Instructor: Lauren Yaich, Ph.D.
Telephone: 362-0260
Office: 203 F Fisher Hall
email: yaich@pitt.edu
Office Hours: 1 - 3 pm M W F
Also available by appointment or on a "drop-in"
basis
Lectures: M W F 9-9:50 am or M W F 10-10:50 am
Laboratories: Wednesday 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm or
Thursday 8:30 am - 11:30 am or
Thursday 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Textbook: Solomon, E. P., Berg, L. R., and Martin,
D. W. (2002) Biology, Sixth Edition,
Harcourt Brace College Publishers: New York.
Lab Manual: Vodopich, D. S. and Moore, R. (1999)
Biology: Laboratory Manual, Fifth Edition.
WCB McGraw-Hill: Boston.
Class Web-Sites: http://courseweb.pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~yaich/classes.htm
Class Description and Philosophy:
BIOL 102: Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology is
primarily designed as an introduction to Biology for potential
Biology majors. It provides the necessary background to
succeed in upper-level Biology courses. It is NOT intended
as a Biology survey course for non-majors. Some non-major
students may prefer to take BIOL 103: Concepts of Biology
or BIOL 104: Ecology and Environmental Biology. While
non-majors are more than welcome to take Introduction
to Cell and Molecular Biology, especially if they have
a strong interest in Biology or Biology-related careers,
please be aware that this will be a relatively rigorous
course, utilizing a moderate amount of math and chemistry.
If you have any questions about which course you should
be in, please contact me as soon as possible.
In Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology, we will
spend a great deal of time studying cells, the fundamental
building blocks of life. This will include a discussion
of the molecules that make up cells and how they interact
with each other during the life of a cell. The genetic
mechanisms by which the characteristics of an organism
are passed on from generation to generation will also
be explored. Finally, we will study how genes are maintained
or change in a population of organisms, potentially resulting
in the evolution of entirely new types of living creatures.
The relationship of Biology to everyday life and human
society will also be emphasized throughout the course.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Lecture Schedule
*The days that the web-based reading exercises are due
(by 9 am!) are indicated by asterisks. Please see the
class policies section of the syllabus for more information.
January
6* Introduction to the Course Chapter 1
8* The Chemical Basis of Life Chapter 2
10* Organic Compounds: Macromolecules (I) Chapter 3
13 Organic Compounds: Macromolecules (II) Chapter 3
15 Biochemistry Problem Session (Bring Calculator)
17* Organization of the Cell (I) Chapter 4
20 No Class - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
22 Organization of the Cell (II) Chapter 4
24 Discussion Session
27 Lecture Exam I
29* Biological Membranes (I) Chapter 5
31 Biological Membranes (II) Chapter 5
February
3* Energy and Metabolism Chapter 6
5* Cellular Respiration (I) Chapter 7
7 Cellular Respiration (II) Chapter 7
10* Photosynthesis Chapter 8
12 Discussion Session
14 Lecture Exam II
17* Mitosis Chapter 9
19 Meiosis Chapter 9
21* Heredity (I) Chapter 10
24 Heredity (II) Chapter 10
26 Heredity Problem Session
28* DNA Structure, Replication, and Packaging Chapter
11
March
3 No Class - Spring Break !!!
5 No Class - Spring Break !!!
7 No Class - Spring Break !!!
10* Central Dogma of Gene Expression (I) Chapter 12
12 Central Dogma of Gene Expression (II) Chapter 12
14 Discussion Session
17 Lecture Exam III
19* Control of Gene Expression Chapter 13
21* Genetic Engineering (I) Chapter 14
24 Genetic Engineering (II) Chapter 14
26* Human Genetics Chapter 15
28* Genes and Development Chapter 16
31 Discussion Session
April
2 Lecture Exam IV
4* Darwinian Evolution Chapter 17
7* Population Biology (I) Chapter 18
9 Population Biology (II) Chapter 18
11* Speciation and Macroevolution Chapter 19
14* Evolution of Cells Chapter 20
16* Evolution of Primates Chapter 21
18 Review Session - Last Day Classes
Final Exam:
9 AM SECTION Monday, April 21 9-11 am
10 AM SECTION Friday, April 25 9-11 am
*The Final Exam is partly cumulative. I will distribute
a list of key terms and concepts for the cumulative section
of the final early in April.
**You must take the Final Exam with the appropriate section
that you are registered with.
________________________________________________________________________________
Laboratories:
Instructor: Professor Mary Blaine Prince
Laboratory: 206E Fisher Hall
Office: 209 Fisher Hall
Professor Prince is in charge of the laboratories, including
the determination of the lab grade portion of your final
grade. Please address any questions regarding laboratory
exercises and lab grades to Professor Prince.
Lab Safety Policy:
Students are expected to demonstrate suitable laboratory
conduct and to practice standard laboratory safety procedures.
