Biology 113 Schedule (Winter, 2008)
© Stephen T. Abedon
contents | bio 113 schedule | top of page
last updated on Wednesday, January 02, 2008
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 January 2008
# S M T W T F S
1     1 2 3 4 5
2 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
3 13 14 15 16 17R 18E 19
4 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
5 27 28 29 30 31  
 February 2008
# S M T W T F S
5           1 2
6 3 4 5 6R 7E 8 9
7 10 11 12 13 14 15L 16
8 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
9 24 25 26 27R 28E 29  
 March 2008
# S M T W T F S
9             1
10 2 3 4 5 6 7R,L 8
F 9 10 11 12E 13 14 15
B 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
S 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Web Materials

Grading Scheme

  • Each midterm is worth 200 points, 80 of which are open book (so know your text!!!)
  • Each lab exam is worth 100 points (and will be open book, so know your lab text!!!)
  • Final exam is worth 300 points, 60 points of which will be open book
  • That’s a total of 1100 points—all individual grades will be presented as percentages
  • (on a 1000 point scale 200=181.82, 80=72.73, 100=90.91, 300=272.73, and 60=54.55)
  • Remember that Laboratory Periods are also Recitation Periods!
Statement of Disability Accommodation: Anyone who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me to arrange an appointment as soon as possible. At the appointment we can discuss the course format, anticipate your needs and explore potential adaptations to meet your needs. I rely on the Office of Disability Services for assistance in verifying the need for accommodations and developing accommodation strategies. If you have not previously contacted the Office of Disability Services, I encourage you to do so.

