboard at http://blackboard.ithaca.edu. Use your IC email address as your Blackboard ID (without the @ithaca.edu); your password is your IC email password. Readings, homeworks, and lecture notes will all be posted at this site. Announcements about review sessions, changes to schedules or assignments, etc. will be put on Blackboard, so you will have to check Blackboard regularly.

Course Description: This is the second semester of the introductory biology series for biology majors.  Emphasis is placed on evolution, biodiversity, and ecology.

Course Objectives:  At the conclusion of the course you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the following:

1. the origin and evolutionary diversification of life on earth
2. how micro- and macroevolution operate, the origin of species, and species concepts
3. how life is systematically organized from the species to the domain
4. diversity at the taxonomic levels of phylum/division, kingdom, and domain
5. how form and function relate in species across broad taxonomic groups
6. evolutionary adaptations, their origins, and how they contribute to species fitness
7. different levels of ecological organization from population to the biosphere
8. how interactions between humans and the biosphere challenge life on earth
9. sustainability as an approach to mediate environmental problems
10. an appreciation and understanding of the process of science.

Lecture: Students are expected to attend all lectures with the exception of health emergencies, religious holidays, court appearances, or college-authorized extracurricular events. If you miss a lecture, it is
your responsibility to get the notes from a classmate. Do not assume that all lecture material is covered in the text. Do not ask Dr. Hopple for missed notes. Poor attendance generally correlates with poor
grades.

Exams: Understanding of lecture material will be accessed through four exams. Exams will be made up of a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions. The first three exams are scheduled during regular lecture periods. Make-up exams will be given only in special situations (see above) and will be of a different format that regularly scheduled exams. Requests for make-up exams MUST be made ONE WEEK ahead of the regularly scheduled exam time.Unexplained absences will result in a zero grade for that exam. The final exam will be given during finals week (see Lecture Schedule). The final exam will cover material from the last quarter of the course (100 pts.) and cumulative material from the entire semester (75 pts.). Material for the exams will be drawn primarily from the lectures.

Reading assignments are found in the Lecture Schedule. Students should keep up with the readings as listed. To get the most out of the lectures, students should study the appropriate readings before the class when they will be discussed. Reading assignments are mandatory unless otherwise noted. Additional readings may be added that are not listed. Readings that are not part of the textbook will be posted on Blackboard.

Behavior: As this is a large class it is critically important that talk between students during class be kept to a minimum. Cell phones, iPods, and other music players may not be used during lecture, labs, or exams. Inappropriate behavior during class could be cause for dismissal!

Laboratory: Laboratory attendance is mandatory. If you miss your lab, please arrange to attend another lab section during the same week. You must notify both your regular lab instructor (not the TA) and the instructor of the make-up lab section (see below). Lab absences will result in a loss of 20 points per missed lab if labs are not made up. Students will be dropped from the course if they miss three labs.

Lab instructors:
Lab quizzes: In addition to your lab exercises, five quizzes will be given during regular lab time. Quizzes will occur at the beginning of the lab period and will cover material from the previous two or three labs. Quizzes will be made up of short answer questions.

Lab assignments: In addition to the lab quizzes you will also be required to hand in 11 lab assignments. Due dates for each assignment are listed in the Lab Schedule.

Assessment: There are a total of 770 points to be earned in this class. Your lab grade accounts forapproximately 30% of your overall grade.
Points Summary

 Grading Scale
In-Class Exams (3 x 100)
300 points

A 93-100% 
C
   73-76%
Final Exam
175 points

A- 90-92% 
C-
 70-72%
Clicker Questions
50 points

B+ 87-89%
D+ 67-69%
Lab Quizzes (20, 3 x 30)
110 points

B83-86%
D 63-66%
Lab Assignments
105 points

B- 80-82%  D-
 60-62%
Lecture/Lab Evaluation 30 points

C+ 77-79% 
F below 60%
Total
770 points





Lecture/Lab Evaluation: Your lab instructor and Dr. Hopple will determine the number of points earned from a total of 30 possible. Factors important in this part of your grade include behavior, attendance, preparedness, and participation.

There will be no extra-credit assignments in this course.

Course Evaluation: At the end of the term, you will be asked to provide feedback evaluating both your experiences in lecture and in lab. Student input is highly valued and is important in maintaining high
quality instruction. As a department, we are moving to online course evaluations. At the end of the term, we will provide you with the website link. It is the department policy that the online course
evaluations are mandatory and must be completed by the date indicated by your instructor. An incomplete mayl appear on your transcript if it is not submitted by that time. The evaluation will be
submitted to the Department Assistant. She will verify that you have submitted the form. Once that has been checked, your identification will be removed and will not be printed with the comments.

Academic Conduct: Familiarize yourself with the college's policies on academic conduct (visit the Judicial Affairs Office  web site.
Plagiarism: As is stated in the Student Handbook “Academic honesty is a cornerstone of themission of the College. Unless it is otherwise stipulated, students may submit for evaluation only that work that is their own and that is submitted originally for a specific course.” Please make yourself familiar with plagiarism as it is defined in the Student Handbook. Academic dishonesty can result in a grade of zero on an assignment or test, academic code probation, suspension, orexpulsion from the college depending on the outcome of a judicial hearing.

