Biology 251 Syllabus
Fall 2009
Instructor: Dr. Patrick A. Carter
Office: Heald 217
Office Hours: Tues & Thur 1:15 to 2:00; Wed 3:10 to 4:00; or by appointment
Textbook: Stanfield & Germann. 2009. Principles of Human Physiology, 3rd Custom Edition for WSU. PhysioEx laboratory book and cd, and Interactive Physiology cd, bundled with the textbook. Available at the Bookie or Crimson and Gray.
Laboratory Manual: Zoo 251 Lab Manual. Available at the Bookie or Crimson and Gray.
Course Web Page: http://www.wsu.edu/~biol251/
Instructor email:
pacarter@wsu.edu
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Version of Course Syllabus: syllabus
Course plagiarism
statement: cheating
TA Contact Information and Office Hours: TA
Health Issues in the News:
Response to New Mammogram Guidelines
Changes in Mammogram Guidelines
Humans are good long distance runners compared to other vertebrates.
New ideas about the progression of cancer.
Blood Pressure Formal Lab Report:
Results Suppliment for Students
who want more weight and BMI Information
Full Class Data File in EXCEL
for Students who want to make scatterplot graphs
General Exam Info: Students
with lab on Tues at 9:10 AM, Thurs at
9:10 AM, Tues at 7:10 PM or Thurs at 7:10 PM MUST take
the exam in Webster 16. All other students (including those who are
not in labs this semester) MUST take the exam in Fulmer 226 (the regular
classroom).
Exam 3 Grades
The mean on Exam 3
is a 75% (great job!), thus no curve correction is needed. To see your score, click on the following
link. The Ex3 score is your raw score,
out of 90 points; the Ex3P score is your percentage score (i.e., your raw score
divided by 90).
Exam 2 Grades
The mean on Exam 2
is a 70%, thus no curve correction is needed.
To see your score, click on the following link. The Ex2 score is your raw score, out of 66
points; the Ex2P score is your percentage score (i.e., your raw score divided
by 66).
Exam 1 Grades
The mean on Exam is
a 79%, thus no curve correction is needed.
To see your score, click on the following link. The Ex1 score is your raw score, out of 66
points; the Ex1P score is your percentage score (i.e., your raw score divided
by 66).
Biology 251 Topics
Fall 2009
Click on the topic
links below to get lecture notes for that topic. Notes will be ready no later than 5 PM the
day before the lecture.
Date
|
Week
|
Topic
|
Subject
|
|
Lab
|
|
|
|
|
CELL PHYSIOLOGY |
|
|
|
25 Aug |
1 |
1 |
Ch 1 |
Mandatory Attendance: Check In |
|
|
27 Aug |
1 |
2 |
32-42; 75-86 |
||
|
1 Sep |
2 |
3 |
32-36; Chp 4 |
Diffusion, Osmosis & Membrane Transport |
|
|
3 Sep |
2 |
4 |
Ch 7 |
||
|
8 Sep |
3 |
5 |
Ch 8 |
Spike |
|
|
|
|
|
CONTROL SYSTEMS |
|
|
|
10 Sep |
3 |
6 |
Ch 9 |
||
|
15 Sep |
4 |
|
EXAM 1 Topics 1 to 5 (66 points) |
|
Reflexes |
|
17 Sep |
4 |
7 |
252-269; 293-299 |
||
22
Sep*
|
5 |
8 |
Ch 11 |
Sensory Responses |
|
|
24 Sep |
5 |
9 |
Ch 6 |
||
29
Sep
|
6 |
10 |
623-625; 639-653; |
PhysioEx: The Endocrine System |
|
|
|
|
|
MUSCLES AND THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM |
|
|
|
1 Oct |
6 |
11 |
322-334 |
||
|
6 Oct |
7 |
|
EXAM 2 Topics 6 to 10 (66 points) |
|
Skeletal Muscle |
|
8 Oct |
7 |
12 |
334-350 |
||
|
13 Oct |
8 |
13 |
350-357 |
Smooth Muscle |
|
|
15 Oct |
8 |
14 |
Cardiovascular System: Anatomy & Electrical Activity of Heart |
360-378 |
|
|
20 Oct |
9 |
15 |
379-392 |
HR, BP & ECG Formal Lab Report on this exercise |
|
|
22 Oct |
9 |
16 |
395-422 |
||
|
27 Oct |
10 |
17 |
422-433; Ch 15 |
Animal Heart Rate |
|
|
|
|
|
RESPIRATORY AND
URINARY SYSTEMS |
|
|
|
29 Oct |
