Biology 1001A – Biology for Science I 2016
Course Description
The principles of biology taught using an integrative, question-based approach. Topics include inheritance,
evolution, and ecology. This course is intended for students registered in the Faculty of Science.
Instructor
Tim Hain
Position
Lecturer
Office
Collip 209
Winona Gadapati
Lab coordinator
North Campus
Building, room 301K
Email
Please use the OWL
‘message’ feature
[email protected]
* Please note that I cannot guarantee responses to questions in the 24-hour period prior to any assessment
(e.g. online assessments, midterm, or final exam).
Course Timetable
This is a generalized schedule; see last page for more details.
Face-to-Face sessions
Tuesdays
Thursdays*
Time
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Location
UCC 66 (‘WALS’ classroom)
UCC 66 (‘WALS’ classroom)
Skill Development sessions
Tuesdays
Thursdays
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
NCB 310
NCB 310
Review sessions
Friday, July 15 and July 22
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
UCC 66 (‘WALS’ classroom)
* In the first week, the Face-to-Face session is instead scheduled for Friday morning, 10:00 am -12:00 noon
in UCC 66.
Students are strongly encouraged to attend the Face-to-Face sessions, but attendance is optional. If you
prefer, you may instead participate remotely by using the Blackboard feature, accessed in the Face-to-Face
tab on the OWL site.
NOTE: This course is structured to include significant independent study (i.e. outside of traditional ‘lecture’
time) time by the student. More information about the structure of the course (including the role of and
distinction between ‘Face-to-Face’, ‘Skill Development’, and ‘Drop-in’) sessions is provided in an
introductory video available on the OWL course website.
Course Materials
1. Website: https://owl.uwo.ca/. Log in with your UWO username and password.
2. Textbooks: Russell et al. 2016. Biology: Exploring the diversity of life. 3rd Canadian Ed. Nelson
Education, Ltd: Toronto. (Recommended)**
Biology 1001a 1002b 1201a 1202b Lab Manual 2015/2016. 15th edition. (Required)
** The textbook costs about $165 in the campus bookstore. You may instead choose to buy MindTap,
which is an electronic, more interactive form of the textbook, for $112. I recommend this over the textbook.
Read more about MindTap in the “MindTap” tab on the OWL website.
3. Required Materials: lab manual, safety glasses, and lab coat. These items are all available for purchase
in the campus bookstore. Note that the lab manual must be new (i.e. used manuals are not suitable).
Important Information
1. The OWL course website will be my primary method of communication with students. All
important documents (syllabus, course material, assigned readings, exam details, announcements, etc.) will
be posted on the website. It is your responsibility to check the website frequently.
2. The Forum tool will be enabled on the website. Please use this forum to post and respond to questions
about course material, readings, activities, exams, etc. If I receive a direct OWL message that asks a
question already answered on the forum, I will ask you to check the forum for the answer. The forum will
be monitored on a very regular basis. As this is an open forum, please be respectful of one another.
Derogatory, discriminatory, or otherwise inappropriate language or topics will be removed and dealt with
at the instructor’s discretion.
3. It is the responsibility of students who are repeating the course to ensure that all proper
documentation is filed in situations in which the Skill Development component has been previously
completed (i.e. ‘999’ students). See information on 999 students below.
Evaluation Component
Course structure quiz
Activities
Skill Development
Midterm
Final Exam (cumulative)
‘Date’
Available until Tuesday, July
5th, at midnight
Spread throughout the course;
see information below
First session starts Tuesday,
July 5th, NCB 310, 1:30 pm
Saturday, July 16th, Nat Sci 1,
12:00 noon – 2:00 pm
Sunday, July 24th, Nat Sci 1,
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm,
Weight*
1%
5%
20%
32%
42%
*No special rounding rules (e.g. to meet GPA cut-offs, minimal requirements for programs, etc.) are applied in this course when
calculating final grades. Evaluation components will not be re-weighted, nor will additional assignments be accepted, to
accommodate perceived poor performance on any assessment, or for any unapproved absence during a graded component of this
course.
Course Structure Quiz
A short, online, multiple-choice quiz testing you on the content of this course syllabus, the organization of
the OWL course website, and the structure of the course (as described in the introductory video) should be
completed online (available under ‘Tests & Quizzes’) before Tuesday, July 5th at midnight.
