BIOLOGY 1308 - INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY I

FALL 2004

Class number: 53178

Day & Time: Friday: 8:00am- 11:00am

Location: Alief Center Building, room 181

Name:

Email address

Office of natural sciences: (713) 718-7771

Textbook

Audesirk, Teresa, Audesirk, Gerald, & Byers, Bruce E.  Biology: Life on Earth, 7^th Edition.  Prentice Hall, 2003.

Course Description

Introductory Biology I (Biology 1308) is a core curriculum course.  It is designed to introduce students to the basics of life science. This course has no prerequisites. It cannot be used in conjunction with Biology 1406.

The credit for this course is 3 semester hours.

Course Objectives

This course focuses upon basic chemistry, cell morphology and physiology, photosynthesis and respiration, cell division, classical and molecular genetics.  The students will learn about the cell, which is the structural and functional unit of life, the concept of thermodynamics and bioenergetics, cell division, and molecular biology.  Successful completion of this course will help students understand basic biological principles.

Attendance

•                     Students are expected to attend the class regularly. Class attendance is checked every session.

•                     If the student is going to be absent for any reason, he or she should arrange to get the notes and information from a fellow classmate. 

•                     As stated in the Fall 2004 Credit Schedule, a student may be dropped from the course if the student’s accumulated absences are in excess of 12.5% of the hours of instruction.  Therefore if a student is absent more than two times, he/she can be dropped from the class.  The instructor has the full authority to drop a student for excessive absences; however, it is the responsibility of the student to drop a course.  If a student just stops coming to the class and does not drop the course, he/she will get an “F” in the class.

Last Day for Admnistrative/Student Withdrawals

The last day for student withdrawals is November 11 at 8:00 p.m.

Tardiness

Students are expected to be on time for each session.  If a student is frequently late for the class, he or she may be marked absent for the many sessions he or she has been late. 

Tardiness will be marked in the attendance record.

Examination

The lecture exams will be over the materials covered in class.  These tests are mainly multiple choice.  The students are responsible for bringing their own scantron answer sheets and no. 2 lead pencils.  Students have one hour and half to complete each lecture exam.  The final exam is comprehensive and contains 100 multiple-choice questions.  Students have two hours to complete the final exam.

There will be no breaks during any of the exams and if a student leaves the room for any reason that student should turn in his/her exam.  That student will not be allowed to continue taking that exam.

Make-up Policy

There will be no make-up for any examination.  Failure to take an exam will result in a zero (0) for the missed exam. It is mandatory to take the final exam, and no student can be exempted. 

Grade determination

A.  There will be four (4) lecture exams worth 100 points each. 

B.   The final exam will be worth 200 points.

C.   The lecture exam with the lowest grade will be dropped.

D.   There will be eight (8) quizzes worth 10 added bonus points each.

Total points to be earned in this class = 500 points

A = 90-100 %             D = 60-69 %

B = 80-89 %               F = 0 -59 %    

C = 70-79 %

                                      Points earned by the student          

Your overall score:                                                           x 100

                                                 Total points

Disability

If any student has any disabilities or special needs that may affect his/her success in this course, the student needs to contact the Office of Disability Support Services in the college.  The counselor will determine the reasonable accommodation or modification, upon reviewing the student’s documents.  The Houston Community College System is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (section 504).

Cell phones and Pagers

The use of cell phones or pagers during the class or the exams is not allowed.  All cellular phones brought to class must either be “muted” or off during lecture and laboratory sessions.

Breaks

Eating, drinking, side talking, sleeping and joking are not permitted during the lecture.  There will be a 15-minute breaks during each session.

Academic Honesty

Students are expected to comply with policies stated in the Houston Community College System student handbook concerning academic honesty.  There will be no talking, looking on other’s papers or in anyway trying to cheat on any examination. This can lead to expulsion from Houston Community College.

Tutor

Departmental tutoring is available to students based on the schedule posted on the Southwest College of Natural Science website. http://swc2.hccs.edu:/natsci/

Learning web

http://learning.swc.hccs.edu/

Course Schedule

The following is a tentative class schedule for the lecture and exam dates.

The instructor reserves the right to change anything in the syllabus at any time