Download BIOLOGY 140: Cell Biology Fall 2014 Tuesday/Thursday 9:40 – 10

BIOLOGY 140: Cell Biology
Fall 2014
Tuesday/Thursday 9:40 – 10:55, M309 Walters Life Sciences
Instructor: Dr. Rick Weinstein
Office: F-207 Walters Life Sciences
e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Phone: 974-2999
Office hours: Monday, 9:00 – 10:00; Thursday, 1:45 – 2:45 (or by appointment…)
Required Texts and Materials:
 Text: Freeman, et al. 2014. Biological Science (5th ed). Pearson Publishing. This book is available at
the bookstore. You can also purchase it as an e-Book from Pearson Publishing directly (www.mastering
biology.com). The library also has a limited number of copies on reserve.
 Mastering Biology software: free with purchase of a new textbook at bookstore; you can also purchase the
software directly from Pearson as either Mastering with or without the e-Book.
 TurningPoint response “clicker” (“ResponseCard” - Instructions for registration and use are found on the
lecture Blackboard site). At the UT Bookstore
 Bio 140 Lab Manual (available at the UT Bookstore only
Major concepts and learning goals for Biology 140:
1) Different types of chemical bonds have an effect on the character of simple molecules and, ultimately, how each participates
in and affects larger-scale molecular structure and function of biomolecules.
2) Many biological molecules are based on the monomer-polymer concept, with an increasing structural complexity as the
simple building block units assembled into larger molecules. (These molecules can be appreciated for their roles as dietary
nutrients.)
3) The course will concentrate on biological processes in eukaryotic organisms, although you should understand the difference
between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
4) Structure, function and location (and origin) of organelles is key to understanding cell biology.
5) Energy capture (photosynthesis) and release (respiration) are key concepts to understanding both biotic (living) and abiotic
(non-living) processes. A full understanding of these processes includes an appreciation for the role of carbon dioxide and the
carbon cycle, including the influence of this cycle on the world’s climate.
6) Aspects of genetics and biotechnology include the cell cycle, DNA replication, protein synthesis as well as meiosis and the
basis of inheritance. Includes aspects of biotechnology (how humans manipulate and exploit genes).
What you should learn in this course (and for a Biology degree)
In addition: By the end of the course, you should be able to explain how scientists define and study cell biology, as well
as how the five big ideas (FBIs) in biology relate to cell biology:
1) Evolution: Populations of organisms and their cellular components have changed over time through both selective
and non-selective evolutionary processes.
2) Structure and Function: All living systems (organisms, ecosystems, etc.) are made of structural components whose
arrangement determines the function of the systems.
3) Information Flow and Storage: Information (DNA, for example) and signals are used and exchanged within and
among organisms to direct their functioning.
4) Transformations of Energy and Matter: All living things acquire, use, and release and cycle matter and energy for
cellular / organismal functioning.
5) Systems: Living systems are interconnected, and they interact and influence each other on multiple levels.
How you will learn the material
Learning is an active, demanding process. Outcomes – intellectual growth and grades – depend on how much you
put into the process and how effectively you apply yourself. You will need to process information both in class,
as well as out of class, for learning to occur. I will organize and present information in a logical manner to
facilitate your learning, but it is up to you to synthesize the information. Quizzes and tests will test your
understanding of the material, NOT just your ability to memorize. Reading the assigned text and other readings
before coming to class will help you obtain maximum benefit.
Course Website: http://online.utk.edu
You will find the Biology 140 lab and lecture Web pages by signing on to Blackboard at
http://blackboard.utk.edu/webapps/login/ . If you don’t know how to use this resource, tutorials are available at
http://online.utk.edu/ . You should check Blackboard for new announcements and discussion threads.
You will have two course sites: one for lecture and one for lab (your lab section will appear in the title). Here you will find
lecture notes and assignments. Your lab instructor will record your grades in the lab site.
Additional Information on Required Materials
1) Clickers:
Clickers will be required for this class. Clicker questions will be asked randomly during the class, and may be
based on previously covered material, reading assignments or any other in‐class exercise I deem appropriate.
Clicker questions will be asked primarily as a means to determine or track comprehension of the material rather
than as a way to accumulate gratuitous points. However, class attendance as determined by clicker responses may
end up contributing up to 20 “participation” points.
Questions will not be regularly asked until two weeks after the beginning of the semester in order to
accommodate drop/adds.
You must register your clicker device ID into the Blackboard course site:
- Go to online.utk.edu and login to your Blackboard course
- From the Course Tools link, click on the TurningPoint Registration Tool
- Enter and confirm your Device ID
2) Mastering Biology software: free with purchase of a new textbook at bookstore; you can also purchase the software
directly from Pearson as either Mastering with or without the e-Book.
