BISC 121Lg
Advanced General Biology: Organismal Biology and Evolution
Fall Semester 2008
Course Overview: BISC 121Lg is an advanced introductory course that will expose students to the breadth of biological diversity, evolution, and environmental biology. The course is designed to provide relatively even coverage of all major taxonomic groups, providing an evolution-based description of form and function, and an overview of ecology, behavior, population genetics, and conservation biology.
Lecturers: Lab Director:
David Caron, Ph.D.Jed Fuhrman, Ph.D. Gorjana Bezmalinovic
Office: AHF 301Office: ACB 305 Office ZHS 362
Telephone: 213 740-0203Telephone: 213 740-5757 Telephone: 213 740-6078
Email: mail: Email:
Office Hours: TBAOffice Hours: TBA Office Hours: Open door policy
Required Textbooks:
Campbell & Reece (2008). Biology. 8th ed.
Van de Graaff & Crawley (2005). A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory, Revised 5th ed.
Lum, Shakhbandaryan & Halchak (2008). General Biology Laboratory Manual BISC 120 and 121
Courses, FALL 2008.
Lecture times: MWF 1:00 - 1:50 PM in ZHS 252
Website: (for detailed class notes, announcements and grades—you will want to check this about 3-5 times per week)
Grading: Final grades are assigned on a curve, determined entirely by the total number of points earned on lecture exams and in the laboratory. See the Course Contract for more details. After each exam a curve will be published to indicate roughly what letter grade corresponds to each student’s current number of points. Only the total number of points earned by the end of the course will determine the final grade.
Exam Schedule: (All exams conducted in ZHS 252).
Exam 1: Monday, Sept. 22
Exam 2: Monday, Oct. 13
Exam 3: Friday, Nov. 7
Final Exam: Wed., Dec. 17th from 11AM - 1 PM
For policies on re-grading and missed exams, please refer to the Course Contract which is available on the course website.
Students with Disabilities: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with the Office of Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Be sure that the letter is delivered to the laboratory director as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30-5:00, Monday through Friday. The telephone number for DSP is 213-740-0776.
Course Syllabus
Week of: / Lecture Topic / Campbell and Reece 8th Ed. / Lecturer / Lecture numberAug 25 / Introduction / *Ch.14,15,16 / Caron / 1
27 / Genetics & Evolution: The Modern Synthesis / Ch. 22, 23 / Caron / 2
29
/ Evolution: Overview of the Diversity of Life / Ch. 22 / Caron / 3Sep 1 /
Labor Day Holiday
/ Caron / Holiday3 / Micro/Macroevolution / Ch. 24 / Caron / 4
5
/ The Origin & Concept of Species / Ch. 25 / Caron / 5Sep 8 /
Phylogeny & Systematics
/ Ch. 26 / Caron / 610 / The Tree of Life (Eukaryotes) / Ch. 26 / Caron / 7
12
/ Protist Origins, Diversity & Ecology I / Ch. 28 / Caron / 8Sep 15 / Protist Origins, Diversity & Ecology II / Ch. 28 / Caron / 9
17 / Fungi Function And Diversity / Ch. 31 / Caron / 10
19
/ Fungi Ecology and Evolution / Ch. 31 / Caron / 11Sep 22 / 1st EXAM / Caron / Exam 1
24 / Marine Animal Diversity (Guest Speaker) / Ch. 32 / Caron / 13
26
/ Barcodes & Diversity / Ch. 33 / Caron / 14Sep 29 / Invertebrates I / Ch. 33 / Caron / 15
Oct 1 / Invertebrates II / Ch. 33 / Caron / 16
3
/ Invertebrates III / Ch. 33 / Caron / 17Oct 6 / Vertebrates: The Origin of Jaws / Ch. 34 / Caron / 18
8 / Vertebrates: Amniotes / Ch. 34 / Caron / 19
10
/ Vertebrates: Primates & Hominid Evolution / Ch. 34 / Caron / 20Oct 13 / 2ndExam / Caron / Exam 2
15 / Origins of Life / Ch. 25 / Fuhrman / 22
17 / Virus Introduction / Ch. 19 / Fuhrman / 23
Oct 20 / Viruses and Prokaryotic Genetics / Ch. 18.1, 27 / Fuhrman / 24
22 / Prokaryote Structure & Function / Ch 27 / Fuhrman / 25
24
/ Prokaryote Metabolic Diversity / Ch. 27 / Fuhrman / 26Oct 27 / Prokaryote Diversity and Ecology / Ch. 27 / Fuhrman / 27
29 / The Evolution of Land Plants / Ch. 29 / Fuhrman / 28
31
/ Seed Plants / Ch. 30 / Fuhrman / 29Nov 3 / Elements of Plant Structure and Function / Ch. 35-39
(concepts only) / Fuhrman / 30
5 / Behavioral Biology / Ch. 51 / Fuhrman / 31
7
/ 3rd Exam / Fuhrman / Exam 3Nov 10 / Introduction to Ecology / Ch. 52 / Fuhrman / 32
12 / Population Ecology / Ch. 53 / Fuhrman / 33
14
