303-12000 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOLOGY Spring 2006
Lecture: MWF
Instructor: Dr. Nancy L. Jacobson
Office: CNS 256 Email:
jacobson@ithaca.edu Phone:
274-1837
Office Hours: W
Lab Instructors and their lab sections:
Nancy Jacobson (see
above)
M
Peter Melcher Email: pmelcher@ithaca.edu Phone: 274-3980 Office:
CNS 253
T
Paul Nolan Email:
pnolan@ithaca.edu Phone:
TBA Office: TBA
M
Sylvia Vitazkova Email: svitazkova@ithaca.edu
Phone: 274-1086 Office: CNS 213
R
Textbook: Starr, C., and R. Taggart. 2004. BIOLOGY,
The Unity and Diversity of Life, 10th ed., Wadsworth Publ.
Co. NOTE: This is the same book as was used Fall 2005
in Fundamentals of Biology. If you were
not in that class and do not already own the book, there are three copies on
reserve at the library that you may use instead.
GTCO CalComp (InterWrite PRS) Clicker (sold in Campus Bookstore only – if you
are a PT major, you will want to keep it for Physics next year : )
Lab Material:
The Fundamentals of Biology
Laboratory Manual will be available for purchase in lab the first week
of classes (it will be sold at-cost for $3.00).
Rust, Thomas G. 1983. A
Guide to Biology Lab, 3rd ed. Southwest Educational
Enterprises.
Course Objectives:
We
share this planet with well over a million other species. How has all of this
diversity come about? How is it interconnected into a functioning whole? Where
do we humans fit in? And what are the consequences of our impact on the rest of
biological diversity? We will explore these questions during the course of this
semester.
Course Policies
WebCT. The lecture schedule, lecture partial outlines, study
questions on the readings and lectures, and any extra readings (in .pdf form)
will be available on WebCT at http://courses/webct/public/home.pl.
You will need to use your email username
and password to log in to WebCT and then click on Fundamentals of Biology
(303-12000-NJ). I will post
announcements (such as the date and time of a review session before an exam)
just below the course name, so watch this space!
Lectures. You can print out lecture partial
outlines to help you in taking notes.
Please do not talk during
lectures. It prevents other students around you from hearing the lecture.
If talking becomes a problem, I will ask those participating to leave the
classroom.
Laboratory
attendance is mandatory.
If you cannot attend your lab section for a valid reason then you must
make it up in some other section during that same week. You must arrange
your attendance in an alternative lab with both your lab instructor and the lab
instructor of the lab you wish to attend. Valid reasons for attending an
alternative lab are: your own illness; death or serious illness in immediate
family; you are participating in an athletic, musical, or other college-sponsored
event; a religious holiday; or you are required to appear in court. Studying
for tests in other courses does not constitute a valid reason for attending an
alternate lab section. If you must miss the entire week, you must have
documentation of your reason for absence (note from doctor or name and
telephone number of doctor at health center if you are ill; note from dean's
office if you are absent due to death or serious illness in immediate family).
Since the laboratory is an integral part of the course, and simply getting the
notes from another student does not substitute for participation, three
unexcused absences from the laboratory is grounds for dropping a student from
the course.
Laboratory
Dissections. There will be dissections of an
earthworm, clam, starfish, fish, frog, pigeon, and fetal pig (some will be
already be done, one per lab; while others you will do yourself). If you have ethical objections to doing
dissections, please come see me at the beginning of the semester so we can
discuss alternatives.
Make-up
exams will only be given
when the student missed the exam because of illness (need note from doctor) or
due to death or sudden serious illness in the immediate family (need note from
the dean's office). If at all possible, inform me that you intend to miss the
exam before or immediately after the exam. If you cannot reach me by phone or
e-mail, leave a message with the departmental secretary (607-274-3161). Make-up
exams are not multiple choice, they are short-essay exams. Missed exams
without a valid excuse will receive a score of zero.
Grading
Final grades will be determined
accordingly:
|
Lecture Exams (3 x 60) |
180
|
|
Laboratory Quizzes (13 x 10) |
130 |
|
Final lecture exam |
100 |
|
Total Possible Points |
410 |
To determine your letter grade at any time of the course, add up the number of
points you have received on each exam, quiz, etc. Divide this number by the
total number of points possible (this will be 410 at the end of the course) and
multiply the result by 100 to arrive at a percentage. Grades are usually
assigned according to the following percentages. Borderline cases will be assessed using attendance
according to the clicker data.
|
|
B+ 87-89 |
C+ 77-79 |
D+ 67-69 |
F below 60% |
|
A 94-100 |
B 84-86 |
C 74-76 |
D 64-66 |
|
|
A- 90-93 |
B- 80-83 |
C- 70-73 |
D- 60-63 |
|