Biology: Human Biology w/lab

For nonscience majors. Selected biological concepts and topics relevant to humans, such as cancer, human genetics, environmental toxicants. With virtual laboratory. Credit not awarded for both BIOL 1100 and BIOL 1105.

Asynchronous online; Course will not count toward BIOL, BISC, NEUR, PBIO, or ZOOL majors, and those students are restricted from enrolling. Credit not awarded for both BIOL 1100 and BIOL 1105

This course is a online offering that combines aspects of the old Biol 003 (Human Biology) and Biol 013 (Human Biology Laboratory). This “new” course is an introductory level presentation of a life science course, designed primarily for non-science university level students. We will be covering much of the same material that might be found in a general introductory biology course, but will use a Human focus. Topics to be covered will include; basic chemistry, cells, certain body systems, general genetics, human genetics, molecular genetics, body defense systems and evolution. You should note, here, a theme around the processes and characteristics of inheritance. Online laboratory exercises will cover many of the same topics as the “lecture” section. These will include scientific method, chemistry, cells, body systems, genetics and evolution. Note: The "Summer" version of this course has a reduced schedule. As a result some topics of the standard course are shortened or dropped. However, the presentation is still fairly "packed".

The course will be run via the UVM Brightspace web site for Biol 1100. In order to participate in this course, the student must purchase an eText/learning program with an associated Laboratory exercise program. This required component is: “Human Biology” by Mader and Windelspecht with “Virtual Labs – Biology” published by McGraw/Hill. The design of the course will parallel that of a standard “in person” lecture/lab course. However, it will have recorded lecture material, lecture notes/figures (miniText), and online videos, exercises/assignments etc. At the end of this course, it is hoped that the student would have a basic understanding of the scientific method, the chemical and cellular components of the body, the function of body systems in health and disease as well as an understanding of the importance of genetics in these processes.

The course will be divided into four sections. An exam (objective and “open response” elements) and a “Homework” component will contribute to the grade for each section. Note: the fourth exam, at the end of the course, will not be cumulative. Within the Brightspace web site for the course there will be a separate "module" for the Lab component of the course. There the students will perform approximately 26 separate lab exercise simulations and complete a series of companion quizzes. The final course grade will come from a combination of the “lecture section grades” (exams and homework), plus, for the lab component, demonstrated facility with the simulations, their quizzes, and a lab exam.