Course Syllabus

BIOL2000 Molecules and Cells Syllabus                                                    Spring 2023

 

Class schedule:  MWF 11:00-11:50                        Location:  Higgins 300

 

Instructor:                                                                Office Hours:  Higgins 411

Rebecca Dunn, Ph.D  rebecca.dunn@bc.edu                 Mon 12-1, Thurs 9:45-12:15

                                                                   

Teaching assistants:                                    Office Hours: 

Audrey Randall, Ph.D. candidate  randalau@bc.edu

Julia Ward warddr@bc.edu ---------------->                   1:30 – 2:30 Wednesday in Higgins 210 

Daniel Akinremi  akinremi@bc.edu

 

Course materials and textbook:  All required materials can be accessed through the course’s Canvas site.  Recorded lectures are available through the Panopto link, and lecture slides are found in the corresponding weekly module (Modules tab).  A textbook is not required for this course, but suggested readings for each in topic are provided in the open source textbook Biology 2E.  You can link to this textbook online through the Canvas site.  A copy of the textbook will be available through Course Reserves at O’Neill Library. 

 

Prerequisites:  none.  Please note that many students who take this class have taken AP biology in high school.  If you have not taken AP biology or an equivalent class, this course is likely to require more work for you than for some others in the class.

 

Course overview

Biology literally means "the study of life."  Biology is truly a broad field, encompassing the minute workings of chemical machines inside our cells to broad scale concepts of ecosystems and the impact of global climate change. Molecules and Cells (BIOL2000) provides a foundation in biochemistry, molecular biology of gene expression, cell biology, and genetics. It is a foundational requirement for students majoring in Biology and Biochemistry. Ecology and Evolution (BIOL2010) focuses on aspects of biology that manifest on a larger scale and is a requirement for the Biology major.  Molecules and Cells and Ecology and Evolution may be taken in any order.

 

Course goals

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Apply the rules of gene expression to predict the protein produced from a protein-coding gene sequence  
2. Distinguish between the evolutionary origins of intracellular organelles
3. Describe the unique characteristics of prokaryotic, plant, and animal cells
4. Explain how the two major types of signaling receptors, cell-surface and intracellular, relate to cell permeability and compartmentalization
5. Describe the energy flow during synthesis and breakdown of glucose through photosynthesis and respiration respectively
6. Explain how solute concentrations in the cytosol and intracellular compartments are controlled
7. Differentiate between transport through transmembrane transporters and channels and transport by endocytosis and secretion
8. Describe the basic steps and requirements of DNA replication and cell division
9. Explain how meiotic division underlies Mendelian heredity

 

Homework

There will be weekly homework problems assigned as Canvas “quizzes.”  The purpose of these problems is to encourage you to keep up with and work through the material.  Each homework problem set, no matter how many questions, will be worth 4 pts toward your final grade and due Sunday at midnight as indicated in the schedule (exception noted in schedule).  Your homework grade for the course will be the sum of all homework grades except that the lowest score (of 11 total) will be dropped.  Please ask questions about the homeworks using the Homework Questions Canvas discussion.

 

Quizzes & Exams      

Quizzes will contain multiple-choice questions only, and midterm exams will contain multiple-choice questions and open response/variable format questions.  Your highest 2 of 3 quizzes and highest 2 of 3 midterm exams will be counted toward your final grade.  If you must miss a quiz or exam for any reason, the missed quiz or exam will count as the one that is dropped, NO EXCEPTIONS.  The FINAL contains all multiple-choice questions, is cumulative, and is required for a grade in this course.

 

Assessments and Grading

Final grades will be assigned according to a composite of scores from activities and assessments as follows:

Homework                  40 points (~9%)  (Lowest 1/11 dropped)

In-class activity            20 points (~4%)  (Lowest 1/3 dropped)

Quizzes                        60 points (~13%) (Lowest 1/3 dropped)

Midterm Exams            200 points (~44%) (Lowest 1/3 midterm exams dropped)

FINAL                          130 points  (~29%)

Total                            450 points

A final percentage of the indicated values will earn a grade at least as high as the one indicated.  In other words, grades will not be “curved down,” but they may be “curved up.”  If everyone in the class has a course percentage of 90 or greater, then everyone will get an A or A-.  But if your course percentage is 70, and the average grade in the class is 68, you will earn a grade higher than a C-. 

