Biology 100L: General Biology Laboratory

Office room# & Phone .

The Bio Dept. Office is in the North Life Sciences Bld., room 102. If necessary, leave materials/messages with the department secretaries. Department phone: (619) 594-6767

Web site: http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/classes/biology/bio100l/index.html

Course Description: Biology 100L: General Biology Laboratory is a 1-unit course stressing processes common to living organisms. Not open to bio majors. Credit or concurrent registration in Biology 100 required.

Required Text & Biology 100L General Biology Laboratory Manual by Newsome and Weidner

Available at Aztec Bookstores.

Equipment: Write your name and contact info in the manual.

You are required to buy the Student course packet.

Bring the manual and student packet every day.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course you will be able to distinguish organisms of different kingdoms, outline the basics of photosynthesis, point out local habitats, read a cladogram, distinguish mitosis from meiosis, and have a better understanding of DNA structure and replication.

Attendance: Four absences or two unexcused absences in a row will result in an "F"for the course.

You will also be "absent"for arriving over 20 minutes late or leaving more than 30 minutes early.

Participation points will be deducted for absences.

Enrollment deadlines are listed on the web here: http://www.sdsu.edu/acad_calendar/

Points & Grading Exams (5) 120 pts A = 94.8 -100%

Weekly Lab data sheets 140 pts A- = 91 -94.7%

Experiment 100 pts B+ = 87 -90.9%

Presentation 80 pt B = 84 -86.9%

Nature center assignment 30 pt B- = 82 -83.9%

Participation 60 pt C+ = 77 -81.9%

total points: 530 C = 73 -76.9%

C- = 71 -72.9%

D = 61 -70.9%

F = or <60.9%

Exams: Exams are worth 30 points each. Your lowest score will be dropped.

Lab response data sheets: Weekly lab data sheets, worth 10 points each, are due at the end of lab meeting. You will turn in the Response/Data worksheet found in the lab manual. Answer ALL questions and completely fill in tables and graphs. You may work with your lab group to complete the lab pages but they must be submitted individually. Do not copy answers. Weekly answers are posted on our website Fridays.

Presentation: You will make a 5-minute presentation on a current issue that is related to a biological principle introduced in lab. Presentations on one topic will be given the week after that topic was covered in class, in to show the relationship between previous material and the presentation. They will draw upon your personal experiences, where possible, and be accompanied by at least 2 visual aids. See the "Presentation page"for details.

Experiment Report: The experiment consists of a Topic selection, proposal, a draft , and a final report (total = 100 points). Working alone or with a partner, you will do a simple experiment outside of class and write a brief report following scientific journal format (i.e., Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion). See your "Experiment page" for details. Remember, you must write your own report even if you worked with someone. If you design the experiment and collect the data with someone else, beware of writing it "with them" on separate papers.

Your writing must be your own thoughts in all respects.

Class participation: Points will be earned for regular attendance, being on time, being prepared, having your lab manual and student packet; showing interest, appropriate communication with the instructor via email, making appropriate use of office hours, and by participating in discussions. Conversely, points will be lost for absences, tardiness, unsafe behavior, late work, lack of preparation, failure to participate in discussions, inappropriate talking in class, misuse of the computers, forgetting the lab manual, carelessness with reagents, failure to clean after yourself, etc.

Extra Credit: There is no 'extra credit'. There is a lot of work assigned in this class so in a way, everyone already has"extra credit". Exams have extra points in the form of bonus questions. Because of these bonus questions on very rare occasions someone completes Bio 100 L with over 100%.

Plagiarism/Cheating: Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism on reports, or cheating on quizzes will result, at the minimum, in a 0 for the assignment and will be reported to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and may result in probation, suspension or expulsion. Unless properly quoted and cited, all work you turn in must be yours alone. Take care when "sharing" your results with others! All assignments that show evidence of copying result in discipline, even if we know who originally wrote the text. Students violate this every semester, some "accidentally."Don't!

Safety: You may not eat, drink (even water), open chewing gum, apply eyedrops or makeup, remove or put in your contact lenses while inside the lab rooms. These restrictions apply inside the rooms AT ALL TIMES. WHY? Because there are many sections meeting in each room and the people who sat at the lab bench before you may have spilled bacteria. You could come in, touch the computer (now bacterially-contaminated), open a bottle of water with your contaminated fingers transferring bacteria to the mouth of the bottle, take a drink, and give yourself a few million bacteria. For this reason, from the moment you first enter the room any beverages or food you have must be in your backpacks. If we see containers that are no longer factory-sealed we will make you dump out their contents. If you want to keep the containers you will have to wash them and put them away empty.

You must wear closed-toe shoes. Sandals, flip-flops, and other open-toed shoes are not allowed.

If you are believed to have violated these safety rules the coordinator, and/or instructor, shall ask you to leave for the day and you shall receive 0 points for that day’s exercises.

Courtesy: Often the door will be locked until nearly time for class to begin. We appreciate your patience. This is the time to clean and re-supply the lab, and time for your instructor to prepare. As a result, the beginning of class is a bad time to answer individual questions. Please save these for after class or during office hours. Once the next class is trying to enter the lab you need to leave the room.You are expected to keep your phone either off or set to "silent mode". Please keep your non-biology conversations to a minimum while others are talking.

If you have difficulties/problems and can't reach your TA, contact me, the Biology 100 Lab coordinator, Joe Newsome.

Office PSFA 373, ph. 594-2730, email jnewsome@sunstroke.sdsu.edu.

Sorry, like most instructors, I don't return calls from pagers or long-distance phone numbers.

This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor/coordinator following reasonable notification to students.