BIO-125 Foundations of Life Science

This course is a brief overview to the unifying concepts in biology including, but not limited to molecular, cellular, metabolic, genetic, evolutionary, and whole organismal biology. This course relates the relevant concepts of living organisms to their environment. The laboratory component supports and reinforces lecture content. This course carries SUNY General Education Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning) credit

Credits

4

Prerequisite

Successful Completion of all Required Remedial Courses

Lecture Contact Hours

3

Lab Contact Hours

2

Other Contact Hours

0

Department

• Science & Technology

Grading Scheme

• Letter

SUNY Gen Ed Credit

• Yes

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and analyze fundamental concepts of biology - including basic molecular, cellular, metabolic, genetic, evolutionary, and whole organismal biology.
2. Utilize basic laboratory techniques to design and conduct experiments.
3. Articulate comprehensive conclusions through use of scientific inquiry.

View Course Outline

BIO 125: Foundations of Life Science

Department

Science and Technology

Course Description

This course is a brief overview to the unifying concepts in biology including, but not limited to molecular, cellular, metabolic, genetic, evolutionary, and whole organismal biology. This course relates the relevant concepts of living organisms to their environment. The laboratory component supports and reinforces lecture content. This course carries SUNY General Education Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning) credit

Credit Hours

4

Contact Hours

Lecture	3
Lab	2
Other	0

Grading Scheme

Letter

Prerequisites

Successful Completion of all Required Remedial Courses

SUNY General Education Course

• Natural Science and Scientific Reasoning

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and analyze fundamental concepts of biology - including basic molecular, cellular, metabolic, genetic, evolutionary, and whole organismal biology.
2. Utilize basic laboratory techniques to design and conduct experiments.
3. Articulate comprehensive conclusions through use of scientific inquiry.

Topic Outline

1. Taxonomic System of Classification 
   1. Characteristics of each Domain and/or Kingdom from a cellular, metabolic and whole organism level. 
   2. Scientific application of taxonomy
   3. Application of these concepts 
2. Molecular Biology
   1. Carbohydrates
   2. Lipids
   3. Proteins
   4. Nucleic Acids
3. Relationship between Nitrogenous Base sequence in DNA and Nitrogenous Base sequence in RNA and Amino Acid sequence in a polypeptide and the configuration of a protein and genetically based characteristics 
4. Basic Cellular Structure and Function
   1. Organelle identification
   2. Molecular components of organelle 
   3. Metabolic function of organelle
      1. In relationship to other organelles
      2. In relationship to the whole organism 
5. Cellular energy
   1. Application of the First Law of Thermal Dynamics
   2. Aerobic Respiration
      1. Flow of energy 
         1. Glycolysis 
         2. Krebs Cycle 
         3. Electron Transport Chain
   3. Anaerobic Respiration
      1.  Lactic Acid Fermentation
      2. Alcohol Fermentation 
6. Photosynthesis
   1. Impact of photosynthesis and photosynthesizing organisms on the environment and evolution of Aerobic Respiration
   2. Flow of Energy
   3. Light Reaction
   4. Calvin Cycle
7. Transportation of water from roots to leaves
   1. Osmotic Pressure
   2. Capillary Action
   3. Transpiration 
8. Sexual vs. asexual reproduction
   1. Genetic differences
   2. Population variability as a result of each
   3. Evolutionary consequences of each 
9. Cell Division
   1. Mitotic Cell Division
      1. Purpose
      2. Genetic Results of Mitotic Cell Division
      3. How these results are achieved
   2. Meiotic Cell Division
      1. Purpose
      2. Genetic result of Meiotic Cell Division
      3. How these results are achieved 
         1. Crossing over 
         2. Law of Independent Assortment 
      4. Chromosomal Anomalies
      5. Sex Determination 
10. Mendelian Genetics
    1. Chromosome, Gene, Homologous Pairs of Chromosome, Allele, Genotype vs. Phenotype
    2. Punnett's Squares
    3. Test Cross 
11. Alternatives to Mendelian Genetics
    1. Codominance
    2. Incomplete Dominance
    3. Multiple alleles
    4. Pleiotropy
    5. Polygenic Inheritance
    6. Effects of environment of expression of genes 
12. Evolution
    1. Definition
    2. Microevolution
       1. Natural Selection
       2. Artificial Selection
       3. Non-selection Influences 
          1. Genetic Drift 
          2. Founders Effect 
          3. Bottle Neck Effect
       4. Sexual Selection 
13. Macroevolution
    1. The Biological Species Concept
    2. Mechanisms of Speciation
       1. Allopatric
       2. Sympatric
14. Extinction
    1. Throughout geological time
    2. In recent history