VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE COURSE OF STUDY©2005

Course Title and Number

BIO 278 (Coastal Ecology)

Course Description

Explores fundamental characteristics of living matter from the molecular level to the ecological community with emphasis on general biological principles. Introduces the diversity of living organisms, their structure, physiology, and evolution. Lecture 3 hours, recitation and laboratory 3 hours, total 6 hours per week. Credit: 4 hours.

Broad Goals of the Course

	To convey some of the meaning, scope, and excitement of biological science as 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 provide a knowledge of the history of man as an organism and his rise to a position of dominance in the biological world.
	To provide an understanding of man's relationship to evolutionary processes and how these processes affect his position in the biological world.
	To provide students in various college-transfer curriculums with an adequate science course for transfer to a senior college.

Instructor

Julie Little

Instructor of Biology

Office: Room 1206, Occupational Technical Center (OTC)

Phone: (276) 739-2516

E-mail: jlittle@vh.vccs.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.

Instructional Materials

Text: Purves, B., Sadava, D., Orians, G., and Heller C. 2001. Life The Science of Biology. 6th Edition. W.H Freeman and Company, New York, NY.

Laboratory Manual: Wachmeister, H., and Scott, L.J.. Encounters with Life General Biology Laboratory Manual. 5th Edition. Morton Publishing Company, Englewood, CO.

Service Learning

Biology 101/102 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 101/102, we will focus on developing our civic-responsibility while monitoring water quality in the Washington County. Our service to the community will strengthen concepts learned in class while the concepts learned in class will strengthen our service to the community.

To learn more about service learning at VHCC, each Biology 101/102 student should visit the Student Development and Service Learning Office and obtain a Student Service Learning Handbook. We will discuss the handbook during the first lab.

Criteria for Student Grading

The grading scale is as follows:

90-100% ----A

80-89%-------B

70-79%-------C

60-69%-------D

<59%----------F

Lecture:

For the fall and spring semesters, there will be 4 lecture exams and 7 lecture quizzes. Each exam counts fifteen percent of your overall grade. Each quiz counts three percent of your overall grade (the two lowest quiz grades will be dropped). For the summer term, there will be 5 lecture exams and 6 quizzes. Each exam will count twelve percent of your overall grade. Each quiz will count three percent of your overall grade (the lowest quiz will be dropped). The lecture portion of this course represents 75% of your final grade.

Lab:

In the fall and spring semesters, all students are required to complete a service learning project (worth 10% of overall grade). The service learning project will discussed in lab. In the summer, students will be also complete a service learning project (worth 5% of your overall grade). Details about the service learning project can be found in Important Dates and Grade Specifications. Other assignments (worth 20% of your grade), such as lab reports and practicals, will be discussed in lab. The lab portion of the course is only 25% of your final grade.

	Lecture tests and final exam - Maximum 60 %
	Unannounced lecture quizzes - Maximum 15 %
	Laboratory assignments/practicals- Maximum 20 %
	BioProject/Paper or Service Learning- Maximum 5 %

An example of grade point computation would be as follows:

Average * percentage weight

	*Major tests 80%, 90%, 85% 85%, 85%-------85% (.60) = 51.0**
	*Lecture quizzes 80, 80, 90%, 70%, 100%--84% (.15) = 12.6**
	*Lab Grades 90%, 70%, 80% 80%----------80% (.20) = 16.0**
	*Service Learning Project 90%---------------------------------------90% (.05) = 4.5**
	Extra Credit Points 2pts---------------------------- = 2.0

86.1à 86

Total Grade = B

Course Schedule

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.

Attendance and Class Participation

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. There will be grade penalties for missed quizzes and scheduled tests. 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.

Make-up Test Policy

For major tests, there will be no make-up exams given! If you miss an exam, the grade you earn on your final exam will substitute for the missed exam (the weighting of your final exam will be doubled). If you miss two exams, the final exam will substitute for both exams (the weighting of your final exam will be tripled). NO EXCEPTIONS. There will be NO make-up quizzes given! If you miss a lab, you cannot make up the grade!

Academic Dishonesty

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.

Special Needs and Assistance

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.

Class Conduct

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.

Text:	*Purves, B., Sadava, D., Orians, G., and Heller C. 2001. Life The Science of Biology. 6th Edition. W.H Freeman and Company, New York, NY.*
Laboratory Manual:	*Wachmeister, H., and Scott, L.J.. Encounters with Life General Biology Laboratory Manual. 5th* Edition. Morton Publishing Company, Englewood, CO.**