/ Community Ecology / Ch. 54 / Fuhrman / 34Nov 17 / Community Ecology / Ch. 54 / Fuhrman / 35
19 / Ecosystems / Ch. 55 / Fuhrman / 36
21
/ Ecosystems / Ch. 55 / Fuhrman / HolidayNov 24 / Conservation Biology / Ch. 56 / Fuhrman / 37
26 / Global Change Presentation / Fuhrman / 38
28 /
Thanksgiving Holiday
/ Fuhrman / 39Dec 1 / Global Change Presentation / Fuhrman / 40
3 / Conservation Biology / Ch. 56 / Fuhrman / 41
Dec 5 / Catch-up, Summary, and Review / Fuhrman / 42
Dec 6-9 / Study Days. No Classes
Dec 17 / Final Exam, 11AM-1 PM
NOTES: * indicates chapters that students should read and/or review, especially if they have little or no prior familiarity with genetics. This syllabus may be subject to minor changes, which will be announced in class and posted on Blackboard.
Drs. Caron and Fuhrman’s lectures will be supplemented with PDF or PowerPoint documents posted for download on the class web site ( The PDF files will generally be available a few days prior the respective lecture under Course Documents. Each topic set for the exams will be grouped together.
It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to check the website for new announcements on a regular basis.
Please check your grades on Blackboard frequently (on your My USC home page click on View Grades in the Tools box); all corrections to grades must be completed PRIOR to the lecture final. Please notify your TA and the laboratory director of the error and follow-up that it is corrected in a timely manner.
Please note your final exam schedule now! You must have 3 or more documented final exams on the same day to warrant a final exam day change. If you have the required 3 finals on the same day, bring your documentation to the laboratory director for approval at least a week before the scheduled final exam time.
Please consult the Course Contract for further information on switching laboratories, exams, and how to handle class before the big game, holiday, etc.
BISC 121Lg LABORATORY SYLLABUS
FALL 2008
Lab Director:Gorjana Bezmalinovic ZHS 362 Tel. 213-740-6078
Email: Fax 213-740-8123
Office hours: Open door policy
Laboratory Schedule:
Lab #Week beginningLaboratory General Biology Lab Manual
August 25No Lab This Week1September 1Laboratory Safety and Techniques Chapter 1
Forensic Microscopy Chapter 2
2September 8Evolution and Population Genetics Chapter 3
3 September 15Modern Survey of Protistan Clades Chapter 6
4September 22Fungal Diversity and Symbiosis Chapter 7
5September 29Animal Diversity: Invertebrates I & II Chapter 10 & 11
6October 6Sea Urchin Development*, Journal Club #1 Chapter 12
October 13 LAB PRACTICAL I
7October 20Animal Diversity: Vertebrate Evolution Chapter 13
8October 27Domain Bacteria* Chapter 5
9November 3Kingdom Plantae Chapter 8
10November 10Ecology, Journal Club #2 Chapter 14
November 17Marine Biology Field Trip Presentations
November 24Thanksgiving Holiday – No Lab This Week
December 1LAB PRACTICAL II
*Exercise for which lab report is required.
The Lab Director reserves the right to make some adjustments to the syllabus during the semester.
One Saturday in October: Intertidal Field Trip – date to be announced.
Required Textbooks available at the USC bookstore:
General Biology Laboratory Manual BISC 120 & 121 Courses, Fall 2008, Lum, Shakhbandaryan, & Halchak, Cengage Learning, ISBN-10: 0-495-83893-4
A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory; Van de Graaff and Crawley, Revised 5th Edition, Morton Publishing Company, ISBN: 0-89582-684-4
Bring your lab manual and atlas to lab each week.
LABORATORY POINT DISTRIBUTION
The laboratory portion (300 points) will count for 30% of your final course grade, distributed as follows:
Lab Quizzes (10 – 5 points each)50 pts
Post-lab Write-ups (8 – 5 points each)40 pts
Lab Reports (2 – 25 points each)50 pts
Journal Club (2 – 15 points each)30 pts
Marine Biology Field Trip Presentation30 pts
Lab Exams (2 – 50 points each) 100 pts
LABORATORY PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES
1. You are required to attend all lab sessions. Any unexcused absences will seriously affect your evaluation. Come to lab on time. You are also to remain for the entire lab session or until excused by your instructor. Don’t make other appointments for the time you are scheduled to be in lab.