Approved safety glasses must be worn at all times when working
with chemicals or doing procedures which may involve potential
eye hazard. It is the student's responsibility to provide
their own safety glasses (and/or lab coat if desired). Safety
glasses can be purchased in the bookstore at a modest cost.
Lab coats are available at most uniform supply stores. While
a lab coat is not required, it is recommended that you do
not wear "good" clothes to lab. If you must do
so, cover them up with a lab coat or an old shirt. No eating,
drinking, or smoking will be tolerated in the lab. Treat
all chemicals, biological materials, and lab equipment with
respect. Failure to do so can adversely affect one's experimental
results or personal well being. Remember to report all accidents
to the instructor, no matter how minor they seem to be.
Additional safety rules specific to the labs being taught
will be communicated by Professor Prince as needed.
________________________________________________________________________________
Class Web Sites:
This course has two web sites: a general, permanent web-site
with links to Biology-related web-sites and a Blackboard
web-site that you can use to access PowerPoint notes and
a record of your grades. The address for the general site
is http://www.pitt.edu/~yaich/classes.htm and the Blackboard
site is at: http://courseweb.pitt.edu. Important announcements
will be posted on Blackboard, as will the reading assignment
exercises, so please get in the habit of checking the web
site several times a week. Every student should also get
an email account, provide me with the address, and check
it on a regular basis. Over the course of the semester,
I may even decide to offer an extra credit via email or
Blackboard announcement, so please check on these items
at least a couple times per week. You should become familiar
with using email for communication, as most modern businesses
and institutions now use it as their primary means of communication.
It is also a great way to get answers for quick questions,
especially if my office hours are inconvenient for you.
________________________________________________________________________________
Grades:
The final grade for this course will be based on the following:
Lecture (75%) Exam I 100 points
Exam II 100 points
Exam III 100 points
Exam IV 100 points
Final Exam 150 points
Exercises (Computer- and Paper-Based) 170 points
Class Participation 30 points
________________________________________________________________________________
Lecture Total Points (75%) 750 points
Laboratory Points (25%) 250 points
_________________________________________________________________________________
Total 1000 points
Final Grades will be calculated as follows:
Total Number of Points Earned
1000 points X 100 = Final Grade %
The percentile grade corresponds to the following letter
grades:
A+ 96.7 - 100%
A 93.4 - 96.6%
A- 90.0 - 93.3%
B+ 86.7 - 89.9%
B 83.4 - 86.6%
B- 80.0 - 83.3%
C+ 76.7 - 79.9%
C 73.4 - 76.6%
C- 70.0 - 73.3%
D+ 66.7 - 69.9%
D 63.4 - 66.6%
D- 60.0 - 63.3%
F <60%
Class Policies:
1. Consistent attendance at lectures is strongly recommended.
Studies have indicated that the class scores for students
with good attendance records average about 10-15 points
higher than those with poor attendance, regardless of the
professor or the type of class! Most of the material appearing
on the exams will be based on what is covered in the lectures.
Also, any extra credit that is offered might ONLY be announced
during class period. Attendance at labs is REQUIRED! If
you will be missing an exam or lab for compelling personal
reasons, contact Professor Prince or me as soon as possible,
preferably in advance. More than two such absences in a
semester due to illness will necessitate a note from your
doctor or the college nurse. Make-up exams will only be
given if I feel that the absence was justifiable. Arrangements
for any make-ups should be made in advance whenever possible,
and no later than three days after the absence. Please note
that Professor Prince may have different policies regarding
absences and make-ups than I do. It is your responsibility
to become familiar with both lecture and lab policies and
to abide by them.
2. The purpose of the exercises is to help you understand
the fairly challenging concepts covered in this course and
to help you prepare you for the major exams. These exercises
will take two forms: (1) almost daily computer-based reading
assignment exercises (100 points total) which will be posted
on the Blackboard web-site and (2) paper-based exercises
(70 points total) that will be handed out in class from
time to time. The reading assignment exercises will be posted
on the web-site no later than 36 hours before the class
in which that chapter is to be covered. There will be one
exercise for each chapter. If we are spending two class
periods on one chapter, the exercise will be due on the
first day that the material is covered. The reading exercises
must be completed before 9 am of the day that the chapter
is covered (as indicated by the asterisks on the lecture
schedule). The concepts that we are covering are challenging
and careful reading of the textbook is absolutely essential
to mastering them. These exercises will help ensure that
this occurs. The reading exercise with the lowest grade
will be dropped, so you will have a little bit of breathing
room in regards to the deadlines and any computer glitches.
Please take both types of exercises seriously, as together
they constitute a major part of your grade. For that reason,
if you have any difficulties whatsoever accessing or submitting
the web-site exercises please see me IMMEDIATELY! Any assignments
handed in late will be penalized.
3. Extra credit assignments will only be given out at my
discretion. Even if extra credit is offered, it will not
be able to take you from a D to an A, so you should try
to do your best in all aspects of this class.
