1510B Biology Fall 2011
Instructors
Chrissy Spencer (Modules 1-2)
Jennifer Leavey (Modules 3-5)
Cara Gormally (Laboratories)
Shandra Justicia (Recitation TA)
Recitations:
Thursdays, 6-7, Clough 152 in weeks w/o exams
Begin 2nd week of class
T-Square
t-square.gatech.edu
Syllabus link to download course syllabus pdf
Resources for lecture slides, readings
Tests&Quizzes for Sample Midterms
Gradebook for exam scores, participation updates,
midterm course grades
Announcements posted on T-square and emails
generated to your Georgia Tech email account.
Lab T-square site contains all lab info and lab
syllabus
Piazza.com
On-line forum for course questions.
Peers, TAs, instructors can all post and answer
questions.
1. Ask questions!
2. Edit questions and answers Wikipedia-style.
3. Ask Followups when answers arent clear.
4. Go anonymous--but only to your peers!
5. Tag your posts.
Set your Email Notification settings!
Required Textbooks and Resources:
Freeman et al. Biology 4th ed.
Gormally Biol 1510 Lab Manual
MasteringBiology
www.masteringbio.com
Course ID: BIOL1510AS2012
On-line homework system with quizzes,
tutorials
Improves test scores
TurningPoint Response Card NXT clickers
Used for
In-class questions and quizzes (class participation
contributes 10% of your overall grade).
Recitation
Exams: for midterm and final exams
To get credit for questions:
Enter your T-square logon name into your clicker (helps
in contacting you if you lose your clicker).
Bringing your absent friends clicker is an Honor Code
violation!
Register your clicker on T-square as soon as possible.
If you lose your clicker and replace it, update your registration
in T-square and then please email the instructors with your
old and new clicker IDs!
Lectures and Labs
Lectures
Lectures used for diagnosing misconceptions, learning how to apply
concepts, discussion in small peer groups.
Read assignments before lecture.
Sit as far forward in the lecture hall as possible.
Turn off cell phones!
Laboratories (in Clough 4th floor)
Attendance is mandatory. Every unexcused absence will reduce your
overall course grade by 5% (a half letter grade!).
Labs start 2nd week (no labs during first week of classes)
Exams and Grading
Grading
Midterm exams:
Final exam:
Group activities:
Class participation:
Mastering Biology:
Laboratory:
40%
20%
5%
10%
5%
25%
Missed Exams
Missed exam => grade = 0
unless you petition no less than 24 hours after the start of the missed exam and we
approve your petition.
Other course policies: - read the syllabus!
Assignment of Final Grades
Grade Calculation
Your raw score is the weighted mean of the grades you received on the exams,
group PRS, activities, Mastering Bio and laboratory.
The mean score earned by the top 5% of the class will provide our benchmark of
high performance.
Your normalized score is simply:
Grade Assignments
A:
B:
C:
D:
F:
90.0%
80.0% and <90.0%
70.0% and <80.0%
60.0% and <70.0%
<60.0%
What do YOU think are the most urgent, or most
interesting, problems or challenges for biological
scientists of the 21st century?
Form a group of five
Discuss question
Select a group representative to post a response on Piazza
A perspective on the challenges...
Human population growth
?
Figures from Wikipedia
Human impacts
Resource depletion
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?
g2_itemId=836285
Life at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico
Symbiotic vestimentiferan
tubeworm Lamellibrachia luymesi
from a cold seep at 550 m depth in
the Gulf of Mexico. In the
sediments around the base are
orange bacterial mats of the
sulfide-oxidizing bacteria
Beggiatoa spp. and empty shells
of various clams and snails, which
are also common inhabitants of the
seeps.[1]
- Wikipedia
Living fuel cells
http://www.alt-energy.info/biofuel/bacteriathat-acts-like-a-reverse-fuel-cell-producingbiofuel-from-carbon-dioxide/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100218092846.htm?
utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:
+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily:+Latest+Science+News%29
Genetic modification of organisms
University of Washington (2010, August 16).
Nanoscale DNA sequencing could spur revolution
in personal health care. ScienceDaily. Retrieved
August 17, 2010, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2010/08/100816155002.htm?
utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm
_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+
%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News
%29
Imagine a world:
where there is abundant,
healthful food for everyone
where the environment is
resilient and flourishing
where there is sustainable,
clean energy
where good health is the
norm
Course Organization
Five modules, each dealing with a major area of modern biology.
Module 1: Evolution
Module 2: Ecology
Module 3: Molecules, Membranes, Cells and Bioenergetics
Module 4: Genetics
Module 5: Molecular Medicine
The first four modules end with a midterm exam.
Comprehensive final exam with emphasis on last module
Jennifer Leavey
BS Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology
PhD Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis,
Emory University
Specializes in Immunology: Regulation of
lymphocyte activation
Chrissy Spencer
BA Biology, Earlham College
MS Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
PhD Biology, University of Georgia
Specializes in Evolutionary Biology: Diversification in
Microbial Systems