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Syllabus
- Biology 2320 - Fall 2000 Date(s)
Topic CLICKABLE TOPICS ON SYLLABUS INDICATES ASSIGNMENTS OR OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 8/25
Introduction/basic cell functions
BR/JS 8/28-8/30
Cellular origins and diversity of structures and functions
JS 9/1-9/8
Macromolecule chemistry
BR 9/11
Thermodynamics and bioenergetics
JS 9/13-9/15
Enzymes: catalysis and regulation
JS 9/18
Discussion for Evening Exam I
BR/JS 9/20-9/25
DNA structure and replication
BR 9/27-9/29
DNA repair & genome restructuring
BR 10/2-10/6
Transcription mechanisms & regulation
BR 10/9
Discussion for Evening Exam II
BR/JS 10/11-10/13
Nuclear Structure, gene expression and mRNA processing
JS 10/16-10/23
Protein synthesis
BR 10/25-27
Translational regulation
BR 10/30
In Class exam
BR/JS 11/1-11/6
Membranes, structure and transport properties
JS 11/8-11/13
Energetics of mitochondrial membranes
JS 11/15-11/17
Photosynthesis
JS 11/20
Discussion for evening exam III (exam IV)
BR/JS 11/22-11/29
Second messenger systems
BR 12/1-12/6 Endomembranes JS Biol. 2320
Dr. Brenda Rushing & Dr. Jim Shinkle COURSE OBJECTIVESThe main objective of the course is to develop an understanding of how the major structures and biosynthetic activities of cells function and how they are coordinated and regulated. We will first define the physical and chemical nature of cellular components and place them in their physical and evolutionary context. The progression of topics on cellular function will be arranged in a “nucleus outwards” scheme. Nucleic acids and their direction of protein synthesis will be considered in terms of structure and information flow. Membrane-based compartments will be studied in terms of their transport and bioenergetics functions. Finally the coordination of genome- and membrane-based regulatory processes will be addressed by examining cell-cell signaling processes. Developing a sound conceptual basis for understanding these processes will require achieving a second objective of having students learn and apply strategies for independent inquiry and problem solving related to this material.
Policies Attendance: Attendance
will not be taken after the class rolls are corrected, but you will be
asked to sign in every day. You
are responsible for all material presented in the class.
If you are not in class for an extended period, please let us know
why and how you intend to get caught up. Academic
Integrity: All work for
this course will be subject to the academic integrity policy of Trinity
University. If you are in any
doubt about the application of policy to specific assignments, ask before
proceeding. Readings: The
lectures will assume that you have already done the readings assigned, and
they may not make much sense if you have not. The point of the readings is
to allow you to listen to the lectures without having to take copious
notes; you should already understand the basics and not have to write them
down again. We recommend that
you reread the material soon after the lecture to identify the strongest
links between lecture and text. We
also recommend that you bring your book (or the TakeNote supplement) to
class to follow the presentation and interpretation of figures from it. Office
Hours:
Formal times and locations are provided below.
Check for us in our offices first followed by our research
laboratories. Please make an
appointment when you need another time.
If all else fails, contact us by electronic mail (brushing@trinity.edu
& jshinkle@trinity.edu).
Location
Days
Hours Jim Shinkle
Office, CLS 215 or
Sunday
3:00 – 5:00 PM Brenda Rushing
Office, CLS 213 or
Tuesday
9.30 – 11.30 AM Web
site: There will be a web site for this course. We will give
you the URL once the site is up and has some content on it.
This web site is a work in progress and is meant to be a
supplementary student resource and teaching tool.
Please do not utilize this site as your primary source for
class materials. Exams: Exams
will cover material from lectures and readings.
Exams will be of the short answer and short essay variety.
Three exams will be held on the evening of the day they are
scheduled at 8 PM, and will be limited to 2 hours.
Students with a legitimate time conflict will be given the exam at
an alternate time, preferably within 2 days of the scheduled exam.
If at all possible, notify us of illnesses or other emergencies before the exam. A
fourth term exam will be held during the class hour. This exam will have a “takehome” component.
The final exam will be "semicumulative".
It will cover some material from all parts of the course, but will
focus on the most recent material. The
final will be weighted according to each student's best interests; it can
count as 100 or 200 pts, (300 pts in special cases).
For the fouth exam, and the Final, there will be 30 point take-home
components (added to the in-class exam score), due as specified below.
Previous years' exams will be on reserve in the library.
"Thought
questions" will be
assigned as homework before the first two exams. The first few will give
you an idea of what kind of questions to expect and the scoring we use on
exam questions. If you do not
turn in an assigned question, or get a low score on your answer, you may
replace that score by attending a biology research seminar approved by Dr.
Rushing or Dr. Shinkle (the Biology Departmental seminar, Mondays, 4 PM,
149 CLS, or equivalent), and writing a one page summary of its content.
You may do this for up to 2 thought questions.
Scoring on thought questions replaced with seminar summaries will
be as follows: adequate summary, one or more key points missed – 7
points; good summary – 8 points; good summary with some perceptiveness
about secondary points made by speaker – 9 points; very good summary
relating ideas from lecture to specific material covered in Biol. 2320 –
10 points. “Lecture
Questions”: At selected
points in lectures, where we know there should be questions, we will
select a student at random, and request that she/he ask a question
appropriate to the material just covered.
If the selected student declines to ask a question at that time,
she/he must submit a question in writing before the next class period.
A good question, asked at
any time, will make the student immune from selection. Grading: There are
no preset cutoffs for specific grades, nor a specific curve applied.
We will grade individual questions, and take off points for
incorrect or absent information. Answers
that are vaguely correct but subject to many other interpretations may not
be given full credit. Grammar
and spelling must be intelligible, but they do not have to be perfect.
After totaling exam scores, we will read exams to assess the
overall quality of the answers, and set approximate cutoffs accordingly.
Final course grades will take in to account such factors as a
pattern of improvement and anomalous performance on a single exam.
The grading philosophy of the course is that we expect to give
10-20% A's, 40-50% B's and 30-50% C's and below. Course work graded:
Exam 1
100 pts
Thought questions
40 pts
Total
600 or 700 pts
BIOL. 2320 CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY - READINGS Dates
Readings 8/28-8/30
1-30, 253-260 9/1-9/8
30-79, 420-427 9/11-9/15
80-103, Fig. 3.22, 111-121 9/20-9/25
428-440, 575-596 9/27-9/29
596-607, 440-443 10/2-10/6
457-476, 537-555 10/11-10/13
514-537, reread 465-473, 476-490, 10/16 -10/23
492-506
10/25-10/27
Skim 122-137, 292-297, Read 302 – 306, 560-563 11/1-11/6
reread 122-139, 139-168, 172-180 11/8-11/13
106-111, 182-208 & 214-222 11/15-11/17
223-244, 247-252
11/22-11/29
655-699 12/1-12/6
reread 292-297, 298- 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All reading in Karp, Cell
and Molecular Biology 2nd Edition Exam
Schedule:
9/18
8 PM, Science Lecture Hall |