SCI 135 - Introduction to Biology (Molecules & Cells)

Spring 2023

This class has been CANCELLED
(too few signed up).

Professor  M.  McDarby                           Office:  C-231-N (and Lab, C-223)

Office (in the Lab) Hours:    Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri, 10-11.

Telephone:  518-736-3622, lab 8856*.   Office extension 8970, has Voice-Mail

              * Not during lab classes, please – Tues, Thurs 8-11, 2-5.

E-mail.

Website:  https://www.profmcdarby.com

Lectures:      Monday, Friday 9 - 10, C-221.

Laboratory:   Tuesday, 2-5 PM, C‑239.
 

LINK TO OLD EXAMS 

LINK - HOW TO SUCCEED IN THIS COURSE

QUICK LINKS -

Important Dates
Grading
Attendance & MakeUp Policy
Extra Credit
Abstracts

 


About the Course...

Introduction to Biology, Cells, SCI 135, is an overview of the science of living things that concentrates mostly on the general processes found in everything on the cellular level. This is a course for non-science majors, intended to give an introduction to the topics. It is not an in- depth biology course and is not part of a sequence: there are three SCI-level biology courses, but they are each stand-alone courses that look at different aspects of the science. Of the three, SCI 135 is most intended as a "from scratch" course - students here are not expected to have some background from a previous biology course. We will build from simple concepts upward, creating a basic science vocabulary while trying not to get too technical. Often, subjects will be presented with a view toward their impact on humans. Laboratories are set up to present concepts for discussion and/or exercises for hand-on investigation, and please note that this course does not expect students to perform dissections.
 

Link to FMCC Catalog Description.   The course learning outcomes.  This course fulfills the SUNY Education Guidelines for Natural Sciences.

 

Course Objectives:

When you have successfully completed this course, you should have an overview understanding of the basic workings of biology and science, as well as the basic differences between the major groups of living things. You should have a basic working knowledge of how biologists think the world works, including current theories on the cell processes and how they relate to health and the environment. You should understand how basic science works through the scientific method.  You should also increase your biology vocabulary and general understanding of basic biological processes, including those at work in and around human beings. We hope that you will better be able to follow current events related to biology, such as medical breakthroughs, ecological issues, and such topics in lower-level science education as young people you know may be exposed to.

The Book:   Introduction to Biology,  Molecules and Cells, McDarby, Online.

Important Dates:  Lecture Exams:  February 24, March 17, April 14, May 11.
                                                  Abstracts: Feb 21, March 7, April 4, April 25.
                                                  Lab Quizzes:  February 28, March 28, May 2.

                                                  Assignment Due Dates also on calendars, below.

Grading:  The Lecture portion of the course will count toward 40% of the grade (4 100-Point Exams), with laboratory, lab quizzes, and abstracts amounting to the remaining 60% / 600 Points.


Lecture Exams (4) 100 Points Each - 400 Points - 40%

Lab Reports (12*) 25 Points Each - 300 Points - 30%

Lab Quizzes (3) 30 Points Each - 90 Points - 9%

Abstracts (4*) 50 Points Each - 200 Points - 20%

Completion Grade (All due work handed in) (1) 10 Points  - 10 Points - 1%

* - Lowest Completed Lab (of 13) grade dropped.
** - Optional 5th abstract can be handed in to replace lowest-graded abstract.

Notice that the course grades add up to 1000 total Points, so each 10 Points gained (or lost) is the equivalent of 1% of your final grade, which will be figured this way:

 


Overall:

%

GRADE

Points

 

%

GRADE

Points

90 & up

A

891 & up

 

74 - 76

C+

731 - 760

87 - 89

A-

861 - 890

 

70 - 73

C

691 - 730

84 - 86

B+

831 - 860

 

60 - 69

D

591 - 690

80 - 83

B

791 - 830

 

59 &

Below

F

590 &

Below

77 - 79

B-

761 - 790

 

"D" is considered passing, but often only "C" or higher are accepted as transfer credits!
Grades may also be severely affected for students violating FMCC's Academic Integrity Policy.