class day date lecturea/laba
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1. Thursday January 3
  • Chapter 1: Exploring Life (sections 1.1 and 1.2)
  • Chapter 2: The Chemical Context of Life
    • --- Friday January 4
  • No Biology lecture today
  • No Biology lab today
    • --- Weekend Study Chapters 2, 3, and 4 until you are comfortable with the chemistry. Don't let our next lecture meeting come around without your having become at least familiar with this material. If you aren’t familiar this material before Wednesday, then when are you going to learn the material? Remember, the secret to doing well in biology is learning the material long before you sit down to study the material for an exam. If you think that I am just ranting then you are either very bright, well experienced in chemistry, deluding yourself, or destined to fail the first midterm. Don't be a statistic. Implement good study habits now!
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    2. Wednesday January 9
  • Chapter 2: The Chemical Context of Life (cont.)
  • Chapter 3: Water and the Fitness of the Environment
  • Chapter 4: Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life
    • 3. Thursday January 10
  • Chapter 4: Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life (cont.)
  • Chapter 5: The Structure and Function of Macromolecules
    • 4. Friday January 11
  • Chapter 5: The Structure and Function of Macromolecules (cont.)
  • Chapter 6: A Tour of the Cell
  • Chapter 1: Exploring Life (section 1.3; read for lab but will be on lecture exam)
    • lab 1 Friday January 11
  • Recitationb first (for next week’s exam), then lab: scientific investigation
    • --- Weekend For the upcoming exam, you should be studying the material this weekend, not learning it. Most of the material by now should already be well ensconced in your brain (i.e., learned), ready to be completely memorized. Memorizing does not mean that you can look at material and recognize it—it means that you can recite material without looking at it! It is time to work on pulling together your understanding, synthesizing your memorization with your understanding. By the end of this weekend you should have much more than a working knowledge of the material. You should know the material backwards and forwards, up and down. B>On Thursday you should come class with a very solid understanding of both what you know and what you need to question me about. You should be getting good nights sleep, particularly on Monday and Tuesday nights. Tuesday should be spent convincing yourself that you understand the material cold. Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning should be spent taking care of yourself. Eat well. Get some exercise. Read a book. You should walk into the classroom on Wednesday totally prepared, relaxed, and ready to take on the challenge of your first majors biology exam.
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    5 Wednesday January 16
  • Chapter 6: A Tour of the Cell (cont.) (last material on first exam)
    • 6. Thursday January 17
  • Chapter 6: A Tour of the Cell (cont.) (last material on first exam)
  • Recitationb
    • 7. Friday January 18
  • EXAM, exam will cover chapters 1 through 6 and is worth 200 out of 1100 total points. For more on what exams are all about, see http://www.phage.org/school_syllabus.htm#examination.
    • lab 2 Friday January 18
  • microscopes and cells
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    8. Wednesday January 23
  • Chapter 7: Membrane Structure and Function
    • 9. Thursday January 24
  • Chapter 7: Membrane Structure and Function (cont.)
  • Chapter 8: An Introduction to Metabolism
    • 10. Friday January 25
  • Chapter 8: An Introduction to Metabolism (cont.)
  • Chapter 9: Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy
    • lab 3 Friday January 25
  • fetal-pig dissection
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    11 Wednesday January 30
  • Chapter 9: Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy (cont.)
  • Chapter 10: Photosynthesis
    • 12 Thursday January 31
  • Chapter 10: Photosynthesis (cont.)
  • Chapter 11: Cell Communication
    • 13. Friday February 1
  • Chapter 11: Cell Communication (cont.)
  • Chapter 12: The Cell Cycle (last material on second exam) [as your text notes, be sure to study Figure 12.6 "thoroughly before progressing to the next two sections" (emphasis mine)]
    • lab 4 Friday February 1
  • fetal-pig dissection (cont.)
    • --- Weekend This is another weekend before an exam. You know what to do. Just do it!
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    14. Wednesday February 6
  • Chapter 12: The Cell Cycle (last material on second exam) [as your text notes, be sure to study Figure 12.6 "thoroughly before progressing to the next two sections" (emphasis mine)]
  • Recitationb
    • 15. Thursday February 7
  • EXAM, exam will cover chapters 7 through 12 and is worth 200 out of 1100 total points. For more on what exams are all about, see http://www.phage.org/school_syllabus.htm#examination.
    • 16. Friday February 8
  • Chapter 13: Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles
  • Chapter 14: Mendel and the Gene Idea
    • lab 5 Friday February 8
  • mitosis and meiosis lab
    • --- Weekend Over the weekend start working on problems ??? and ???. All problems should be attempted before next Friday’s class. Note that there are additional genetics problems found on your CD-ROM. DON’T BLOW OFF WORKING ON THESE GENETICS PROBLEMS!!!!
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    17. Wednesday February 13
  • Chapter 14: Mendel and the Gene Idea (cont.)
  • Chapter 15: The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance
    • 18. Thursday February 14
  • Chapter 14: Mendel and the Gene Idea (especially problem solving)
  • Chapter 15: The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance (including problem solving)
    • 19. Friday February 15
  • Chapter 14: Mendel and the Gene Idea (especially problem solving)
  • Chapter 15: The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance (especially problem solving)
    • lab 6 Friday February 15
  • lab exam, worth 100 out of 1100 total points (includes everything but meiosis-mitosis lab)
    • --- Weekend By the end of this weekend you should not only understand the various intricacies of Mendelian genetics, you should be able to quickly and efficiently solve all of the assigned problems without referring to examples or notes. Practice solving these problems, even if you understand how, in order to teach your hands and your mind how to solve them effortlessly. Not only will this aid you in your understanding of Mendelian gentics and should allow you to readily solve exam questions on the subject, but will also give you a head start both on the material we will cover in the next term of this sequence, and on the material covered in any subsequent genetics courses you might take. And, oh by the way, the advice I give on how to learn to kick butt solving Mendelian genetics problems is essentially the same to do well in chemistry or math: Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice, and then Practice some more!
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    20. Wednesday February 20
  • Mendelian genetics problem solving
  • Chapter 16: The Molecular Basis of Inheritance
    • 21. Thursday February 21
  • Mendelian genetics problem solving
  • Chapter 16: The Molecular Basis of Inheritance (cont.)
  • Chapter 17: From Gene to Protein (last material on third exam)
    • 22. Friday February 22
  • Mendelian genetics problem solving
  • Chapter 17: From Gene to Protein (last material on third exam)
    • lab 7 Friday February 22
  • population genetics: Hardy-Weinberg theorem
  • Mendelian genetics problem solving
    • --- Weekend This is another weekend before an exam. You know what to do. Just do it!
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    23. Wednesday February 27
  • Mendelian genetics problem solving
  • Recitationb
    • 24. Thursday February 28
  • EXAM, exam will cover chapters 13 through 17 and is worth 200 out of 1100 total points. For more on what exams are all about, see http://www.phage.org/school_syllabus.htm#examination.
    • 25. Friday March 1
  • Chapter 18: Microbial Models: The Genetics of Viruses and Bacteria
    • lab 8 Friday March 1
  • animal development
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    26. Wednesday March 5
  • Chapter 18: Microbial Models: The Genetics of Viruses and Bacteria (cont.)
  • Chapter 19: The Organization and Control of Eukaryotic Genomes
    • 27. Thursday March 6
  • Chapter 19: The Organization and Control of Eukaryotic Genomes
  • Chapter 20: DNA Technology
    • 28. Friday March 7
  • Chapter 20: DNA Technology
  • Recitationb
    • lab 9 Friday March 7
  • lab exam #2, exam is worth 100 out of 1100 total points
    •     --- Wednesday March 12 Final Exam, 8:00 - 9:48; one-half covers chapters 18-20 (and will be 40% open book) and the other half covers chapters 3 through 17; expect one question per chapter for chapters 3 through 17 except for chapters 14 and 15, which likely will be represented by two questions; exam is worth 300 out of 1100 total points split evenly between comprehensive and non-comprehensive; Good Luck!    
    a Reading assignments to be completed on corresponding day.
    b Please come prepared with questions.

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