COURSE DESCRIPTION

• Credit Hours: 4
• Lecture Contact Hours per week: 3
• Laboratory Contact Hours per week: 3

The General Biology course is designed for science majors and students with a strong science background who desire an in-depth approach to biological topics including an introduction to the diversity, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, development, behavior, and evolution of living organisms.  The focus of the course includes prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals. BIOL 1407 and BIOL 1409 may not both be counted toward graduation. 

SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

Reading, writing, and mathematics proficiency as determined by the COMPASS or ASSET test, or by the statewide THEA test, or by providing an official transcript from another college.

COURSE RATIONALE

This course serves students who plan to become biology and related science majors (e.g. biochemistry), as well as students who wish to enter the health professions (e.g. those in premedical and pre-pharmacy programs). To help prepare these students for future coursework and careers, BIOL 1407 will (1) expose students to the amazing diversity of organisms in what may be the only chance for many of these students to study this material, and (2) emphasize basic biological principles as well as science process and critical thinking skills that will be invaluable to them in the future. 

PREREQUISITES

BIOL 1406 with a minimum grade of C. 

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS/SOFTWARE

1. Required: Biology by Campbell and Reece (12th Edition) is the required text. There is a lot of information in this textbook that will be essential to your learning in this course.
   • You can utilize a new or old textbook or an older edition.
2. Recommended: Photography Equipment. You will be utilizing photographic images throughout the course in the lab, during the iNaturalist project and in the undergraduate research. While your cell phone camera will be adequate in most cases it may not capture the image detail you want for a given task.
3. All students will be required to utilize computers during this course.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Course-Level

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the scientific method and apply it in a biological context
• Describe the process of evolution, including a basic understanding of the evidence for evolution, natural selection as a mechanism, and the basic patterns of the evolutionary process.
• Describe the major patterns of life on Earth, including abiogenesis, the origin of eukaryotes, the origin of multicellularity, and the major changes to the Earth’s ecosystems over geologic time.
•  Identify and differentiate the taxonomic membership of the major groups of organisms, including viruses, prokaryotes, protists, plants, and animals.
• Describe the important structure/function relationships of plants and animals, and explain the concepts of homeostasis, and cellular exchange both within the organism and between the organism and its environment.

Program-Level

As a required course for an Associates of Science in Biology, students completing this course will be able to:

• Describe and explain the processes of evolution, taxonomy, and systematics.
• Describe and explain the history of life on Earth and the diversity of organisms present today and through time.
• Describe and explain the structure and function relationships that exist within plants and animals

General Education

As a Core Curriculum course, students completing this course will demonstrate competence in:

• Critical Thinking - Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information. 
• Interpersonal Skills - Interacting collaboratively to achieve common goals.
• Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning - Applying mathematical, logical and scientific principles and methods.
• Written, Oral and Visual Communication - Communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.

Departmental Common Course Objectives

The ACC Biology Department has specified the content of this course in the departmental common course objectives. The departmental objectives are located at http://sites.austincc.edu/biology/common-course-objectives/.