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DIVISION
OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS I.
Program Affiliation:
Biology Course Number
and Title: BIO 1104 Prerequisite:
none Professor:
Office:
Phone:
Office Hrs: Dr. Frank Knight
S-222 ext. 1362
MWF
10-12;TR 9:30-11 fknight@ozarks.edu
M&T 1-2 I. Description: Biology Concepts is
an introductory course which deals with basic biological ideas.
Topics include the nature of science, the cell, genetics,
evolution, ecology, and plant and animal structure, function, and
development. This course
satisfies the minimum requirements in general education and is the basic
prerequisite for all biology courses.
There is one 2-hour laboratory per week. II.
Required Materials: Biology Today: An
Issues Approach. Minkoff, EC
and Baker, PJ. 2001. Garland
Publishing New York, New York. A one-inch, 3-ring
notebook/binder with tabbed dividers. III.
Intended Student Outcomes:
The goals of this
course are to introduce students to the scientific method and the major
concepts of biology, and enhance their appreciation for the intricacy and
diversity of life. For the science major this course provides the
foundation for all subsequent biology courses. 1. Students will
communicate effectively.
a. consider the purpose and the audience for a message
b. use effective strategies to organize their thoughts, develop a
message, and
document their sources
c. present a message skillfully
d. clearly and effectively express ideas and actively listen to the
ideas of others in
discussions 2. Students will
think critically.
a. read with comprehension
b. transfer and apply knowledge and skills to new situations
e. recognize and form interpretations, generalizations, or causal
explanations 3. Students will have
knowledge of human culture. a. identify, describe and use the salient methods, skills or ways of
knowing in
biology
e. use available technologies to gather and process information
effectively 4. Students will be
aware of their responsibilities to themselves, to humanity, to their
planet and to their creator.
a. examine personal lifestyles, ethics, integrity, values and priorities
c. contribute to the welfare of their community and ecosystem IV.
Evaluation: Daily
Assignments: These
assignments are required for every class meeting. They are evidence that the student is prepared to contribute
to class and group discussions. Daily Statement
The daily statement is one to several sentences that either 1)
clearly summarizes or explains a most important or interesting point from
the reading assignment or 2) asks a thoughtful, well-considered, precise
question about the reading or discussion on which the student needs
additional explanation. Each
statement should be accompanied by the date for which it is being
submitted (not necessarily the date that it was composed). Daily Word
Each student will bring to each class (actually, 2 of
3 days per week) a word that he/she encountered in class related reading,
group or class discussions that is new to the student and may be a
significant or useful contribution to his/her vocabulary.
The word should be provided with context, at least the sentence
before/after and the sentence including the word, and formal definition(s).
Each daily word should be presented as follows: Date for which it is submitted Word Context Reference to the source of the word & context Dictionary title Two dictionary definitions OR
Dictionary title
and
Book title
or Greek/Latin Dict.
one dictionary definition
one book glossary
Gr/La
roots definition Weekly
Pop Report This
assignment will be required once a week.
The day and time may not be announced previously.
During class, the prof. will ask the class to spend 15
minutes writing two paragraphs that summarize and explain the most recent
lab activity and or class discussions and or reading assignments and or to
address an end-of-chapter discussion question. Occasional
Assignments: Concept Maps
Each student will generate two (2) original
illustrations that explain the relationships among biological entities and
concepts recently read about and discussed in class. They must be original, not merely revision of textbook
illustrations. One is due
before midterm. Creativity,
clarity, complexity, detail and accuracy are important grade criteria. Crossword Puzzles Each
student must create one original crossword puzzle containing at least six
(6) vocabulary words from his/her glossary of new words (see Daily Word
above). The puzzles must have
at least three across and three down interconnected words. All words must connect directly or indirectly to every other
word in the puzzle. Puzzles
will be graded on form and structure, complexity,
"connectivity," and cleverness and accuracy of the clues.
Each student also must complete one puzzle created by a classmates. Midterm and Final
Reflective Essays
Each student will review this syllabus and his/her
coursework then write an essay of up to four pages in length on his/her
intellectual and professional development, acquisition of knowledge,
progress toward achieving personal and course goals.
