The University of Tennessee at Martin
Department of Biological Sciences
Spring 2003

Biology 120: Introduction to Plant and Animal Biology

Course Information

Prerequisites: Biology 110

Course Goals:

When you have completed this course,  you should have a good grasp of the basic terminology of organismic biology and understand the basic principles of the areas of evolution and ecology.  You should know the names, structures, and ecological interactions of species from the major groups of life, and know the major structures and functions of the organ systems in your body.  You should have the basis for understanding new developments in these areas as they are reported for the general public, in newspapers, on TV, on the internet, or in magazines such as Scientific American, Natural History, and Science News that are designed for a general educated readership.

Grades:

70% of your course grade comes from lecture, 30% from laboratory.  The lecture portion of your grade will be based on the following:

At the end of the semester, I will calculate your score as a percentage of 70 lecture points and add this to your lab score, which will be a percentage of 30 lab points.  Your grades will be based on the total 100 points from lecture and lab using a straight scale: 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, less than 60=F.  If you are on a borderline, I round up (so 89.2 would be an A) and I reserve the right to lower grade boundaries slightly based on the final grade distribution (but don't count on this; it doesn't always happen and even when it does they don't drop more than 1-2 percentage points.) There is NO possibility of "extra credit."

Exams: About 80%-90% of the points on exams will come from "brief answer" (multiple choice and fill-in) questions.   About 10-20% of the points come from short essays.  The essay questions will be taken directly from the homework questions. On exams you will be expected to know everything I cover in lecture (not just what I write down or what is on lecture outlines I hand out) and material from readings that you needed to know to answer the homework questions.  You will not be responsible for material from readings that is not covered in lecture or not needed to answer homework questions. Click here to see copies of old exams.

Exam Policies: No make-up exams will be given.  If it benefits you, your final exam percentage will substitute for one previous exam; this can be either a missed exam or an exam on which you did poorly.  If you have serious medical/family emergencies that cause you to miss more than one exam, come see me as soon as possible to discuss what can be done.

Homework: You will hand in answers to 9 homework assignments.  One (your lowest score or one missed homework) will be dropped; eight will count toward your grade.  Each will have two questions to be answered with short essays (one paragraph should answer one question) based on material in an outside reading, either an assigned article or a section of your textbook.  The goal of the homework is to help you to learn to apply the material we are learning about in class to reading more about biology and the various ways biology applies to "real life."

Homework Policies: Your homework must be typed in standard, grammatically correct English, with correct spelling.  It is due at the start of class on the dates given on the schedule below (which I reserve the right to modify; I'll let you know if I do.)  Exams will have essay questions taken directly from the homework so it is crucial for your success on exams that you have the correct homework answers.  To make sure that you have this information, you must bring two copies of the homework to class; you will hand one in and keep one.  We will go over the homework at the start of the class; you should make corrections on the copy of the homework that you keep.  You may not give your homework to someone else in class to hand in and may not hand in someone else's homework (to do so is cheating.)  Your homework grade is in part an attendance grade and is a way that I take attendance.  If you did not manage to get your homework done on time but ARE in class, please write your name on a blank piece of paper and give it to me so that I have a record of your attendance.  If you do not do this, you are officially absent (this may affect financial aid for some of you so it is important!)  Your homework will be graded based on content and, to some extent, presentation (grammar and spelling.)  I will NOT make comments (other than a grade, a numerical score out of 3 points) on the homework; you are expected to correct it yourself when we go over it in class. Late homework will not be accepted -- you must be in class on time with your homework ready to hand in and with an extra copy on your desk in order to receive credit for your homework. If you do have to miss a class when homework is due I will be happy to check over your answers for you (not for credit) so you are sure you have the right information for the exam

Lecture Attendance Policy:  I expect that by the time you are in college you are responsible adults and should know that if you're signed up for a class, you should be there every time.  I don't take off any points directly if you miss lecture because I know that if you miss lecture, you will lose those points, on exams or homework, for yourself.  My exams are based on what I go over in lecture -- material I present and answers to homeworks over reading that I go over in class.  You are expected to know everything from lecture; if you miss lecture, you miss material you need to know.  If you come in late, you miss material you need to know.  If you miss or come in late on a day when homework is due, you miss getting credit for the homework as well as missing hearing the answer.  Please come to class every time you possibly can.  If you MUST miss, note that it is YOUR responsibility to get notes from another student.  Once you have those notes you're welcome to come to me for help to be sure you understand them.

Academic Accomodations: Any student eligible for and requesting academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide a letter of accommodation from P.A.C.E. or Student Academic Support Center within the first two weeks of the semester.

Academic Honesty: Cheating/plagiarism will result in a grade of F for the entire course.  Note that it is just as dishonest, and unfair to other students, to knowingly allow someone to copy your work as it is to copy someone's work.

Electronic Devices:  CELL PHONES (AND OTHER NON-ESSENTIAL AND/OR NOISY ELECTRONIC DEVICES) MUST BE TURNED OFF IN CLASS.  (if there's an emergency situation where you have to be reachable, you must tell me before class; if possible, set the phone to vibrate, not ring, and, if the phone does vibrate, get up and leave the class before answering it.)   Anyone listening to such a device or answering a cell phone during an exam is getting extra information and is therefore cheating and will receive an automatic F in the course.