 
Attendance & Make-Up Policies:

Laboratory classes all have associated marked reports, so missing them may lead to lost points.  Make-ups are possible using the remote materials posted on Blackboard.  All marked assignments and exams are scheduled in advance and those dates are posted on Blackboard – check regularly and/or mark your personal calendar. 

Due materials (lab reports, proposals, papers) may be handed in past the due date, (by email if no longer accessible on Blackboard) but will lose 5% per day, down to 25% for a complete and appropriately done but really late assignment.  However, proposals will not be accepted on or after the due date of the paper they are for, and NO MATERIALS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER MAY 10th.

 

EXTRA CREDIT - There are no bonus assignments (there often are bonus points on particular assignments), but you can check every assignment except in-class quizzes and exams with Professor McDarby before the due date - he will tell you what needs to be fixed while you have time to fix it (at the due date, what you hand in is your final draft and not correctible).

 
 
 
Spring 2023 Lecture Schedule
Monday Friday
  Jan 27 - Introduction
Jan 30 -   Chap 1, Life Feb 3 -
Feb 6 - Chap 2, Science Feb 10 -
Feb 13 -  Chap 3, Classification Feb 17 - Chap 4, Chemistry Intro
Feb 20 - NO CLASS
Presidents Day
Feb 24-  FIRST EXAM
Feb 27 - Mar 3 -  Chap 5, Organic Chemistry
Mar 6 - Mar 10 -    Chap 6, Cells
Mar 13 -  Mar 17 -  SECOND EXAM
Mar 20 -   SPRING BREAK Mar 24 - SPRING BREAK
Mar 27- Mar 31 -    
Apr 3 -  Chap 7, Genetics Etc.   Apr 8 - NO CLASS
Good Friday
Apr 10 - Apr 14THIRD EXAM
Apr 17 - Apr 21 -  Chap 8, Energy  
Apr 24 - Chap 9, Cellular Respiration Apr 28 -
May 1 -   May 5  - 
May 8 - Chap 10, Photosynthesis May 12 -  FOURTH EXAM
 
 
 

 
 
 

McDarby - SCI 135 - Spring 2023 Lab Schedule

DAYS

EXERCISE SKILLS STRESSED
Jan 31 INTRODUCTION Remote through Blackboard.
Class requirements;  safety.
Jan 31 Abstracts (1) How to do course assignments.
Use of research databases and search engines.
Feb 7 Experiment Design (2) Terminology and concepts of scientific method;  designing experiments.
Feb 14  Classification  (3) Use of diagnostic key;  biological groups.
Feb 21  Metacognition  (4)
FIRST ABSTRACT DUE 
Self-analysis;  application of concepts.
Feb 28 Organic Molecules (5)
FIRST LAB QUIZ
Simple chemistry techniques and analysis of results.
Mar 7  Microscope Introductio(6)
SECOND ABSTRACT DUE
Use of lab instruments.
Mar 14 Ethics (7)
GENETICS PRELAB GIVEN OUT.
Analysis of moral issues in medicine and science.
 Mar 21 SPRING BREAK   
Mar 28 Diffusion (8)
SECOND LAB QUIZ 
Interpretation of experimental results;  connection to basic concepts.
Apr 4 Genetics (9)
GENETICS PRELAB DUE.
THIRD ABSTRACT DUE
Principles of dominant/recessive crosses, applications;  other genetic processes.
Apr 11 Mitosis (10) Microscope application;  cell concepts.
Apr 18 Epidemiology (11) Applying scientific principles to outbreaks of disease.
CALCULATOR NEEDED.
Apr 25 Measurements (12)
 FOURTH ABSTRACT (and extra) DUE
Conversions between systems;  application to real measurements.
CALCULATOR NEEDED.
May 2 Mental Processing (13)
THIRD LAB QUIZ
Recognizing patterns in memory and sensory processes.
CALCULATOR NEEDED.
 May 9 NO LAB   

Schedule is tentative - exams will cover the actual material covered rather than the scheduled material. Exams will be on scheduled dates unless school gets closed or instructor is hit by a bus, except for last exam, which is tentative until confirmed in early May.

