Faculty

BIOL-1309 Life on Earth

Ryan Bohls

Credit Spring 2026

Section(s)

BIOL-1309-010 (15458)
LEC MW 10:10am - 11:30am EGN EGN1 1226

BIOL-1309-015 (29024)
LEC MW 12:00pm - 1:20pm EGN EGN1 1232

BIOL-1309-025 (15465)
LEC MW 1:30pm - 2:50pm EGN EGN1 1251

Course Requirements

Course Description:

Credit Hours: 3
Classroom Contact Hours per week: 3

A survey of the living organisms on our planet for the non-science major. Emphasis on evolutionary and natural history, structural and behavioral adaptations, biological diversity and co-evolution.

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.

Instructional Methodology

This course is a three-hour lecture course which consists of a series of in-person lecture meetings and online components to support your learning. We will cover most of the new material together during class periods, but you may also be required to “preview” the topics by completing work (mainly reading your textbook and study guide) before each session and we will use class to complete activities to help reinforce the content. You will also complete homework assignments after class meetings to demonstrate your learning and practice the material.

Course Format

To complete each unit, you will need to:

Read/ watch the material in the assigned portion of the Study Guide, textbook and online resources and take thorough notes. The Study Guide provides instructions on which resources to use and which sections of the textbook to read. Answer all the questions in the Study Guide. Study Guide responses are not taken for a grade but can be turned in for Extra Credit. I strongly encourage everyone to complete them.
Come to class and participate in the lectures and activities. Take notes as you go.
Complete the Homework assignment TWICE (once for a grade and again for practice) and submit it on time via Blackboard.
Prepare answers to the provided Review Essay Questions (not for a grade, but highly recommended).
Study everything you have done.
Take the in-class exam over everything in the unit.

Readings

You will need the following items:

1. BIOL 1309 Life on Earth Study Guide, 4th edition (updated), modified for Speer & Maxim, Nov 2018 by BIOL 1309 Redesign Team. This study guide is not sold through any bookstore. You can download and print from this course’s Blackboard site. (Available as Adobe PDF file.)

2. The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution, ACC Special Edition by Carl Zimmer. 2010, McMillian. – First Day Access – available through Blackboard as a digital version

Other course materials are available in the “Course Content” folder in Blackboard. You are responsible for all materials covered in the study guide, textbook, narrated lectures, and homework.

Course Subjects

Course Rationale:

This course was designed for students who are primarily non-science majors. Through the use of a study guide, textbook readings, good science videos, web-based homework assignments and discussion groups, students are introduced to the organisms that inhabit this planet, their characteristics, their evolutionary relationships and their adaptation to life on earth.

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Course-Level for Life on Earth:

Specific skills and competencies expected of students who complete this course include:

• Ability to explain evolutionary relationships among different organisms

• Ability to discuss adaptations, using several different examples

• Ability to apply biological concepts to new examples

General Education for Life on Earth:

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 for this course in the departmental common course objectives. The departmental objectives are located at http://sites.austincc.edu/biology/common-course-objectives/