10 |
18 |
Ch 16 |
||
|
3 Nov |
11 |
|
EXAM 3 Topics 11 to 17 (90 points) |
|
Respiration + Library Session Owen 319D |
5
Nov
|
11 |
19 |
Ch 17 |
||
|
10 Nov |
12 |
20 |
510-522 |
No Labs: Time for Lab Report Writing |
|
|
12 Nov |
12
|
21
|
Urinary System: Reabsorption,
Secretion, & Excretion
|
522-533 |
|
|
17 Nov |
13 |
22 |
536-556 |
PhysioEx: The Kidney. Lab Reports Due |
|
|
19 Nov |
13 |
23 |
556-566 |
||
|
24 Nov |
|
|
Thanksgiving Break |
|
No Labs Thanksgiving Break |
|
26 Nov |
|
|
Thanksgiving Break |
|
|
|
|
|
|
THANKSGIVING
LEFTOVERS |
|
|
|
1 Dec |
14 |
|
Post-Thanksgiving Review |
|
PhysioEx: Acid Base Balance |
3 Dec
|
14 |
|
EXAM 4: Topics 18 -
23 (78 points) |
|
|
|
8 Dec |
15 |
24 |
Immune System |
Ch 23 |
Mandatory Attendance: Final Grade Check |
|
10 Dec |
15 |
25 |
Health Challenges of the 21st Century |
No reading |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 Dec |
|
|
EXAM 5: Cumulative Final
Topics 1 – 25 (100 pts) 7:10 to 9 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Last day to drop class without record
Goals of Course: Most students in Biology 251 are pursuing careers in Health or Exercise Sciences. For many of you, Biology 251 will be your primary exposure to human physiology while an undergraduate. You need to learn how the healthy human body functions before you can learn in future classes how exercise, disease and injury alter function. My objective in teaching this course is to ensure that you learn human physiology well enough to be successful in future classes, professional exams, and careers. Your task is to read the assigned pages in the textbook, attend lectures and laboratories and study and THINK about the material. By doing this, you will be able to perform well on lecture exams and laboratory quizzes, you will learn the material well enough to be able to use it in your future classes and career, and you will make this course a satisfying intellectual experience.
Class Notes:
My lecture notes for each class meeting will be available on the course web
page (http://www.wsu.edu/~biol251/)
by
Exams and Grades: Your final grade will be determined from exam scores and from the laboratory score; you will be assigned a final letter grade based on your total course points. The total number of points available is 500: 300 of these come from semester exams, 100 come from the cumulative final, and 100 come from the lab. No extra credit points are offered.
All grading scales are “curved”. Traditionally, the mean score plus or minus one standard deviation is given a grade of C, scores between plus 1 and plus 2 standard deviations are given a B, scores greater than plus 2 standard deviations are given an A, scores between minus 1 and minus 2 standard deviations are given a D and scores less than minus 2 standard deviations are given an F.
I use a slight variant of this system that offers a big incentive to students to do well and that is easy to understand. I only curve “up”, and when I do, I adjust the mean to a 70% to facilitate translation of the curved scale to the letter scale with which most students are familiar. So, for example, if the mean score is 65%, all students have 5% added to their scores to bring the mean up to a 70%. However, I never curve “down”; if the mean is an 80%, I leave it at 80%; I do NOT take 10% away from each student’s score. This means that all students in the class could earn A’s and B’s. In addition, score standard deviations in the class tend to be large, so the “C range” is larger than in a traditional system.