4. Class participation will be counted as part of your
grade. To achieve the maximum number of class participation
points, all you need to do is to come up with 10 questions
or comments over the course of the semester (up to 3 points
each). Easy! Only a few caveats, as follows: The question/comment
must be reasonable and pertain to the subject at hand (I
will be the final judge on that!), and you can only earn
one class participation award per lecture. Of course, you
are free to ask as many questions as you like per lecture,
but only the first will count for credit. And remember,
"there is no such thing as a dumb question!" For
those of you who are on the shy side, the class participation
points can be obtained from questions sent to me via e-mail.
5. Please establish your personal e-mail account as soon
as possible. Any special announcements will be made by e-mail,
Blackboard, and/or in lecture. Also, e-mail is a great way
to reach me for simple questions or to arrange for an appointment.
If you use a non-University email address (such as yahoo,
hotmail, etc…), please arrange to have your Pitt email
forwarded to that address. It is very easy to do - stop
in at the CTM office and they'll be happy to help you out!
6. This syllabus is subject to change. While I will try
my best to adhere to the schedule, occasionally changes
may be necessary. If so, I will announce the change(s) both
in lecture, Blackboard, and by e-mail.
7. Students in this class will be expected to adhere to
The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford's Academic Integrity
Policy, which reads as follows:
Members of a university community, both faculty and students,
bear a serious responsibility to uphold personal and professional
integrity and to maintain complete honesty in all academic
work. Violations of the code of academic integrity are not
tolerated. Students who cheat or plagiarize or who otherwise
take improper advantage of the work of others, face harsh
penalties, including permanent dismissal. The academic integrity
guidelines set forth student and faculty obligations and
the means of enforcing regulations and addressing grievances.
8. If you have a disability for which you are or may be
requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact
both your instructor and the Academic Success Center's Disability
Resources and Services Office (Hanley Library, Room 218)
as early as possible in the term. The ASC will verify your
disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this
course. Contact Kara Kennedy, Learning Development Specialist,
at 362-7609 for more information.
9. Classroom Civility Statement: Every student brings to
the classroom a unique point of view. Everyone has different
experiences and different backgrounds. We tend to think
and learn in our own way, based in part on our own social
and cultural background. Therefore, we have all formed opinions
and perspectives that may or may not be shared by others.
However, we should all treat each other with respect and
decency. In this course, we may look at controversial topics
that can provoke strong responses. While I encourage students
to engage in discussion about such, I also expect all students
to do so with civility, respect, and integrity.
To establish a comfortable learning environment, we must
have mutual respect and civility. This includes coming to
class on time, not disrupting the class with cell phones
or pagers, and discussing things in an academic, rather
than a personal manner. While in class, don't read the newspaper,
listen to headphones, or catch up on sleep. Please don't
start packing up books when there is time left in the class.
It won't get you out any quicker. Let's all be nice, have
a little fun, and learn!
Tips for Success:
1. Read the material BEFORE coming to class!! We will be
covering a lot of material relatively quickly. If you are
prepared before coming to class, your understanding of the
lectures will be immensely enhanced. Although the exams
will be primarily based on what is covered in lecture, you
are still responsible for the readings. I may choose to
include a few questions from the reading material.
2. Review your lecture notes before the next class. I strongly
recommend re-writing them or outlining them - believe it
or not, there is a direct link between the hand and the
brain! This is a good time to coordinate what you are learning
in lectures with what you are reading in the book, BEFORE
the class moves ahead to the next topic. Be careful about
relying too heavily on the PowerPoint handouts that you
download from Blackboard. These are really just a rough
outline of what was covered and are not meant to take the
place of careful listening, reading, and note taking on
your part.
3. DO NOT GET BEHIND!! And I don't just mean with the readings!!
Biology is built from simple principles, but eventually
we will be learning about relatively complex phenomena.
If you don't understand the basics, then you won't understand
the more advanced materials. Please come to me if there
are concepts that you are really stuck on. Which again leads
to yet another point...
4. Take advantage of your instructors!! (And I don't mean
that in the negative sense.) We have office hours and discussion
sessions for a reason. And, once again, there is no such
thing as a "stupid question"! Nonetheless, please
make at least some effort to find out the answer yourself
before coming for help. An important part of being a college
student is learning how to find the answers on your own.
E-mail is another good way to get some help, especially
for relatively short queries.
5. Find the study aids that work best for you. Some students
learn well in informal study groups with their friends.
Others prefer aids such as flashcards, etc... A combination
of all of the above often works well. Do not waste time
extensively reviewing the "easy" stuff, but rather
focus on the material that gives you the most difficulty.
Here is where testing yourself can really help a lot, whether
you use flashcards or your friends as the testing aid!
6. Biology tutors are available in the Academic Success
Center. Sign-up times are posted there. The Academic Success
Center also has tutors for many other subjects as well.
It is located on the second floor of Hanley Library. They
can also provide assistance with helping you to find a study
method that works well for you. Keep an eye out for announcements
about special seminars that they offer on test-taking tips,
study techniques, etc…