 

Accommodations

If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470, paulette.durrett@bc.edu, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities, including temporary disabilities.  If you have special needs particularly in relation to written examinations, please contact Dr. Dunn at least two weeks prior to the exam in question. 

 

Academic Integrity

Unless explicitly designated as group work, all assignments and exams for this course are to be completed independently, and anything a student submits is presumed to be his or her own work.  Please familiarize yourself with the Academic Integrity Policy of Boston College (http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/resources/policy.html#integrity).  Deviation from this policy may result in course failure and referral to the Board of Academic Integrity.

 

Student Wellness

Please be especially careful of your and others’ physical and mental health during this difficult time.  If you are feeling stressed, having challenges managing your time, sleep, or making choices around alcohol and food, the Office of Health Promotion (OHP) offers individual and group health coaching appointments with a trained health coach. Please reach out by going to OHP website or walk to Gasson 025 and talk with a staff member.  Be Well. 

 

Succeeding in this course

My best recommendations are as follows:  print out the slides and take notes on them (or do the equivalent on a tablet).  Study the pictures and explain them to someone else or to yourself out loud.  Take every opportunity to work through the material in a non-rote way – homeworks, practice problems & practice exams, etc.  Imagine your own exam questions and answer them; ask yourself what-if questions.  GO TO OFFICE HOURS and use the human resources that are available to you.  We WANT to help you succeed.

Date	Topic		Textbook Reading		Homework due Sunday 11:59 pm
Jan 18	Course introduction, atoms & molecules Water and pH		2.1 up to and including the Bohr model, 2.2		HW1 Molecules, water & pH
Jan 20
Jan 23	Biological building blocks Nucleic acids, DNA replication		2.3, 3.1, skim only 3.2, 3.5, skim only 14.1, 14.3-14.5		HW2 Building blocks, nucleic acids & replication
Jan 25
Jan 27
Jan 30	Transcription & RNA processing Genetic code & translation  Quiz 1		15.1-15.5		HW3 Transcription & translation
Feb 1
Feb 3
Feb 6	Protein structure DNA mutability Electrophoresis & blotting		3.4, 14.6, 17.1(Only Hybridization, Southern blotting, & Northern blotting section)		HW4 Protein structure, mutation analysis, electrophoresis & blotting
Feb 8
Feb 10    E1  E1
Feb 13	In-class activity (Mon) Review Exam 1 (Fri)				None
Feb 15
Feb 17
Feb 20	Postmortem of exam 1 Membrane structure & transport Prokaryotic v. eukaryotic structure		3.3, 5.1-5.3, 4.2-4.3, Table 14.1		HW5 Membranes and organelles
Feb 22
Feb 24
Feb 27	Endomembrane system, cytoskeleton, cell interactions and tissues Quiz 2 (Fri)		4.4, 5.4, 4.5, 4.6		HW6 Cell biology
Mar 1
Mar 3
Mar 4 - Mar 11  No Class – Spring Break
Mar 13	Cell division cycle, mitosis & meiosis		10.2, 10.3, 11.1, skim 11.2		HW7 Cell division
Mar 15
Mar 17
Mar 20	In-class activity (Mon) Review Exam 2 (Fri)				None
Mar 22
Mar 24    E@E2E2E2
Mar 27	Mendelian genetics Metabolism, reactions, & enzymes		12.1-12.2, 12.3 only up to and including independent assortment, 6.1-6.5		HW8 Mendelian genetics, metabolism, & enzymes
Mar 29
Mar 31
Apr 3	Quiz 3 (Mon) Respiration & fermentation, photosynthesis		7.1, skim 7.2 – 7.5, 8.1-8.2		HW9* Energy transformations *Due Thur Apr 13 at 11:59 pm
Apr 5
Apr 6 - Apr 10    No classes – Easter weekend
Apr 12	Photosynthesis cont’d Signaling		8.3, 9.1-9.3		*HW9 due Thurs HW10 Signaling
Apr 14
Apr18*	In-class activity (Tues) Review Exam 3 (Fri)				None
Apr 19
Apr 21
Apr 24	Prokaryotic gene regulation Eukaryotic gene regulation		16.1-16.4		HW11 Gene regulation
Apr 26
Apr 28
May 1	Viruses and DNA technologies TBD/Wrap up				Optional homework (worth no points)
May 3
May 11	Final exam 9:00-11:00 am (same room as lecture)