Activities
Three activities will be presented throughout the course during Face-to-Face sessions, and announced in
the Announcements section of the OWL website. These Activities may include some drawing or
calculations and can either be submitted in person at the Face-to-Face sessions or online in the Assignments
section of the OWL website. These assignments can be uploaded as image files, PowerPoint files, Word
files, or .pdf files. These Activities are incorporated into the course to:
(i) encourage students to actively engage with and reflect on the material/course on a regular basis;
(ii) ensure students are prepared to get the most out of Face-to-Face sessions;
(iii) provide students with feedback on their understanding of fundamental course material.
Activities are not intended to represent the level of difficulty or comprehension involved in exams.
Some activities will be graded for correct answers (in particular, independent study quizzes), while others
may be graded solely on satisfactory completion as per the activity instructions. All activities will have a
specified deadline for completion; no late submissions will be accepted. Students will be informed the
nature of each activity and specific instructions for the activity at its onset.
Skill Development Sessions
The Skill Development component of this course will help students enhance their literacy, practical, and
critical thinking skills in collaborative settings with graduate teaching assistants as facilitators. These
sessions will start on Tuesday, July 5th in NCB 310 at 1:30 pm. This session will be a full 3-hour session;
students should come prepared with their lab manual, lab coat, and safety glasses for this first session, and
all subsequent sessions. There will be a total of 6 sessions during the duration of the course (see schedule
on last page), contributing to the 20% your final grade allocated to Skill Development sessions.
Exams
Students should expect a variety of question formats on the midterm and/or final exam, including but not
limited to multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, calculations, drawing/labeling, and/or
short answer questions. Students should expect exams to include questions derived from content discussed
or taught from video lectures, assigned readings, face-to-face sessions, and/or skill development sessions.
More detailed information about the structure/content of the exams will be provided on the OWL course
website.
Non-programmable calculators are permitted for use during the midterm and final exams. No other aids are
allowed. Cellular phones, iPods, and other similar technology are not permitted in the exam room.
This means that cellular phones, iPods, and other similar technology cannot be used as a timekeeper/ clock,
calculator, or for any other purpose.
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review
by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
‘999 Students’ repeating the course
Students who are repeating Biology 1001A (or are taking this course as a repeat of Biology 1201A) should
be registered in lab section 999 and are referred to as ‘999 students’. Students who are repeating the course
have the option of using their lab and tutorial mark (combined) from the previous term they took Biology
1001A/1201A as their mark for the ‘Skill Development sessions’ component of the Summer Day 2016
session. Choosing to use the previous term’s lab/tutorial marks is referred to as a Skill Development
‘exemption’.
If you have previously taken and completed Biology 1001A or Biology 1201A, and are consequently
repeating the course, you must read the information file titled, “Skill Development exemption form for 999
students”, posted on the OWL course website under Policy and Admin. This information describes steps
each 999 student must complete (including filling out an exemption form) by Thursday, July 7th at 12:00
noon. This form is accessible from the OWL website under ‘Tests & Quizzes’. Students who are taking
this course for the first time (i.e. have never taken Biology 1201A or 1001A) should not complete it this
‘form’.
999 students who choose to be exempt from Skill Development sessions are responsible for ensuring that
they understand the Skill Development material, as they will be held accountable for this material in
class and/or on exams. Exemption from Skill Development sessions will not be accepted as an excuse for
poor performance on, and/or failure to answer course components that relate (either directly or indirectly)
to that component of the course.
Scholastic offences
Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, and the University’s procedure for handling
scholastic offenses, in the Academic Calendar.
Prerequisites
The prerequisite for this course is Grade 12U (SB14U) Biology or Grade 11U (SB13UA) Biology and
permission of the Department. A minimum mark of 80% in Grade 12U Biology is recommended for
students registered in a faculty other than the Faculty of Science.
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from the Department
to enroll in it, you will be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision
may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a
course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
Accommodation for Medical Illness
If you are unable to meet a course requirement due to illness or other serious circumstances, you
must (i) notify the instructor by OWL message immediately of your absence AND (ii) provide valid
medical or other supporting documentation to an Academic Counselor in the Dean’s office of YOUR
Faculty as soon as possible. Your instructor should not see your documentation; this documentation is
confidential and should only be seen by the Counselor. The Dean’s office will notify the instructor of any
accommodation recommended. It is then the student’s responsibility to make alternative arrangements (as
necessary/appropriate) with the instructor once the accommodation has been approved and the instructor
has been informed.