Labs:
Will meet two hours per week in the Neyland Biology Annex. Lab attendance is mandatory; it is unlikely that missed labs can
be made up (this is at the discretion of your lab instructor – but don’t count on this! In addition, labs are dismantled at the end
of the week).
Lab is worth a total of 250 points. This is a substantial portion of your grade! It is often the case that points accumulated for
lab can boost your final course grade a whole letter above that which you may perceive your grade to be based on lecture
exams.
No open-toed shoes or sandals are allowed in lab. No exceptions! (This is a Federal law, not a UT regulation.)
COURSE TIMETABLE…
…Will appear at the end of this document (for ease of printing separately)
Grading and Exams:
Lecture exams consist of 50 multiple choice questions worth two points each. The final exam will consist of 75 multiple
choice questions worth two points each. Lab, quizzes and assignments will make up the remaining points.
- Three lecture exams
- Final exam
- Lab
- Quizzes and assignments
Course Total:
300 points
150 points
250 points
140 – 150 points
840 – 850 points
Assignments will be evaluated based on the clarity and originality of the ideas, the depth of treatment and accuracy. Dates of
the assignments will be announced in class. Assignments must be word processed. Quizzes will be both announced and unannounced; in-class and through Blackboard. There are no make-ups for missed assignments or quizzes.
Final letter grades will be determined by the total percentage of accumulated points as follows:
A
93 – 100%
C
73 – 76%
A90 – 92%
C70 – 72%
B+
87 – 89%
D+
67 – 69%
B
83 – 86%
D
63 – 66%
B80 – 82%
D60 – 62%
C+
77 – 79%
F
<60%
Course Policies and FAQ (This is the brief version. See the posted “expanded version”!)
- Don’t miss exams. There are no make-ups unless you have an airtight and documented excuse. The make-up exam for
those with a documented excuse will be a short-answer exam at the end of the semester.
- There is no extra credit.
- Curves: individual assignments and exams are not curved since your final grade is a percentage of total possible points.
However, don’t count on there being an end-of-semester curve: grade distributions have historically been evenly proportioned
(by “historically” I mean “every single semester that I have ever taught.”)
- The question I am asked most frequently is “how can I study in order to do well/better in this course?” This requires a long
and nuanced answer with facts, advice and philosophy. Please see the “expanded version” for the answer to this question.
Contacting me:
Although I have an office phone, the best way to contact me is through email. You must put the course name (i.e. “Bio
140”) in the subject line. It would also be helpful if you included the name of your lab TA.
Please understand that all honest inquires will be answered. However: questions relating to those issues already addressed in
this syllabus or in the accompanying FAQ or (most annoyingly) those that I had already addressed several times in lecture will
remain unanswered
Finally, if I send an email to the entire class about some issue and you wish to respond, YOU MUST NOT HIT “REPLY”
TO THAT MESSAGE!!!! START A BRAND NEW MESSAGE!!! Make a note that I wrote that in all-caps, bolded,
underlined.
Statement on Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a documented disability, or if you have questions about
disabilities, contact Disability Services in 2227 Dunford Hall or call 974-6807 or email [email protected] or visit their website at
http://ods.utk.edu/
Academic Counseling:
Counseling Center: http://counselingcenter.utk.edu/
900 Volunteer Blvd
974-2196
email: [email protected]
Tutoring:
The Division of Biology does not offer tutoring services. Your instructor (and lab instructor) will be happy to assist your
learning (e.g. during office hours) but cannot serve as your personal tutor. Contact the Student Success Center and the
Academic Support Unit of the Office of Minority Student Affairs for information about tutoring opportunities
The Student Success Center is a comprehensive source for information, services and resources to assist your success at UT:
http://studentsuccess.tennessee.edu/studentsuccesscenter/
1817 Melrose Avenue
974-6641
email: [email protected]
The Academic Support Unit of the Office of Minority Student Affairs offers some tutoring available to all students, but
openings are limited and are filled quickly. http://omsa.utk.edu/services/
1800 Melrose Avenue
974-6861
email: [email protected]
Technical Assistance:
http://remedy.utk.edu/contact/
Blackboard, clickers and/or general information regarding technical assistance:
Help Desk: 974-9900
OIT Computer Support Service Center and Walk-in Help Desk: Commons floor of Hodges Library
Statement on the Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty of any sort will not be tolerated. This includes any action where you are misrepresenting work as your
own: plagiarism, cheating on exams, copying another’s work, etc. You are expected to abide by the University of Tennessee’s
honor statement:
“An essential feature of The University of Tennessee is a commitment to maintaining an
atmosphere of intellectual integrity and academic honesty. As a student of the University, I pledge that I will neither
knowingly give nor receive any inappropriate assistance in academic work, thus affirming my own personal commitment to
honor and integrity.”