Students with Disabilities: In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Students must register with Student Disability Services and provide appropriate documentation to Ithaca College before any academic adjustment will be
provided. Students that need special accommodations should contact the Office of Academic Support Services for Students with Disabilities, 110 Towers Concourse (274-1257, acssd@ithaca.edu).

Lecture Schedule:

Week

Date

Lecture and Topic

Reading

1

Jan 25 27

1. Introduction to Course Darwin and Evolution 2. Evolution of Populations

Ch. 22 Ch. 23

2

Feb 1 3

3. The Origin of Species4. Phylogeny and Systematics

Ch. 24 Ch. 26

3

Feb 8 10

5. The Origin of Life6. Prokaryotes

Ch. 25 Ch. 27

4

Feb 15 17

Exam I (lectures 1 – 6)7. The Problem with Protists

Ch. 28

5

Feb 22 24

8. Plant Origins and Diversity9. The Rise of Seed Plants

Ch. 29 Ch. 30

6

Mar 1 3

10. Plant Reproduction 11. Plant Structure and Transport

Ch. 38 Ch. 35, pp. 772-781

7

Mar 8 10

12. Anthophyta AdaptationsExam II (lectures 7 – 12)

TBA

 

Mar 12-20

Spring Break

 

8

Mar 22 24

13. Fungal Characteristics and Evolution14. More Fun with Fungi

Ch. 31 Ch. 31

9

Mar 29 31

15. Animal Origins and Diversity16. Causes of Animal Diversity

Ch. 32 Ch. 21 (445-447)

10

Apr 5 7

17. Interesting Invertebrate Innovations18. Key Chordate Characteristics

Ch. 33 Ch. 34

11

Apr 12 14

Exam III (lectures 13 – 18)19. Introduction to Ecology

Ch. 52

12

Apr 19 21

20. Population Ecology21. Community Ecology

Ch. 53 Ch. 54

13

Apr 26 28

22. Ecosystem Ecology23. Extinction and Conservation Biology

Ch. 55 Ch. 56

14

May 3 5

24. Environmental Challenges25. Climate Change and Sustainability

Ch. 56 Hardin,Science (1968)

15

May 10(Tuesday)

1:30 – 4:00 pm Final Examination(W225)

 

Lab Schedule:

Week

Date

Lab Topic

Materials1

Lab Assignments

1

Jan. 24 – 27

Biological Systematics: Classification

Lab. 1

 

 

 

Evolution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evolution

 

EvolutionLab

2

Jan. 31 – Feb. 3

Natural Selection

Lab. 2

(BiologyLabs Online)2

 

 

 

 

 

3

Feb. 7 – 10

Bacterial Diversity andIdentification

Lab. 3 Rust

graph of negative selection pressure and questions3 Quiz 1 (labs 1 + 2)

4

Feb. 14 – 17

Protista Cladistics

Lab. 4 Exercises 25, 26Rust

potatoheads exercise2 (Tuesday: Exam I)

 

 

 

 

 

5

Feb. 21 – 24

Non-Vascular and Seedless Vascular Plants

Lab. 5 Exercises 28, 29Rust

t-test assignment onantibiotic sensitivity3 Quiz 2 (labs 3 + 4)

6

Feb. 28 – Mar. 3

GymnospermsAngiospermsFloral Sex

Lab. 6 Exercises 30, 31Rust

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

Mar. 7 – 10

Plant AnatomyLeaf Physiology

Lab. 7 Exercise 32 Rust

plant data matrix, cladogramand questions3 (Thursday: Exam II)

 

Mar. 12 – 20

Spring Break

 

 

 

 

 

Lab. 8

 

8

Mar. 21 – 24

Fungi

Exercise 27 Rust

Quiz 3 (labs 5, 6, + 7)

 

 

 

 

 

9

Mar. 28 – 31

Porifera, Cnidaria,Platyhelminthes, andNematoda

Lab. 9 Exercises 36-37 Rust

mating systems worksheet2

10

Apr. 4 – 7

Mollusca, Annelida, andArthropoda

Lab. 10 Exercises 38-39 Rust

Quiz 4 (labs 8 + 9)

 

 

Deuterostomes

Lab. 11

molecular reconstruction

11

Apr. 11 – 14

Molecular Systematicsof the Animalia

Exercise 40 Rust, sci. calculator

worksheet2 (Tuesday: Exam III)

12

Apr. 18 – 21

Population GrowthKeystone Predators

Lab. 12 Keystone PredatorsSimulation

Quiz 5 (labs 10 + 11)

 

 

 

 

 

13

Apr. 25 – 28

Species DiversityDisturbance

Lab. 13 Intermed. Disturbance Hypoth. Simulation3

Kaibob exercise and human population growth worksheet3

 

 

Human Interactions

Lab. 14

intermediate disturbance

14

May 2 – May 5

with the Environment

Commons Game

hypothesis lab3 commons game questions2


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Page maintained by Leann Kanda and Nancy Pierce 
Last updated January 2011