Timely completion of assignments, feedback from peers and prof.,
evidence of constructive responses to feedback and extra work group should
figure into the essay. Specific
evidence and examples from the portfolio (see below) should be cited in
the essay. The essay should
develop so as to support the conclusion that the student should receive a
particular grade for the course that is consistent with the student's
grade criteria. Portfolio
Each student will document his/her effort,
participation, acquisition of skills and knowledge in a course portfolio.
Students will retain all course work (original not photocopies) in
a three-ring binder turned in on the day of the final exam.
This syllabus should be at the beginning of the portfolio.
Dividers should be used to group assignments by category.
All required work should be marked by the prof when the work is
completed. Optional and
additional work may be included, too.
All feedback, reviews and evaluations by peers and the prof of
required work must be included. The professor will retain the portfolio for one year after
the end of the course or until the student graduates (whichever comes
first). Optional,
additional work Suggestions: Correct mistakes,
improve assignments Additional concept
maps, or crossword puzzles Current Event/Issue
Artifact
This is a newspaper clipping, copy of a magazine
article, notes from TV or radio news story or other media about current
events or issues relevant to reading assignments, class discussions or the
student's own interests in biology. A
one-page essay that explains the relevance of the artifact to class and to
the student should accompany each artifact. Double entry journal
This is a notebook in which the pages are divided in
half by a vertical line. On
the left, the student records notes from class discussions and readings;
on the right student records her/his own responses to and reflections on
those notes including questions, observations that relate the notes to
other information, additional explanation, personal interpretations and
opinions, relevant citations to readings, and references to other related
student works in the portfolio. Lab journal
In this section a student may include descriptions of the lab
activities that go beyond the descriptions in the manual, results of the
activities, a summary of what the student learned and other reflections
regarding the lab(s).
The "Intellectual
Standards" attached to the syllabus will be applied whenever
appropriate. Classmates will
provide constructive feedback on many assignments. The professor will allocate points and assign grades based on
the following point table and scale. Point
values for assignments Required
Optional Additional
Number
Points
Pts.
points Each
Total
Midterm Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daily
Words
25
@
1
25
Daily
Statements
25
1
25
Pop
Reports
10
15
150 Concept
Maps
2
20
40
1 @ 15
2 @ 10 Puzzles,
make
1
15
15
1 @ 15
1 @ 10
solve
1
10
10
1 @ 10
2 @ 5 Reflect.
midterm
1
20
20
essay final
1
40
40
Portfolio,
midterm 1
15
15
final
1
20
20 Current
Event
1 @ 10 1 @
10 Dbl
E Journal
1 @ 20 1 @
20 Lab
Journal
1 @
20 1 @ 20
------
----- Total
available
360
90* *Max
total points for optional, additional assignments Midterm Points
135
163
188
210 Final Points
260 270
290 305
325 350
365 375
390 405
420 Grade
D-
D
D+
C-
C
C+
B-
B
B+ A-
A V. Attendance and Late Assignments Assignments
not turned in on time or not available when requested cannot be made up
without an acceptable, documented or otherwise verifiable excuse.
Therefore, unexcused absences will result in loss of points.
In the case of absence for previously scheduled activities and
appointments, THE STUDENT must notify the instructor before missing the
class to be excused. Such
notification should be made at school (do not call me at home to do this).
A dated message from the Science Div. secretary will suffice.
If you miss a class, you are responsible for making up all missed
work—even if you are excused. VI.
Laboratory Attendance and Grading Policy Attendance is required. Role will be checked every lab meeting. Four unexcused absences will result in a failing grade of “F” for the entire course. See the lecture attendance policy for guidelines pertaining to excused absences. Material in lab reinforces material covered in the textbook and class discussions. Material from lab may be used for any class assignments. An optional, additional 10 points may be earned by maintaining a “Lab Journal” that may include data collected in lab, explanations of data, legible lab notes, summaries of activities, experience, skills and knowledge acquired. VII.