Once the curve has been adjusted (if needed), letter grades are assigned as follows:
A = 92.50% and up
A- = 90.0% to 92.49%
B+ = 87.50% to 89.99%
B = 82.50% to 87.49%
B- = 80.0% to 82.49%
C+ = 75.0% to 79.99%
C = 65.0% to 74.99%
C- = 60.0% to 64.99%
D = 50.0% to 59.99%
F = 49.99% or less
You will have four 75 minute in-class semester multiple-choice exams that will be worth a grand total of 300 points. Each of these exams will cover between 5 and 7 topics worth of material and will be scored according to the amount of material. Exam 1 will cover 5 topics, will have 33 multiple choice questions and be worth 66 points. Exam 2 will cover 5 topics, will have 33 multiple choice questions and be worth 66 points. Exam 3 will cover 7 topics, will have 45 multiple choice questions and be worth 90 points. Exam 4 will cover 6 topics, will have 39 multiple choice questions and be worth 78 points. Exam questions will be written from material covered in lecture; I will also give several questions on every exam that will require you to integrate or apply knowledge in novel ways.
Exam 1 will be given and graded prior to the last day of the semester to drop a class without record (September 22nd). If you do poorly on the first exam (a D or an F) you may wish to consider dropping the class and trying again in the future.
The final exam
will be on Monday 14 December from 7:10 to 9 PM, will be in multiple choice
format, and will be worth 100 points.
You will have 1 hour 50 minutes to complete the final exam.
Review sessions will be held prior
to each semester exam:
Mon 14 Sep 5:10 to 7:00 PM Heald Aud
Mon 5 Oct 5:10 to 6:30 PM Heald Aud
Mon 2 Nov 5:10 to 7:00 PM Heald Aud
Wed 2 Dec 5:10 to 7:00 PM Heald Aud
and before the final exam. The date and time for the final review will be announced later in the semester. Review questions from previous exams will be provided prior to all semester exams and the final exam.
If you miss an exam, you will receive a score of 0 for that exam. If you have what I consider to be a legitimate excuse for missing an exam, and if you inform me of this before the exam, you will be allowed to take a cumulative make-up exam on Thursday 10 December at 3:00 PM in Heald 201. NO make-up for the final exam will be given. Missing more than 1 exam will result in a grade of F or I for the course.
The laboratory is worth 100 points, which is 20% of your total grade. This grade will be determined from quizzes and assignments given during lab and from a formal lab report which is worth 25% of your lab grade. A passing grade in the laboratory is required to pass the course.
Cheating on an exam or a laboratory assignment (including plagiarism) will result in a grade of F for the entire course and will result in additional disciplinary action by the University. Cell phones must be stowed in a backpack or pocket during an exam; a visible cell phone during an exam will be considered hard evidence of cheating and will result in a grade of F for the entire course and will result in additional disciplinary action by the University. The instructors assume you have read and understand the plagiarism policy posted on the course web page.
Miscellaneous: If you require special teaching or testing conditions, please see me during the first week of class so that we can make the needed arrangements.
Departmental and
University Policies: The
How to Do Well: This course covers a great deal of complex and interrelated material. You must understand topics covered early in the course to be able to comprehend information presented later in the course, and you will have to be able to integrate material that you learn throughout the course. Therefore it is imperative that you do not fall behind. You can take several steps to increase your ability to comprehend and remember material.
1) Do the assigned reading for a topic BEFORE the lecture even if you don’t understand all the details at first. Being familiar with topics beforehand will allow you to get the most out of lecture.
2) When reading a given chapter, first skim the section called “Chapter Summary” at the end of the chapter to get an overview of the important concepts in the chapter, then read the chapter itself.
3) Within 24 hours of a lecture, rewrite your lecture notes, practice drawing crucial figures, REVIEW ANIMATIONS on the Interactive Physiology cd, and write practice exam questions on that lecture. This will force you to review and integrate the material while it is fresh in your mind, and it will provide you and your friends with practice exams to take before each real exam.
4) Topics in this
course build on each other. For example,
you must understand electrochemical gradients to understand how neurons function,
and you need to understand how neurons function to understand muscle function,
and you need to understand muscle function to understand cardiac function. Thus
make sure that when you study a topic, you understand it well enough to be able
to remember it and use it later in the course.
5) Do NOT fall behind in your reading and studying; you will find it impossible to catch up once you fall behind in a course of this type. To learn this material, you WILL have to spend numerous hours outside of class reading and studying. Make sure you set aside regular times outside of class to work on the course material; you should plan on at least 6 to 8 hours per week of study time.