All work should be done independently (unless group work is permitted, and then you may ONLY work within your group on
the assignment); plagiarism software will be used to check written assignments for copying from classmates or other sources.
Plagiarism will result in stiff penalties. **Using a classmates’ clicker to give them points is plagiarism!!
Penalties for academic dishonesty range from the grade of zero for the assignment to an F for the course to the filing of formal
academic dishonesty charges seeking dismissal from the University.
Date
Thurs, 8/21/14
Topic
Introduction; Overview of cells
Reading
Chapter 1 pp. 1-5
Stuff that was revolutionary back then is just sort of ordinary – or not even talked about now.
Tues, 8/26
Chemistry, water and carbon
Chapter 2
We are stardust (literally!) Atoms are like people.
Thurs, 8/28
Macromolecules I (CHOs, Lipids)
Chap 5; Chap 6 pp. 84-91
You are made up of these molecules (mostly)…
Tues, 9/2
Macromolecules II (Proteins, Nucleic Acids)
Chapters 3 and 4
Prokaryotes
Chap 7 pp 106-109 ; Chap 29
…And these too.
Thurs, 9/4
If biological success is determined by population numbers and time on Earth, bacteria wins!
Tues, 9/9
Biological membranes
Chapter 6 pp. 91-105
The dynamic tension between “inside” and “outside.” Boundaries are good: are required for life.
Thurs, 9/11
Biological membranes; life in extreme environments Chapter 6 pp. 91-105
This cushy surface world where we all live is much too hostile for many critters.
Tues, 9/16
Cytoskeleton and Mitosis
Chap 7 pp. 127-133; Chap 12
Did you ever see Terminator? Same sort of thing happens here.
Thurs, 9/18
EXAM ONE
Tues, 9/23
Cell compartments I
Chapter 7 pp. 110-127
Mini factories; the perfect recycling system. We need to scale this up. Plus: the ultimate in “living together.”
Thurs, 9/25
Cell compartments II; Origin of Eukaryotes
Chap 7 pp. 110-127; Chap 29 pp. 559-562
How endosymbiosis has led to space travel.
Tues, 9/30
Thermodynamics; Directions of chemical reactions
Chap 2, pp. 30-32; Chap 8 pp. 136-144
The Laws of Thermodynamics can warp your mind. A gateway to hours of philosophical chatter! Plus: “shape…”
Thurs, 10/2
Enzymes
Tues, 10/7
Photosynthesis: light dependent reaction
Chap 3, pp. 54-55; Chap 8, pp. 144-153
Chapter 10 pp. 176-189
How energy enters the world of the living. It’s all downhill from here. (Life’s a breath in; a breath out.)
Thurs, 10/9
Photosynthesis: light independent reaction
How carbon enters the world of the living. (Sort-of “all over the place” from here…)
Chapter 10, pp. 189-197
Date
Topic
Reading
Tues, 10/14
Climate Change
Chapter 56, pp. 1163-1169
Very long-term carbon storage + very short-term carbon release = big trouble
Thurs, 10/16
FALL BREAK
Tues, 10/21
Harvesting energy I: Glycolysis & Krebs cycle
Chapter 9, pp. 154-165
Endosymbiosis saved us from being forever single celled.
Thurs, 10/23
Harvesting energy II: Krebs cycle & electron transport
Chapter 9, pp. 162-175
There’s only ONE reason why we breathe.
Tues, 10/28
EXAM TWO
Thurs, 10/30
Muscle cells and exercise physiology
Chapter 48, pp. 972-981
“Unusual” cells? I don’t think so. Plus: Bones meet the soft drink industry.
Tues, 11/4
DNA structure and replication
Chapter 15
They thought that working this out would be the end. It was only the beginning.
Thurs, 11/6
Protein synthesis I: Transcription
Chap 16; Chap 17 pp. 317-324
We have the same exact gene/protein for “cognition” as chimpanzees. What’s going on here?
Tues, 11/11
Protein synthesis II: Translation; miRNA
Chapter 17 pp. 324-335
Micro RNAs will re-write the rules of biology. Your parents are in the video at the end
Thurs, 11/13
Regulation of gene expression (prokaryotes)
Chapter 18
Tues, 11/18
Regulation of gene expression (eukaryotes)
Chapter 19
Rules here are being entirely re-written.
Thurs, 11/20
EXAM THREE
Tues, 11/25
Biotechnology
Chapter 20
Humans can be unbelievably brilliant. And unbelievable short-sighted. At the same time.
Thurs, 11/27
THANKSGIVING
Tues, 12/2
How the first cells arose
Chap 2 pp. 32-36; Chap 4 pp. 68-69
Life may have arisen because it HAD to!
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Exam is in regular lecture hall
FINAL EXAM
Tuesday December 9th 8:00 – 10:00a.m.
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