 
 
 

Written Assignment - Abstracts

Your writing assignments for this course are abstracts, which are paragraphs that summarize things - in this case, either printed articles or major internet websites. Abstracts are routinely written for science journal articles - that way, someone searching for particular material can quickly tell if an article is something they need to read. Abstracts give the theme and "high points" of an article or site without the details. You are going to abstract two biology-oriented articles and two biology-oriented internet website, being as brief as possible while still covering all of the sources’ subjects.

You will read an article or check out a website concerning some aspect of the biological sciences (pick something you can understand!), then reduce it to a single paragraph of information. The trick here is to be brief - try to keep your abstract under 100 words, and definitely hold it under 200 words.

 

For a printed magazine/newspaper article: The article you pick must fit the following FOUR CRITERIA: 1) it must be about some aspect of biology; 2) it must be from a reputable source - hard news or science magazine or newspaper - if you’re not sure about a source, ASK!!!; 3) the article must be more than one full page of text (or half a page of text for newspaper articles); 4) it must have been published somewhere on paper this year or last.

For a website: When you pick a website, it must fit criteria 1 & 2 above; for 3, it must consist of more than ten subsidiary web pages (that is, it needs to have subsites with their own separate internet addresses); and for 4, it must have been updated sometime this year or last.  Use the website home page as your source.  Make sure your site is reliable - does it come from a person or organization that can be trusted for biology information?

 

The format of your abstract will consist of: 1) your name; 2) the title of the article/ website you’re abstracting, written as stated in the next paragraph; 3) the actual written part of your abstract (one paragraph, typed, double spaced!), checked for spelling and grammar; 4) a photocopy of the entire article, or the entire magazine it came from - torn-out pages are not acceptable! (Printouts are not necessary for websites - instead, the address must be absolutely perfect.) For details, see the next page.

 

THE TITLE Use ONLY sources that can be shown to be reliable!

For the print article abstracts will be written in a format like those found in science journals - make sure you follow these directions! Use the following order: 1) the author(s), last name first - all authors must be listed; 2) the year that the article was published (that should be this year); 3) the title of the article, capitalized like a regular sentence would be; 4) the title of the source - the magazine or newspaper the article was in; 5) the volume and issue numbers of the magazine (dates are all right only for newspapers); 6) the pages that the article was on;  7)  the database that the article came from if you used a library database to access it.  Use the name from the science list - NOT the company name!


The title for the website abstracts will use this order: 1) the website name (this often will appear across the top of the screen at the "home" website, but it may just be on the screen somewhere at that site;  spell out full name of organization even if they shorten it to initials); 2) the year that the site was last updated; 3)the author, if there is one; 4) the support site, if this website is part of a yet larger site (this often won't be true for these abstracts - check with Mr. McDarby if you have a small site contained in a much larger one!); 5) the full web address ( this is in the long white box and starts "http..." - it's very important to get this exactly right!!); 6) the date that you accessed the site last. 

 

THE BODY OF THE ABSTRACT:   Double spaced!

For the article, give a brief but comprehensive summary - briefly tell the basic theme of the article, then state all of the major points or features, including charts, tables, and sidebars. You do not need to go into much detail on anything except, occasionally, major unusual theories or conclusions.

NOTE: You are either doing an abstract from an PRINT ARTICLE from a PAPER SOURCE or a huge WEBSITE - NOT an article from a website!!!

For the website, start from the main website’s home page (NOTE: if there’s more than two slashes beyond the middle of the address, chances are that you’re not on a home page). Give the basic theme of the site and then all of the major points or features, including types of subsites and links. Even sites with many, many subsites can usually be summarized easily.