As part of university policy, students who have been granted permission by the Dean’s Office to write the
make-up examination will write the exam at a time scheduled by the instructor. There will be one written
make-up examination given within two weeks of the originally scheduled exam. The format of the makeup exam is at the discretion of the instructor. Arrangements will be made for students that have valid reasons
for missing this make-up.
Students who miss an assessment/exam and do not receive appropriate accommodation from their Dean’s
Office will be awarded a ‘0’ for the missed examination. There are no exceptions to this policy. The midterm
or final exam will not be re-weighted to accommodate poor performance on any assessment in this course
or for unapproved absence during the mid-term or final exam. Additional assignments/re-weighting of other
assessments will not be accepted in lieu of a missed exam or to account for poor performance on an exam
or any other graded component of this course.
In the event of a missed final exam, a “Recommendation of Special Examination” form must be obtained
from your Dean’s Office immediately. For further information, please see:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/medical.pdf
A student requiring academic accommodation due to illness, should use the Student Medical Certificate
when visiting an off-campus medical facility or request a Records Release Form (located in the Dean’s
Office) for visits to Student Health Services. The form can be found here:
https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/medical_document.pdf
Academic Accommodations for Religious Holidays
Effective September 1, 1997, the Faculty of Science strictly adheres to the University policy on
accommodation for students based upon conflicts with religious holidays (see the appropriate section in the
current UWO Academic Calendar). Accommodation will only be granted for the specified date of the
religious holiday. Only holidays appearing on the University-approved list of dates will be accommodated.
See the Office of the Dean for the list of approved dates. Students requesting accommodation must do so,
in writing, to the Office of the Dean at least a month before the scheduled exams.
Schedule
Students are expected to work through the Independent Study Topics on their own. I recommend that you
do that on the date posted here, not after. Note that there are also guided study assignments (which are
unmarked) for most Lecture cycles throughout the term. Take a look at the Schedule on the OWL site for
more details.
Face-to-face sessions will occur from 10:00am – 12:00noon on the scheduled date. There are held in UCC
66, but students have the option of participating remotely by logging in from the Face-to-Face tab on OWL.
I recommend that you prepare yourself for this by downloading the Blackboard application. Go to the Faceto-Face tab, select “Getting Started (playground)”, and follow the prompts. You will be asked to download
the Blackboard Collaborate application, and you can play around with it on your own time before the first
Face-to-Face session.
Skill Development sessions are scheduled from 1:30pm – 4:30pm in NCB 310. Be sure to take your lab
manual, lab coat and safety glasses. ‘999’ students are exempt from these sessions.
Date
July 4, 2016
July 5, 2016
July 6, 2016
July 7, 2016
July 8, 2016
July 9, 2016
July 10, 2016
July 11, 2016
July 12, 2016
July 13, 2016
July 14, 2016
July 15, 2016
July 16, 2016
July 17, 2016
July 18, 2016
July 19, 2016
July 20, 2016
July 21, 2016
July 22, 2016
July 23, 2016
July 24, 2016
Independent Study Topics
1 – Welcome
2 – HIV Evolution
3 – Why Evolution is True
4 – Inheritance of Sameness
5 – Genetic Replication
6 – Origins of Variation
7 – Mutation
8 – Recombination
9 - Meiosis
10 – Inheritance of Variation
11 – Inheritance in Populations
12 – Selection and Fitness
13 – Agents of Evolution
14 – Why Sex?
15 – Sexual Selection
16 – Cooperation & Conflict I
17 – Cooperation & Conflict II
Face-to-Face topics
Skill Development
Session
Meet and greet
Session #1, NCB 310
No class
Lectures 4, 5, 6, 7
Session #2, NCB 310
Lectures 8, 9, 10
Session #3, NCB 310
Lectures 11, 12, 13,
14
Review/Help period
Session #4, NCB 310
Assessments
Course quiz available
(1%)
Course quiz available
until noon (1%)
Midterm (32%)
Covers up to Lecture 15
18 – Life on Earth
19 – Phylogeny I
20 – Phylogeny II
21 – Species Concepts
22 – Human Evolution
23 – Evolutionary Arms Race
No new material
Lectures 15, 16, 17
Session #5, NCB 310
Lectures 18, 19, 20
Review/Help period
Session #6, NCB 310
Final Exam (42%)
Cumulative