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To the Biology Department home page
BIO 112 is the second semester of the two-semester General
Biology course (BIO 111, 112) and is designed as an introduction
to biology for students planning to major or minor in Biology
or having a serious interest in the Biological Sciences.
Prerequisite: BIO 111
Communication: Class and individual communications will be sent via Blitz-mail and students are expected to check Blitz-mail daily. I am easier to reach by Blitz-mail than by phone.
Lecture:
Lab:
Textbooks:
Goal:
The goal of BIO 112 is to introduce the students to the diversity of life (bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals), the structure and function of representative organisms, and general ecological principles.
Course Objectives:
Advice to Students:
1. This course introduces many new vocabulary terms and concepts
that require time to understand, and which need to be understood
in order for the following lectures to make sense. Consequently,
waiting to study until a few days prior to the exam will not give
most students enough time to learn the material. Studying your
lecture notes prior to the next lecture is a good way to make
sure that you understand the concept of that lecture. This will
also prepare you for the following lecture, for the lecture quiz
which might be given on that material, and for the exam.
2. Memorizing terms and the definitions of concepts is only one component of studying for the exam. You must also understand the concepts sufficiently to apply them and make predictions based upon them.
3. Use the Study Guide which came with the text in order to help in reviewing the lectures notes between lectures and prior to exams. The questions in the Study Guide will also help you prepare for lecture quizzes.
4. Do not hesitate to ask questions in class. If you have a question about the material, chances are that others in the class are also puzzled.
5. Please come to see me in my office if you have further questions.
Grading Policy: There will be 3 lecture exams. The dates of these exams and the material covered on each are listed on the lecture syllabus. Tests 2 and 3 will include 10% cumulative material (from previous exams). The final exam will be 50% new material and 50% cumulative material (from the entire semester). Your course grade will be determined from 3 exams, a cumulative final exam, a quizzes and assignments grade, and the laboratory grade.
Exams must be taken at their scheduled times (see Attendance Policy for details). Make-up exams must be taken within one week of the missed exam and will only be given if there is a valid, documented excuse (extreme illness accompanied by a physician's note). If you know that you have a conflict with a scheduled exam, the instructor must be notified in advance.
Brief quizzes will be given during the lecture period on the lecture material. These may or may not be announced. Other assignments may be given instead of quizzes, and will count similarly. The lowest grade will be dropped. Quizzes cannot be made up.
Failure to receive a passing grade (60 or greater) on at least one of the four exams will result in failure of the class, regardless of quiz and laboratory grades.
Honor code: The Honor Code policy of Washington College is supported in BIO 112 and will be enforced when necessary.
Attendance Policy: Attendance at lecture is required and will be checked. More than three unexcused absences will result in a 10% reduction in the final course grade (approximately one letter grade).
Any student late to class more than twice will loose one of their three 'free' unexcused absences. This will continue until, if need be, the student's grade is reduced, as in the case of three unexcused absences from class.
Any student on Academic or Continued Probation must abide by college policy and be present at ALL classes. Any unexcused absences will be reported to the Assistant Dean's Office.
Laboratory attendance is mandatory. If you know in advance
that you cannot attend a given lab, contact the instructor during
the preceding week, so that you may be scheduled to participate
in another lab section. Athletes must present, in writing,
the dates of competitions which conflict with labs to their lab
instructors no later that the second week of lab, so that participation
in another lab section can be scheduled. Any lab work missed
for valid, documented reasons must be made up as soon as possible.
Unexcused absence from a lab, or missed work which is not made
up will result in a loss of 10% from the final grade.
| Date | Topic | Chapters |
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| Jan. 21 | Origin and diversity of life | 24 |
| Jan. 26 | Kingdom Monera: prokaryotes, metabolic diversity | 25 |
| Jan. 28 | Kingdom Protista - eukaryotes | 26 |
| Feb. 2 | Kingdom Fungi | 28 |
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| Feb. 4 | Kingdom Plantae - plants and the colonization of land | 27 |
| Feb. 9 | Plant reproduction | 34 |
| Feb. 11 | Exam 1 | 24-28, 34 |
| Feb. 16 | Plant structure and growth | 31 |
| Feb. 18 | Transport in plants | 32 |
| Feb. 23 | Flex | |
| Feb. 25 | Plant nutrition | 33 |
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| Mar. 2 | Kingdom Animalia: invertebrate phylogeny & diversity | 29 |
| Mar. 4 | Kingdom Animalia: vertebrate phylogeny & diversity | 30 |
| Mar. 9 | Exam 2 | 29-33 |
| Mar. 11 | Flex | |
| Mar. 15-19 | Spring Break - No Classes | |
| Mar. 23 | Introduction to animal structure and function | 36 |
| Mar 25 | Circulation and gas exchange | 38 |
| Mar. 30 | Advising day - No Classes | |
| Apr. 1 | Cont. | |
| Apr. 6 | Animal nutrition | 37 |
| Apr. 8 | Controlling the internal environment | 40 |
| Apr. 13 | Chemical signals in animals | 41 |
| Apr. 15 | Exam 3 | 36-38 40, 41 |
| Apr. 20 | Flex | |
| Apr. 22 | Animal reproduction | 42 |
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| Apr. 27 | Adaptation of organisms/distribution of biomes | 46 |
| Apr. 29 | Population ecology | 47 |
| May 4 | Community ecology | 48 |
| May 6 | Ecosystems | 49 |
| TBA | Final Exam (50% new, 50% cumulative) | 42, 46-49, all others |
"Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences," by V.E. McMillan will be used to as a reference in preparing written lab assignments.
Bring to lab each week:
Laboratory Grade: The laboratory grade will represent 25% of the final course grade. Grades will be assigned by the individual laboratory instructors and the grade breakdown listed below is only for any lab sections that I am teaching.
Quizzes will be open book and no more than 20 minutes in duration. Quizzes will be given at the beginning the assigned lab session. If you are late for lab, or miss a lab, you cannot make up a quiz. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped
Laboratory Schedule
*details (quizzes, etc.) are for section 10 only
| Date | Laboratory Exercise |
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| Jan. 27, 28 | Introduction and evolution | |
| Feb. 3, 4 | Cyanobacteria Microbial population in soil I Lab quiz on lab 1 |
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| Feb. 10, 11 | Microbial population in soil II Endosymbionts in termites |
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| Feb. 17, 18 | Plant diversity Plant pea seeds Lab quiz on labs 2, 3 |
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| Feb. 24, 25 | Observe pea plant growth, Set-up holly experiment |
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| Mar 3, 4 | Finish pea lab Transpiration in holly Lab quiz on labs 4, 5 |
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| Mar. 10, 11 | Diversity and succession in a microcosm | |
| Mar. 17, 18 | Spring break - no lab | |
| Mar. 24, 25 | Observe microcosm Animal diversity Lab quiz on labs 6, 7 |
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| Mar. 31 Apr. 1 |
Observe microcosm Animal diversity Lab report due |
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| Apr. 7, 8 | Observe microcosm Advising day |
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| Apr. 14, 15 | Observe microcosm Human cardiovascular function Lab quiz on lab 9 |
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| Apr. 21, 22 | Dissection of the fetal pig I | |
| Apr. 23 | Dissection of the fetal pig II Hand in observation notes |
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| Apr. 30 | Water quality analysis Lab quiz on lab 11 |