BIOLOGY 1400
Biology for General Education
SUMMER I, 2010
LECTURES: MWF, 9:00 AM-12:10 PM, 102 Lewis Science
Center
LABS: TTh, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM, 126 Lewis Science Center (section 30022)
TTh, 9:00 AM-11:00
AM, 132 Lewis Science Center (section 30024)
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Ben Waggoner
Office: 020 Lewis Science Center
Cell phone:
501-472-2854. NOTE: Please do
not call this number before 8:00 AM or after 8:00 PM on weekdays, or at all on
weekends, unless it is a genuine
emergency. (ŌGenuine emergencyĶ is defined as follows: someone must be dead,
bleeding, giving birth, in jail, or on fire.)
Department phone: 450-3146
Department FAX: 450-5914
E-mail: ediacara@cyberback.com
Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 8:00-9:00, in lecture or lab room; or by
appointment
LAB INSTRUCTOR: Mandy Waggoner
176 Lewis Science Center
Cell phone:
501-472-9854. NOTE: Please do
not call this number before 8:00 AM or after 8:00 PM on weekdays, or at all on
weekends, unless it is a genuine emergency. See above for the official
definition of a genuine emergency.
E-mail: waggonerlab@gmail.com
Office Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8:00-9:00, in lecture or
lab room; or by appointment
TEXTS:
Campbell,
N. A. et al. 2005. Biology: Concepts and Connections. Fifth Edition.
Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco. 781 pp.
Recommended.
Peppers,
Krista C. et al. Biology for General
Education. 2009-2010 Edition. Hayden-McNeil, Plymouth, Michigan. 152 pp. Required.
World
Wide Web: http://faculty.uca.edu/~benw/biol1400/ . If you're
reading this, you're there. Here you can access lecture notes, old exams,
schedules, and other course materials (including this syllabus).
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Harassment: Sexual harassment of any faculty member, staff
member, or student, by any faculty member, staff member, or student, is a
violation of both law and university policy and will not be tolerated at the
University of Central Arkansas. Sexual harassment of employees is prohibited
under Section 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual
harassment of students may constitute discrimination under Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972. Non-sexual harassment based on race, religion,
ethnic origin, sex, social class, or age may also fall into this category, and
will be treated in an equivalent fashion.
The
University's official definitions of sexual harassment, and the steps that one
should take in the event of harassment, are available on-line at http://www.uca.edu/board/500series/documents/511.pdf
. Any incidents should be reported to the professor in charge of the class, to
the department head or academic dean, or directly to the UniversityÕs General
Counsel (Tom Courtway: tcourtway@uca.edu; 206 Wingo; 501-852-2659) or
the Affirmative Action officer (Jack Gillean: jgillean@uca.edu; 207 Wingo; 450-5077).
Disabled students: The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the
requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need an accommodation
under this Act due to a disability, contact the UCA Disability Support Services
office in suite 212 of the Student Health Center, by phone at 450-3613, by FAX
at 450-5664, on the Web at http://www.uca.edu/divisions/student/disability/ , or by
e-mail to the director, Crystal Hill, at crystalh@uca.edu.
Statement on academic misconduct: The University defines academic misconduct
as follows:
In connection with the taking of, or in
contemplation of the taking of any examination, any student who (a) knowingly
discovers or attempts to discover the contents of an examination before the
contents are revealed by the instructor; (b) obtains, uses, attempts to obtain
or use any material or device dishonestly; or (c) supplies or attempts to
supply to any other person any material or device dishonestly; or (d) during
the course of an examination obtains or attempts to obtain unauthorized
information from another student or from another student's test materials.
Any misrepresentation of academic work by a student
as the product of their own study and efforts.
The unauthorized possession, taking, or copying of
solutions manuals or computerized solutions for homework or research problems
assigned by a professor and/or instructor.
In the event an instructor determines that a student has engaged in
academic misconduct, the instructor will meet with the student and inform
him/her of the action or sanction the instructor deems appropriate. In this
class, this will usually be a grade of zero on the assignment in question.