Lecture Schedule: the following is a tentative schedule of lecture topics and associated readings.  Note that readings from the textbook are mostly for background.  Readings may be changed and additional readings may be assigned; I will let you know if this occurs. Assigned readings over which homework will be due are given in bold face.
 
Date Lecture Topic Associated Reading
6 Jan Introduction; Intro to Ecology and Population Growth S&T Ch. 46
8 Jan Population Growth: General Models S&T Ch. 46, S &T pp. 870-891, and "The Human Numbers Crunch" by Janet Raloff
10 Jan Population growth: humans (cont'd from previous handout)
13 Jan Communities: Biomes  S&T Ch. 47
15 Jan Biomes con'td S&T Ch. 47
17 Jan Communities: Interactions among species; HOMEWORK ON NUMBERS CRUNCH RALOFF PAPER DUE S&T Ch. 47;  "Shrimp Stocking, Salmon Collapse, and Eagle Displacement" by Spencer et al. 
 20 Jan Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
22 Jan Interactions among species cont'd S&T Ch. 47
24 Jan Communities: ecological succession (cont'd from previous handout); NO HOMEWORK DUE TODAY  S&T Ch. 47
27 Jan Energy Flow in Ecosystems S&T Ch. 48
29 Jan Ecosystem Productivity; Human Impacts (continued from previous handout): HOMEWORK ON SPENCER ET AL PAPER  (Shrimp Stocking, Salmon Collapse..." DUE. S&T Ch. 48
31 Jan EXAM 1
3 Feb Antibiotic Resistance and Natural Selection  "ANITBIOTIC: Overuse of Cipro can breed lethal bacteria" by S. Russell; S&T Ch. 18
5 Feb Natural selction (cont'd from previous handout) S&T Ch. 18
7 Feb Sexual Selection S&T Ch. 51
10 Feb Conservation of Genetic Diversity: Genetic Drift; HOMEWORK ON RUSSELL PAPER (ANTIBIOTICS: Overuse of Cipro...) DUE. S&T Ch. 18; "California Maps Network of Open Space as Animal Lifeline" by J. Christensen
12 Feb Gene flow; mutation (cont'd from previous handout)
14 Feb Evidence for Evolution S&T Ch. 17; 19
17 Feb Speciation (cont'd from previous handout); HOMEWORK ON CHRISTENSEN PAPER (California Maps Network...) DUE
19 Feb Phylogenies (Continued from previous handout) S&T Ch. 20
21 Feb Coevolution, convergent evolution, adaptive radiation S&T Ch. 19, pp. 464-465, 820-821
24 Feb Convergent evolution and adaptive radiation (cont'd) S&T Ch. 19, pp. 464-465, 820-821
26 Feb EXAM 2
28 Feb Taxonomy; Origin of the Kingdoms S&T Ch. 21-24
3 Mar Diversity of Life: Plants "Biodiversity and Human Health" by A. Dobson; S&T Ch. 26
5 Mar Diversity of Life: Plants S&T Ch. 26
7 Mar Diversity of Life: Plants; HOMEWORK ON DOBSON PAPER (Biodiversity and Human Health)  DUE S&T Ch. 26
10-14 Mar SPRING BREAK
17 Mar Diversity of Life: Animals S&T Ch. 27; "Study Examines Coral Reefs"by E. Kurtenbach
19 Mar Diversity of Life: Animals S&T Ch. 27
21 Mar Diversity of Life: Animals; HOMEWORK ON KURTENBACH PAPER (Study Examines Coral Reefs) DUE S&T Ch. 27
24 Mar Diversity of Life: Vertebrates and other chordates S&T Ch. 27
26 Mar EXAM 3
28 Mar Tissues; Organogenesis S&T Ch. 44
S&T Ch.33
31 Mar Introduction to Tissues and Physiological Systems 
2 Apr Nutrition and Digestion S&T Ch. 42; Raloff Paper "Chocolate Hearts: Yummy and Good Medicine?"
4 Apr Circulatory System S&T Ch.39
 
7 Apr IThe Immune System S&T Ch 40
9 Apr Immune System Cont'd; HOMEWORK ON RALOFF PAPER (Chocolate Hearts) DUE  S&T Ch 40; "How Breast Milk Protects Newborns" by J. Newman 
11 Apr Reproductive System S&T Ch 45
14 Apr Reproductive System cont'd S&T Ch 45
16 Apr Endocrine control of Reproductive System; HOMEWORK ON NEWMAN PAPER (How Breast Milk Protects Newborns) DUE S&T Ch 45
18 Apr Good Friday
21 Apr Nervous System S&T Ch 39; "Study Reveals New Clues on How Memory Works: Learning process shown to affect links between brain cells" by  C.T. Hall 
23 Apr Nervous System: HW ON HALL PAPER (Study reveals New Clues on How Memory Works..."DUE S&T Ch 39
25 Apr EXAM 4
28 Apr Excretory System S&T Ch. 43

Final Exam: Friday, 2 May, 12:45-2:45 p.m.