Develops a basic understanding of plant and animal form, function, and relationships. Prepares students who have a deficiency in high school biology. May be repeated for credit. Lecture 1-4 hours. Laboratory 0-9 hours. Credit 4.
| To convey some of the meaning, scope, and excitement of biological science as a significant perspective from which to view the world. |
| To provide a basic understanding of cell structure and function. |
| To provide a basic understanding of heredity. |
| To prepare students for college-level Biology classes. |
Julie Little
Assistant Professor
Biology Department
Office: Room 1206, Occupational Technical Center (OTC)
Phone: (276) 739-2516
E-mail: jlittle@vhcc.edu
Office hours are posted on my office door. A minimum of ten hours are kept every week, but some may be by appointment only, please check, or take the chance that someone else will already be using the hour.
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Text: |
Starr, L. 2005. Biology Today and Tomorrow. Thomson Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA. |
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Laboratory Manual: |
There is no required lab manual for this course. However, I have several suggestions for useful field guides that can be used on the field trips. We will talk about these suggestions in class. |
Biology 01 is a service learning course. Service learning combines service to the community with classroom learning. Our service learning project will help us achieve the specific goals and objectives for this course. In Biology 01, we will focus on developing our civic-responsibility while restoring various habitats in the Washington and Grayson Counties. Our service to the community will strengthen concepts learned in class while the concepts learned in class will strengthen our service to the community.
Your grade in BIO 01 will come from the following assignments:
Quizzes (at least 10)------------------------50%
Assignments (approximately 10)----------------30%
Lab practicals (2)---------------------------20%
Quizzes – the quizzes will come from the reading and lecture notes. Each quiz will consist of material I have covered since the previous quiz and reading from the textbook that I have not gone over yet.
Assignments – most will be assigned in class and due the following class. For larger assignments that require more time to complete, I will give you the due date in class.
Lab practicals –after each field trip, we will have a lab practical. Each lab practical will consist of identification of plants, fungi, and animals that we encountered on the field trip and essay questions that will tie lecture and lab together.
The grading scale is as follows:
90-100% ----A
80-89%-------B
70-79%-------C
60-69%-------D
<59%----------F
This course will follow the VHCC Schedule of Classes with recognized holidays unless otherwise specified. Snow schedules and class cancellation are announced on radio/TV during bad weather. A tentative schedule of assignments will be discussed.
Students will be expected to attend every lecture. A grade penalty will be given for excess tardiness or absences from regular classes, and in most cases the work missed will result in poor student performance. The student is responsible for making up any/all work missed at the convenience of the instructor. Students that are absent for more than 40% of the scheduled classes will receive an automatic "F" for the final grade.
If you miss a quiz, you will have a chance at the end of the semester to take a CUMULATIVE quiz that will cover all material for the whole semester. You can count this cumulative quiz for all quizzes missed. NO EXCEPTIONS. There will be NO make-up quizzes given! If you miss a field trip, you cannot make up the grade. You will receive an automatic Zero (0) for the associated lab practical.
Cheating and plagiarism and their consequences are discussed in the VHCC Student Handbook. The Student Judiciary Process will be strictly followed. You have the responsibility to familiarize yourself with these policies so that you do not violate them.
Any student with special needs should inform the instructor of these before the class begins. Every effort will be made to meet the needs of the students within the limitations of the academic requirements of the course and institution. A variety of tutorial services, out-of-class assistance, and support services are available. If you need help in any way, inform the instructor or your counselor.
Students are expected to conduct themselves as appropriate to a class of this nature. In the advent that student behavior is considered inappropriate by the instructor, a three stage process will be initiated:
| A private contact delineating the inappropriate behavior with a request to stop it. |
| A public request to leave class next time it occurs, and an immediate office visit. |
| Third incident, immediate and final dismissal from class and a final grade of F. |