COURSE GRADING POLICY
Grades will be
calculated on the following basis.
Lecture midterm
exams:
2 x 100 = 200
Lecture final exam:
1 x 200 = 200
Lecture
quizzes:
10 x 10 = 100
Lab
assignments:
10 x 20 = 200
------
Total: 700
points
There will be no
curve and no extra credit given; please do not ask. Grades will be assigned as
follows:
630-700 pts. (90-100%) = A
560-629 pts. (80-89%)
= B
490-559 pts. (70-79%)
= C
421-489 pts. (60-69%)
= D
0-419 pts. (0-59%) = F
Lecture tests and quizzes: There will be two midterm exams and a final
exam, based on the material covered in lecture. The final will be
cumulative, although it will emphasize material covered after the second
midterm. All of these exams will be multiple-choice format and graded by
Scantron.
There
will also be thirteen quizzes in lecture. These will be worth 10 points each,
and will be given at unpredictable times. Usually there will be one on every
day of lecture, but I reserve the right to give more than one a day, or else to
skip a day. I will drop the lowest three lecture quiz grades (including
unexcused absences, which give you an automatic grade of zero) when figuring
your grade.
All
tests and quizzes will be based on the material covered in lecture. Anything
not covered in lecture will not be covered on tests, even if it is in the
textbook. The textbook should be used to reinforce the lecture material—not
to replace it! The on-line lecture notes will follow the lectures closely, but
they cannot and should not substitute for attending class and taking notes.
Lab tests and
quizzes: Each lab will require a 20-point assignment. This will generally be
either a homework assignment or an in-lab assignment. Most of these are found
in the lab manual.
OTHER COURSE POLICIES
Attendance: After the first few meetings, attendance will not be taken. You are
presumed to be adults, responsible for the consequences of your own actions, and
able to cope with the consequences of missing class. If you miss a class, you
are still responsible for learning all material that you missed. For your own
benefit, please make every effort to attend all class meetings. This is
especially true for summer courses, which go by with blazing speed; missing a
single day of a summer course is like missing a week of a fall or spring
course.
You must attend only the lab section that
you are registered for. Barring extraordinary circumstances, you may not
"drop in" on the other lab section, unless you have cleared
this ahead of time with both instructors. If for some reason you wish to switch
to the other lab section permanently, you must go through the standard drop/add
procedure.
Inclement Weather
Policy: If the weather is bad on a scheduled class day, check UCA's main
website (http://www.uca.edu/),
KUCA (91.3 FM) radio, or local TV (KARK is pretty good; also check their
website, http://arkansasmatters.com/).
If the campus is officially closed, classes will of course be canceled, and
we'll make up what we can later.
If the campus isn't
closed, then classes will be held as normal, but use your own judgment
in deciding whether to attend. Some students have to commute and may not be
able to reach campus safely. I expect everyone to make a reasonable effort to
show up—but don't risk your life, health, or property to get here! Severe
weather counts as an excusable reason for absence; assignments that you miss
due to bad weather may be prorated, postponed, or canceled at the instructor's
discretion (see below).
Missed Assignments: Make-up exams and
quizzes will not be given, either in lecture or lab. However, your grade
will be prorated if you miss a test or quiz due to: personal illness; death or
illness in your family; participation in a sanctioned intervarsity athletic
event; participation in an activity sponsored by a registered student
organization; or an unforeseen emergency. For example, if you break your leg on
the day of a 100-point lecture exam, I would calculate your grade on the basis
of 600 possible earned points, rather than 700. However, you will still be held
responsible for the material covered on the day(s) that you missed.
To be excused,
absences must be documented, if at all
possible, with a dated note or other written evidence on official paper
from an official source—your doctor, coach, auto mechanic, arresting
officer, parole board, the aliens who abducted you, whatever. You have three
business days after returning to class to present your documentation; no
extensions will be given. Do not count on having your absence excused if you
cannot present documentation. An unexcused absence for an exam or quiz will
result in a grade of zero for that assignment.
