Legacy Documents:
Bacteria, Archaea, Protista,
Chromista, Rhodophyta,
Plantae: Green Algae Flowering Plants
Fungi
Animal Intro, Porifera, Cnidaria
Molluscs, Worms, Roundworms, Arthropods
Echinoderms, Chordates

Enrollment:

Bio 125 is a required course for freshman biology majors and minors. If you are not in a the biology major or minor program then you should drop this course immediately. It does not meet the GER or LAC requirements.

Objectives:

In this course, the structure and function of organisms is the focus. After a passage through the clade of living organisms, we will consider the basic problems faced by all living organisms. For each problem, we will compare the diverse solutions that have evolved among bacteria, archaea, protists, chromists, rhodophytes, plants, fungi, and animals. The fundamental problems will include: obtaining minerals and nutrients, exchanging gases, transporting materials, maintaining temperature, balancing solutes, chemical signaling, reproduction, environmental sensing, and movement. Nine laboratory exercises will complement these studies and five seminars will supplement both lecture and laboratory.

Resources:

There is no required textbook for this course. No book currently in print provides the scope and sequence of topics found in this course. I will make two suggestions here for those of you who cannot function without a book. But you are not required to purchase any book for this course.

For those who cannot function without a book:
      If you already have some biology textbook, it is probably one of the clones that publishers like to produce and makes a nice door stop or step stool. There may be copies of clones in the library for checking out for free. But I will make no assignments regarding any such textbook. For those who need one, the best textbook to complement this course, Gould and Keeton. 2000. Biology 6th. ed. Norton is now long out of print. You might find used copies from half.com or other used book sources. If you find it in paperback form in two volumes, you would want the second volume rather than the first volume. If you need a book and cannot locate Gould and Keeton, a second textbook, Cain, et al. 2002. Discover Biology. 2nd. ed. Norton, is more-recently out of print and may be available at half.com at a reasonable price (use the second-author, Yoon, as a search keyword). The 3rd. ed. of Cain, et al. was revised to be just another clone of the other books in print, so I do not recommend the new 3rd edition of Discover Biology!

The content of this course will, however, be provided on our course website at http://plantphys.info/organismal/ On the ECSU local network you need to type in www. before plantphys.info in that address; I am sorry ECSU has strange local rules. The username:__________________ and password:____________________ required for access to some of the on-line material will be provided in class. The individual laboratory exercises will be handed out as needed. "Lost" copies must be obtained by printing out a replacement copy from the course website. You will need a 2-inch 3-ring binder to organize your course material and a zipper case in your binder to hold other materials. Buy a pencil, mechanical preferred, with eraser; as all work in ink receives a 10% grading penalty. You will need to bring a simple (+−×÷=) calculator to lab each week.

Quizzes:

Weekly quizzes will be given, usually in the laboratory or seminar time slot. You can expect a variety of question types: multiple choice, matching, diagrams to draw and/or label, charts, structured essays, etc. The mix of question types on a quiz will not be announced ahead of time, so it is up to you to anticipate and be ready for any kind of question on each quiz. Absence from one quiz can be excused only by providing justification IN WRITING. Absence from any additional quiz will not be excused and a grade of 0 will be recorded in the gradebook. Quizzes provide 40% of the course grade. Quiz grades will be determined by straight scale: 90%=A, 80%=B, 70%=C, 60%=D.

Laboratory:

For each exercise you must bring the laboratory exercise worksheet. The completed worksheets (always requiring work outside of classtime) or other reports required will be due as announced. Late papers will receive a penalty of 10% per day late, and late papers receive a grade of 0% if received after classmate's papers are returned!! There are no make-up laboratory sessions and absence from one laboratory session can only be excused by providing justification IN WRITING. Absence from any additional laboratory exercise will not be excused and a grade of 0 will be recorded in the gradebook. The laboratory exercises provide 40% of the course grade.

Laboratory Report:

The Seed Germination exercise will be the foundation for you to write a formal laboratory report in this course. The project will be started early enough in the semester for you to handle the statistical analysis afterward and also for you to read the supplied journal articles to assist in your writing. Your first draft of the report will be due before Thanksgiving, and after revisions the final draft is due on the last day of classes. Late papers will receive a penalty of 10% per day late. The laboratory report provides 20% of the course grade.

Participation:

The university expects you to attend all 6 class hours per week, and to study and complete assignments for 12 hours per week at home for this course! It is unlikely that any assignment will be completed in class. This is not high school. My estimate of your participation in the course may provide leverage or barrier should your earned grade fall near a grade border. Attendance, attitude, and attention are three strong components to this factor in the final grade. Staying on-task, remaining engaged in class discussion, and performing as an effective team-member in laboratory is also critical. You will receive substantial penalties for relying upon data that you did not help to collect. As an adult, you are expected to bring all required materials to class, to be on time, etc. Extra credit assignments will not be given to anyone for any reason.

Copying or plagiarism will not be tolerated. While you will work together to obtain data in the laboratory, your own observations and calculations must be shown on the worksheets and quizzes. The ECSU plagiarism penalty is expulsion.

If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact the Office of AccessAbility Services at (860) 465-5573. To avoid any delay in the receipt of accommodations, you should contact the Office of AccessAbility Services as soon as possible. Please note that I cannot provide accommodations based upon disability until I have received an accommodation letter from the Office of AccessAbility Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.

This page © Ross E. Koning 1994.

Go to the Course Schedule Page.

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Send comments and bug reports to Ross Koning at rkoning@snet.net.