Students who are within 5 points of a grade borderline at the end of the semester will be considered for an upgrade based on the following criteria: class participation, attendance, coming to office hours, and subjective evaluation by the TA, Lab Director, and faculty.
2.Before you begin the lab exercise, make sure that you remove all unnecessary materials from your work area. At the end of the lab session, clean and return all supplies to their proper place, clean your work area, and slide your chair under the table. Check with your instructor before leaving.
NO EATING OR DRINKING IS ALLOWED IN THE LABORATORY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
3. LAB QUIZZES: Each student will take a quiz during the first 5 minutes of each lab session. Students coming late to lab without a valid excuse will not be allowed to make up the quiz.
4. POST-LAB WRITE-UPS: Each student will be required to provide a copy of his or her work for each lab exercise. You may use carbon copy notebook that incorporates tear-out copies. Your chemistry lab notebook may be suitable for this purpose. Before leaving the laboratory, you must submit a copy of your notes. Each post-lab write-up should include the following:
- Name and partner’s name
- Title of laboratory exercise
- Brief purpose and background of the lab
- Record of your data (graphs, tables, drawings, etc.), calculations, observations and conclusion
- Answers to all post-lab questions
5.LAB REPORT: Lab reports are due at the beginning of the lab session (within the first 10 minutes). The format for writing a lab report can be found in the Appendix section of your lab manual and it will be posted on Blackboard ( under Course Documents.
6. LAB EXAM: The two lab practical exams will test your understanding of the topics and
exercises covered in the laboratory sessions. The second lab exam will not be comprehensive; it
will cover only the material from the second part of the semester.
Missed Lab Exam: It is your responsibility to make it to lab on the day of the lab exam. If you miss
the exam due to a serious illness (e.g., admission to the hospital) or a true emergency (e.g., traffic
accident, fire, flood) that you could not attend school, you must present a valid excuse to the Lab
Director no later than 48 hours of the missed exam. A valid excuse must include names and
phone numbers for verification purposes. If you have a valid excuse, you will be allowed to take
the exam in another lab section that week. If you do not have a valid excuse (or fail to provide it
within the allotted time), you will receive zero points for the lab exam.
7.MARINE BIOLOGY FIELD TRIP PRESENTATION: Detailed information about this assignment will be posted on Blackboard ( under Course Documents.
8. JOURNAL CLUB: Profs. Caron and Fuhrman will each lead a journal club discussion of one peer-reviewed scientific paper related to the course lecture material. You are responsible for reading and understanding the scientific papers and you are expected to participate in the discussion of the papers during journal club.
9.Switching Laboratory Sections: If you must miss a lab exercise due to illness or emergency, please contact the Administrative TA to see whether it will be possible to attend an alternative lab section. For logistical reasons, it will not be possible to make up a missed lab exercise after Friday afternoon of the week in question. Obviously, students with labs scheduled on Fridays will have little or no alternative should they miss lab unexpectedly. Only a few requests for alternative labs can be accommodated, because few sections have available space. Thus, it is very important for you to attend your scheduled lab section if at all possible. Please note that no lab switching will be allowed during the week prior to a holiday or Spring Break. Athletes who must miss occasional labs for legitimate reasons should bring documentation to the Lab Director well in advance to arrange alternatives. If you must miss a lab due to religious holidays, please notify the Lab Director two weeks in advance.
POSTING GRADES:You can find your lecture and lab grades on Blackboard:
Lecture exam scores are posted under LECTURE SECTION. All lab
grades are posted under your LAB SECTION. Be sure to check for additional postings on a regular
basis. It is the student’s responsibility to notify his/her TA or Lab Director ASAP in the event of any
mistakes.
LABORATORY SCORE NORMALIZATION: The laboratory scores will be normalized at the end of the semester by the Laboratory Director in conjunction with the TAs to correct for differences in grading between TAs.In this procedure, the mean total score of all students in each TAs labs is compared to the mean total score of the entire class and each student’s score is adjusted.
STUDENTS WITH DISSABILITIES: Students requesting academic accommodations
based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP)
each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from
DSP when adequate documentation is filed. DSP is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00. The
office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
September 1 – Labor Day, University holiday
September 12 – Last day to register, add classes, and drop without a mark of “W”
November 2 – Change those clocks – FALL BACK so you gain an hour!
November 14 – Last day to drop with a mark of “W”
November 27-28 – Thanksgiving holiday (NO LABS THIS WEEK!)
December 5 – Fall semester classes end
December 6-9 – Study days
December 17 – FINAL EXAM from 11A.M. – 1 P.M.
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