 

 
ABSTRACT CHECKLIST:

 

________________ 
Your NAME is on it.
________________ 

Your print article / website concerns some aspect of BIOLOGY.
________________ 

Your print article / website comes from an APPROPRIATE SOURCE.  If a website, it is the main central page, not just a page within the site!
________________ 
Your print article contains MORE THAN ONE FULL PAGE OF TEXT  in its printed form (If newspaper, more than half a page of text), or your website has more than ten webpage subsites  (addresses start with website address).
________________ 
Your print article was PUBLISHED THIS YEAR, or your website has been updated this year.
________________ 
You’ve written the TITLE ACCORDING TO THE PROPER FORMAT (see list on first handout sheet).
________________ 
Your abstract is completely CHECKED FOR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR, and it is DOUBLE-SPACED.
________________ 
Your abstract is a BRIEF SUMMARY but COVERS THE THEME AND MAIN POINTS of the print article or website, and main subsites for the website.
________________ 
You’ve INCLUDED A PHOTOCOPY of the article, or the whole publication it’s from, or the COMPLETELY ACCURATE WEB ADDRESS.
     
     

ABSTRACTS - MARKING DEDUCTIONS:

 

                                                                                                        DEDUCTIONS

                                                                      1st               2nd                3rd                 4th

ARTICLE OR WEBSITE TITLE:

Format Errors, each . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .-1 . . . . . . . .  -2 . . . . . . . .  .-3 . . . . . . . .  .-3

Format Completely Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . -8 . . . . . . . . -10 . . . . . . . . -12 . . . . . . . . -15

CHOSEN ARTICLE / WEBSITE:

Not on Biology Topic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -15 . . . . . . . . -20 . . . . . . . . -25 . . . . . . . . . -30

Inappropriate Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -6 . . . . . . . . . -9 . . . . . . . .  -12 . . . . . . . . . -15

Source TOO SHORT (just barely) . . . . -6 . . . . . . . .  -12 . . . . . . . .  -18 . . . . . . . . . -24

Source MUCH too short . . . . . . . . . . . -8 to -10 . . . -12 to -20 . . . -22 to -30 . . . -30 to -40

ABSTRACT:

Title Format Errors, each . . . . . . . . . . . -1 . . . . . . . .  -2 . . . . . . . . .  -2 . . . . . . . . . . -4

Main Theme is Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -6 . . . . . . . . -12 . . . . . . . . -18 . . . . . . . . -24

Points / Features not covered, each. . . -1 to -2 . . . . . -2 to -3 . . . . . -3 to -4 . . . -4 to -5

It isn’t quite an abstract. . . . . . . . . . . . -2 to -6. . . . . -6 to -10 . . . . -8 to -12. . -10 to -14

Not even close to being an abstract. . . . -10 . . . . . . . -20 . . . . . . .  -30 . . . . . . .  -40

Almost Random Statements . . . . . . . . .  -12 . . . . . . . . -24 . . . . . . . . -36 . . . . . . -40

Spelling and grammar errors, each. . . . -1 . . . . . . . .  -1 . . . . . . . .  -1 . . . . . . . .  -1

PHOTOCOPY / ACCURATE WEB ADDRESS:

Missing or Incomplete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -5 . . . . . . . . -10 . . . . . . . . -15 . . . . . . . -20

Pages Ripped from Source. . . . . . . . . . . . -5 . . . . . . . . -10 . . . . . . . . -15 . . . . . . . -20

OTHERS:

Plagiarism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . -15 to all Points

Falsified Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -10 to all Points

Other Dishonesty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -10 to all Points

Other Form Errors, Each. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1 to -10

 

Questions and Helpful Hints:

Question - What sort of print article, exactly, am I looking for?

First, make sure that you are looking in the right place. Science magazines are good sources, but may be much more technical than you're ready to handle. You want something that you'll be able to understand. "Hard news" magazines or newspapers can be good, too. Once you have a source, make sure that any article you might pick is long enough - it's got to have at least one full page of text - and that it is about biology in some way - in other words, it deals with the workings of living things.  Know how to use the library database to target appropriate print articles!

 

Question - How do I know if I’ve got an appropriate website?

First, check the address - anything with a long address with a bunch of slashes in it is not a main site, but a subsite - find the main site by looking for a "HOME" link or by "peeling back" the address by deleting parts after a slash - work your way back slash by slash until you’ve hit what’s obviously a main website. Then, make sure that it’s biology-related and check - usually near the end somewhere - to see that it was updated this year.  For reliability, look for an "ABOUT" links and see who has written the site, and whether they have the proper expertise to be trustworthy.

