UNCG BIO 112H — Principles of Biology II (Honors Section)

This course is the second half of UNCG’s introductory biology sequence for biology majors and other interested students. It covers the form and function of plants, genetics, evolution, and ecology. Students enrolled in BIO 112 must also be enrolled in the concurrent BIO 112 laboratory, and will ordinarily have already completed BIO 111.

Meeting Time and Place

Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1:00–1:50 p.m. in Eberhart 355.

Instructor

Dr. Robert J. O’Hara, 102 Eberhart (rjohara@uncg.edu). Office hours: Monday/Wednesday 2:00–3:00 p.m., or any other times by appointment or chance. You are always welcome to speak to me after class, stop by my office, or send me e-mail to discuss anything relating to our course or to academics generally. E-mail is usually the most reliable way of contacting me. If you’d like to know a bit about my interests and other activities, you’re welcome to visit my webpage (rjohara.net).

Text

The text for our course is the same one used for BIO 111, so many students will already have a copy:

• Campbell, Neil A., Jane B. Reece, and Lawrence G. Mitchell. 1999. Biology. Menlo Park: Benjamin Cummings.

This is an encyclopedic volume, and we will use it selectively. Copies are available in the Campus Bookstore and in Addams Bookstore on Tate Street.

Course Webpage

The webpage for my courses (rjohara.net/teaching) has a copy of this syllabus, along with study guides for the material covered. Be sure to pay it a visit.

Laboratory

Students in the lecture section of BIO 112 must also be registered for one of the lab sections, just as they were in BIO 111. The labs function independently of the lectures, but run on approximately the same schedule. The labs don’t begin until the week of Monday, January 24th.

Grading

Two-thirds of your course grade is based on the lecture section of the course, and one-third on the lab section. There will be four lecture exams, and each will count for 25% of your lecture grade. All students are expected to follow the University’s academic honor policy.

Attendance

Attendance is expected, and in order to do well in the course you will have to attend the lectures. Unexcused absences from exams will result in a grade of zero for the exam missed; absences from exams are only excused for serious medical or family situations which are documented in writing. Any makeup exams will be long and in essay format.

Peabody Park Fridays, or, What Makes This an Honors Section?

The lecture content of BIO 112 is established by the Biology Department for all sections of this course because the course is a pre-requisite for many other courses. So how can we change this section to make it an Honors section? By going out to see in person many of the principles described in class—by going out into Peabody Park. Because you are all excellent students, we will ordinarily cover the week’s lecture material on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then almost every week on Fridays we will go out into Peabody Park to reinforce what we have learned. Students should expect to spend some time outdoors every Friday (and so should dress appropriately). If we are behind in our lecture material, or if the weather is especially bad, we will stay indoors, but ordinarily we will go outside no matter what the conditions. Attendance is mandatory for these Friday meetings, and attendance will be taken at the end of every Friday walk. Only one absence will be permitted without penalty; each subsequent absence will cause one point to be deducted from your lecture grade. You will not be specifically examined on the material we study on our Friday walks, but the experiences and perspectives you gain from those walks should be helpful to you in understanding the regular course material (as well as being interesting in and of themselves.)

Schedule

 INTRODUCTION

 M   10 Jan  Introduction                Chapter 1 (review)
 W   12 Jan  Biodiversity & Park Intro   Chapters 26-34 (skim photos)
 F   14 Jan  (Peabody Park)

 PLANT FORM AND FUNCTION

 W   19 Jan  Plant Structure             Chapter 35
 F   21 Jan  (Peabody Park)

 M   24 Jan  Plant Growth                Chapter 35
 W   26 Jan  Photosynthesis              Chapter 10
 F   28 Jan  (Peabody Park)

 M   31 Jan  Transport in Plants         Chapter 36
 W    2 Feb  Plant Nutrition             Chapter 37
 F    4 Feb  (Peabody Park)

 M    7 Feb  Plant Reproduction          Chapter 38

 GENETICS

 W    9 Feb  Mitosis and Meiosis         Chapter 13
 F   11 Feb  (Peabody Park)

 M   14 Feb  EXAM I (through Plant Reproduction)
 W   16 Feb  Chromosomes                 Chapter 14
 F   18 Feb  (Peabody Park)

 M   21 Feb  Mendelian Genetics          Chapter 13
 W   23 Feb  Mendelian Genetics          Chapter 13
 F   25 Feb  (Peabody Park)

 EVOLUTION

 M    6 Mar  Introduction to Evolution   Chapter 22
 W    8 Mar  EXAM II (through Mendelian Genetics)
 F   10 Mar  (Peabody Park)

 M   13 Mar  Population Genetics         Chapter 23
 W   15 Mar  Population Genetics         Chapter 23
 F   17 Mar  (Peabody Park)

 M   20 Mar  Evolutionary Mechanisms     Chapter 23
 W   22 Mar  Natural Selection           Chapter 23
 F   24 Mar  (Peabody Park)

 M   27 Mar  Speciation                  Chapter 24
 W   29 Mar  Macroevolution              Chapter 25
 F   31 Mar  (Peabody Park)

 M    3 Apr  Macroevolution              Chapter 25
 W    5 Apr  Systematics                 Chapter 25
 F    7 Apr  (Peabody Park)

 ECOLOGY

 M   10 Apr  Introduction to Ecology     Chapter 50
 W   12 Apr  EXAM III (through Systematics)
 F   14 Apr  (Peabody Park)

 M   17 Apr  Ecosystem Ecology           Chapter 54
 W   19 Apr  Ecosystem Ecology           Chapter 54

 M   24 Apr  Population Ecology          Chapter 52
 W   26 Apr  Community Ecology           Chapter 53
 F   28 Apr  (Peabody Park)

 M   1 May  Review; Course Evaluations

 F   5 May  3:30-6:30 p.m., EXAM IV (through Community Ecology)