Academic Honesty The minimum penalty
for cheating or flagrant plagiarism will be a zero score for the test or
assignment. Accidental or
incidental plagiarism will result in a loss of points on the assignment.
See your student handbook for details of other optional penalties
and procedures. VIII.
ADA Statement If any member of the
class has a documented disability and needs special accommodations, the
instructor will work with the student and the office of Student Services
or the Jones Learning Center to provide reasonable accommodations to
ensure the student a fair opportunity to perform in this class.
Please advise the instructor of the disability and the desired
accommodations within the first week of the semester. IX.
Electronic equipment, cell phones and beepers You are welcome to use
laptop computers and tape recorders in class to assist with note-taking.
However, all cell phones and beepers must be turned off or left in
your room/home. With my
permission, under extenuating circumstances you may have your phone/beeper
switch to a silent signal mode to receive an anticipated emergency call.
The classroom is not a place for conducting your personal social
activities. IX.
Class Content and Schedule
Class
Chapters
Labs
Experiments Dates
and pages
Dates
& Activities -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Jan
Preface and contents 24
Jan
1, Black Box Schedule
Textbook Reading Assignment
Laboratory Topic week beginning
DUE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14 January Ch. 1 Science and Ethics 21 Ch. 1 cont. Scientific Method, Black Box 28 finish Ch. 1 Microscopes
4 February Ch. 2 Genes Molecular Genetics 11 Ch. 3 Human Genetics (mitosis & meiosis) 18 finish Ch. 3 Human Genetics 25 Ch. 9 Cancer (electrophoresis) 4 March finish Ch. 9 Cell Function 11 Ch. 8 Nutrition & Health (polluted ponds) 18 Spring Break Spring Break 25 Ch. 11 Drugs (anatomy) 1 April Ch. 11 Drugs (sense and perception) 8 Ch. 4 Evol. & Classifi. Evolution Evidence 15 finish Ch. 4 Natural Selection Game 22 Ch. 15 (polluted ponds) 29 Ch. 15 Biodiversity (video) Intellectual Standards Clarity Are sentences complete, grammatical, correctly punctuated, words correctly spelled? Are modifiers correctly placed? Have you left something out? Could you elaborate a little more? Do your peers understand what you are saying without further explanation? Can you give one brief example or illustration to make your point more obvious? What is the purpose of this sentence, paragraph, report?
Precision Could you be more specific? or more exact? Could you give more details, facts and real information? Is this exactly what you want to say? (and no more) Is there a shorter way of saying the same thing? Can you get to the point more directly with fewer words? Logic Does this make sense together? Is this a paragraph that makes a point, actually explains something, or is it just several sentences vaguely related? Are there transitions between paragraphs? Does the second paragraph make sense following the first and so on? Does your last paragraph remind you of your first? Do your conclusions follow consistently from thesis of the report AND from the evidence you present in the body of the report? Accuracy Is the information correct? Is your source reliable? What have you done or considered to assure that the information is correct and reliable (do you provide evidence that you are reliable and competent)? What else needs to be known?
Relevance & Significance Do your details, examples, information, opinions and elaboration relate to the problem or question? Do they help us understand the problem or question? Is this the main point? Is this too much explanation on a peripheral idea, or trivial problem? What is/are the most important information, and opinions needed to address the question? What is/are the most important ideas, conclusions, interpretations indicated by the data and information? Depth & Breadth What factors make this a difficult problem? What are some of the complexities of this question? How does this question, problem and information relate to other questions, problems and information? What are the implications of your findings to other situations, questions, and ideas? Fairness & Integrity Do you have a vested interest in the outcome of the issue? Have you examined your thinking for bias and prejudice? Have you considered the information objectively to come to your conclusions? Are there relevant alternative interpretations that you should consider and address? Have you avoided information that is contrary to your perspective? Have you put direct quotes in quotation marks? Is this your own explanation of the information or are you merely paraphrasing your sources? Is your conclusion really your own conclusion or are you trying to say what you think the professor or someone else wants you to say?  |