 

Question - So this is like, some sort of report?

No, it's not like anything you've probably written - the closest assignment to an abstract would be the first part of a book report, where you're telling what the book is about. An abstract is about article content and coverage, not a report about the subject of the article. You also don't get to editorialize - your opinions about the article are irrelevant in an abstract.

 

Question - How much do I need to tell?

Not much. It's as if someone looked over your shoulder as you were reading and asked, "What kind of article is that?" Your answer would be brief, but a good answer would let the person know the basic theme of the article and all of the major points it covers, so they could tell if it was something they might want to read. Keep it short - you don't need to really explain things, just mention them.

 

Question - Are there any "tricks" to writing a good abstract?

There are many different tricks. What you want to do is break the article down to "the bare bones," and that can be done by outlining, or by making notes on a photocopy, or by reading and then waiting before you write (that last one is tricky). One definite trick is to use the checklist on the first handout page - if you can check everything off, you'll get a good mark.

 

 

ABSTRACTS - EXAMPLES.

Couzin-Frankel, Jennifer.  2011.  A pitched battle over life span.  Science, Vol 333, Iss 6042, p 549-550.

This article is about how life expectancies may change in the future – will they rise, or level off?  The background of the two sides and major scientists involved are discussed, as well as what sorts of near-future results would support the sides.

 

Sachs, Jessica Snyder. 2011.  There’s a shot for that.  Discover, Vol 32, Iss 8, p 51-56.

This article discusses research on developing vaccines for several conditions.  There are sections on vaccines for cancer, allergies, heart disease, obesity, and addiction.  A sidebar supplies a glossary of vaccine-related terms.

 

Exploratorium.  The Museum of Science, Art, and Human Perception.  2011.  Palace of Fine Arts. www.exploratorium.edu  January 24, 2012.

This is the online site for a science museum in San Francisco.  There is some information about the actual museum, but the site is primarily online content:  “Hands-on activities, online exhibits, articles, videos, and more,” divided among several different types of science.  There is also special content for a number of demographic groups:  “Educators,”  “Teens,”  “Artists,”  “Scientists,” and “Geeks.”

 

Human Genome Sequencing Center. 2011. Baylor College of Medicine.   www.hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu January 24, 2012.

This website covers a wide range of human genetics research done in this medical college.  There are specific sites dealing with cancer genetics and the genetics of the bacteria that live on and inside humans, as well as many pages of general information covering basics and background for genetics research.

 

Small, Meredith F. 1997. Our babies, ourselves. Natural History, 106(9), pp 42-51.

This article is about how caregiving for infants varies among cultures. Many contrasts between hunter-gatherer cultures and western cultures are given. A brief retrospective of how anthropological studies in this area have changed in focus appears. All of this is integrated into the biology of newborns, in such areas as nutrition and bond development. The suggestion is made that western rearing techniques may be ignoring the cues that come from the babies themselves. Several sidebar articles by other authors accompany the main article - subjects in the sidebars: practices among the Gusii people of Kenya; the rest-centered approach of the Dutch; teaching pediatricians to deal nonjudgmentally with varied approaches in different ethnic groups; effects of different approaches on crying; how long to breast-feed; and effects of parents sleeping with babies.

 

Rome, Lawrence C. 1997. Testing a muscle's design. American Scientist, 85(4), pp 356-363.

This article reviews the research done by the author connecting the design of a muscle system with the system's particular function. After a brief introduction to muscle mechanics, examples from frog jumping, fish swimming, and toadfish vocalizing are examined in some detail.

 

MedHist. 2004.

http://medhist.ac.uk. No Author Given. Wellcome Trust. August 29, 2004.

This British site comes from a major research organization, allied with several other major sites that have links on the homepage;  it calls itself the "guide to history of medicine resources on the Internet." It has mainly a search function in this field, but it also offers a "Browse by Category" option with the categories "Diseases," "Electronic publications" (sic), regional breakdowns, miscellany, "Education & research," by periods of history, "Medical speciality & technique," "People," and "Science & technology." Each category offers major reference sources and many subcategories as well. There are many sources that are modern, rather than historical.

     
  NOTES  

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