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BIO150

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Biology: Organisms, Genes, and Ecology

BiologyScience, Tech, Engr & Math
OverviewGoals, Topics, and ObjectivesAssessment, Requirements, and OutcomesRegister for this Course

Course Goals

After completing BIO 150, students should:

  1. Be further acquainted with the amazing similarities among all forms of life on Earth.

  2. Be further acquainted with the intriguing differences among forms of life on Earth.

  3. Be experienced in using critical thinking and the scientific method.

  4. Have a lifelong appreciation of the importance of understanding how the science of biology, “the study of life”, truly does relate to all aspects of life and society.

  5. Be more familiar with the work of professional biologists.

  6. Be prepared to enroll in more advanced classes in the Biological Sciences.

  7. Have new ideas to explore in other classes and/or in daily life.

  8. Find greater appreciation of the complexity and beauty of life forms.

Core Course Topics

  1. Biology: the scientific study of life

  2. Ecosystem structure

  3. Population ecology

  4. Community ecology

  5. Energy flow and material cycling

  6. Conservation biology

  7. Plasma membranes

  8. DNA structure and function

  9. Cell cycle and mitosis

  10. Meiosis

  11. Chromosomes, genetic inheritance, chance and probability

  12. Evolution: the basis of the unity and the diversity of life

  13. Developmental evolutionary biology

  14. Population genetics

  15. Speciation and macroevolution

  16. Geologic time

  17. Diversity of life: Prokaryotic organisms

  18. Diversity of life: Protista

  19. Diversity of life: Plantae

  20. Diversity of life: Fungi

  21. Diversity of life: Animalia

  22. Diversity of life: animal evolution and developmental biology

  23. Plant structure & function

  24. Plant reproduction and development

  25. Animal cells and tissues

  26. Animal nutrition and digestion

  27. Animal circulation and gas exchange

  28. Animal homeostasis, osmoregulation, and excretion

  29. Mammalian reproduction

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Synthesize evidence acquired by scientists and apply to daily lives and to current social and environmental issues.

Demonstrate knowledge of model organisms used in many areas of biological research.

Demonstrate broad ability to make and record accurate observations.

Demonstrate designated levels of proficiency with laboratory skills used by biologists.

Design and carry out a research project using the scientific method, including presenting your results and conclusions in both a written and oral format.

Analyze and interpret scientific data using descriptive and inferential statistical methods.

Explain and apply concepts of population, community, and ecosystem ecology.

Define levels of biodiversity and conservation strategies being adopted to slow the rate of species loss.

Predict inheritance, using the rules of chance and probability, in living organism based on given genotypes and/or phenotypes.

Analyze how forces that result in micro- and macro- evolution account for bot the unity and diversity of life on Earth.

Use the Hard Weinberg equation to illustrate principles of population genetics.

Synthesize teleological, physiological and evolutionary explanations for various biological processes.

Classify plants and animals in their various phyla and classes using traditional taxonomy and cladistics.

Illustrate the major eras of geologic time and the organisms that characterize each one.

Explain selected life processes in detail and apply the principles of those processes to natural phenomena.

Connect form and function in various animal systems.

Demonstrate mastery of selected biological facts as listed in the unit objectives.

Display professional behavior, curtesy, and attitude.