There are some
instructors at UCA who assign students a WF grade (withdraw, failing) for
excessive absences. I don't do this. If you are absent for a long period
of time, you will receive zeros on everything that you miss, which could well
result in an F in the course. If you have serious problems that are keeping you
from attending class, consider dropping; it's much easier on your GPA.
Classroom
etiquette: ItÕs our job to provide, to the best of my and the university's
abilities, a place where you can learn about biology. Even if you are not
particularly interested in learning biology, you are paying for the opportunity
to attend this class—both directly, through your tuition and fees, and
indirectly, through state taxes. Therefore, we expect you to act in ways that
do not interfere with anyone else's opportunity to learn. In other words, do
not distract, disturb, or interfere with other students during a lecture or
lab. Distracting other students effectively robs them of the money they have
paid to be here. Interfering with the instructor also interferes with other
studentsÕ learning: it is very difficult to teach effectively if a student is
distracting, interrupting, or being openly disrespectful. Treat everyone in
this class with the same courtesy that you would like them to extend to you.
If you must come to
class late, please enter quietly and seat yourself towards the side of the
room. Walking in front of the instructor is very distracting, as is walking in
front of other students. If you know in advance that you will have to leave a
lecture early, please sit near an exit, so that you can leave with a minimum of
disturbance.
If you have a cell
phone or other such device, turn it off before coming to class—unless you
have a very good reason for keeping it on (e.g. you have a sick relative
and must stay in contact with the caregivers in case of a medical emergency, or
you are a parent whose children, or their caregiver, must stay in contact with
you).
If you absolutely
must receive a cell phone call in class, please set your phone to notify you
silently. If you think you might receive a critical call, please sit near an
exit so that you can take the call outside quickly.
I donÕt have time to
try to police you folks from texting, Internet surfing, etc. during class. You really
shouldnÕt be doing these things, because they will hinder you from earning a
good grade, but I canÕt realistically stop you. However, do not distract anyone
else.
Chatting with your
neighbors should be done outside the classroom. Please keep comments to
yourself during a lecture. Sleeping during class will not be penalized, but
please do not snore.
There are few things
more annoying than a group of students gathering up their books and preparing
to leave before the instructor has finished speaking. Please wait until the
instructor has signaled that the lecture is over before you prepare to leave.
You will be asked to leave the class if
you exhibit repeated disruptive behavior or any type of threatening or violent
behavior. If you do not leave, the UCA police will be called in to
assist you. Fighting, vandalism, or threats made to any student or instructor
will be handled by standard disciplinary procedures as outlined in the student
handbook. Such acts could result in expulsion from the University, or at least
expulsion from the course with a grade of WF (withdraw, failing) which counts
as a permanent grade of F on your transcript and GPA.
COURSE SCHEDULE
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Lecture |
Lab |
Other |
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June 7 |
Introduction, getting acquainted |
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June 8 |
|
Lab 1 |
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June 9 |
The scientific method(s) |
|
Last day to add |
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June 10 |
|
Lab 2 |
|
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June 11 |
The nature of life / Biodiversity I |
|
Deadline for Aug. grad. |
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June 14 |
Biodiversity II |
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June 15 |
|
Lab 10 |
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June 16 |
I know, but what did Darwin really do? |
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June 17 |
|
Lab 7 |
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June 18 |
EXAM 1 / Mendel gives peas a chance |
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June 21 |
More on Mendel |
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June 22 |
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Lab 5 |
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June 23 |
DNA unveiled |
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June 24 |
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Lab 6 |
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June 25 |
Proteins, transcription and translation |
|
Deadline to withdraw, W |
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June 28 |
Chemistry of life |
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June 29 |
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Lab 4 |
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June 30 |
EXAM 2 / Introduction to Ecology |
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July 1 |
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TBA |
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July 2 |
Principles of ecology |
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Deadline to withdraw, WP |
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July 5 |
NO CLASS: July 4 holiday |
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July 6 |
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Lab 11 |
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July 7 |
Ecology and conservation |
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July 8 |
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TBA |
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July 9 |
FINAL |
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