Lectures
The course meets five days a week and attendance is required. You will be responsible for all material in the assigned readings and presented in lecture. We will be covering only specific parts of the textbook, so pay attention to the page assignments listed in the lecture schedule. The major theme of Biology 110 is that the processes of evolution and adaptation have generated the great diversity of life found on Earth. This course will introduce you to the major unifying principles that are common to all organisms; these principles serve as the foundation for Biology 220W, 230W, and 240W. During the semester, you also will be introduced to biodiversity and the kingdoms of life. These lecture topics will be reinforced through laboratory exercises and recitations.

The lecturer will use the class period to clarify concepts that are presented in the textbook; she will assume you have read the material before coming to class. This course will stress concepts, and it will be important that you understand the material; rote memorization will not suffice. We strongly suggest that you participate in a study group and use the group to assess your comprehension of the course material.

Laboratories will begin during the first day of class and meet from 2 - 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday in room 108 Mueller (see the laboratory schedule for details). The laboratory exercises are designed to give you an opportunity to learn about the unifying concepts of life and biodiversity by observation and experimentation. We will provide instruction in the nuts and bolts of appropriate experimental methods, but you will be expected to apply concepts learned in the lecture. A variety of assignments will be given throughout the semester. Your TA will inform you of each assignment as the semester progresses.

We encourage you to work in groups, both in the laboratory and when you are evaluating experiments. Each person should understand the experiment in intimate detail. Because time in lab is limited to two hours, you must know what you will be doing before the class meets and must read the lab exercise before coming to lab. The TAs will evaluate your performance based upon your written assignments, quizzes, and participation (i.e., attendance, preparation, organization, and contribution to discussions). You cannot pass the course if you do not attend lab and recitation, regardless of your grade in the lecture portion of the course.

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Recitations will meet just as lab does. These meetings will emphasize the following aspects of the course: 1) critical thinking, 2) the scientific method, and 3) written assignments. These meetings also will be used for discussion of laboratory experiments and related lecture topics. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about lab and lecture, so prepare ahead of time; recitation offers an excellent opportunity to clear up any confusion you may have about course material. However, recitations are NOT study sessions for exam preparation.

There are two in-class exams and a final exam that will be used to assess your performance in this course. Attendance at exams is mandatory and absence during the scheduled exam time will result in a grade of zero unless prior arrangements (at least 24 hours before the exam) have been made with the course coordinator or a legitimate and verifiable excuse is provided to the course coordinator within 48 hours after the exam. Only those individuals with legitimate and verifiable excuses will be allowed to schedule a make-up exam.
The following are the only legitimate excuses accepted:

1. illness, with a doctor's excuse and/or receipt (a receipt from Ritenour is sufficient; a Ritenour appointment card alone is not acceptable)
2. a University sponsored event (with a note from the sponsor)
3. a religious holiday recognized by PSU
4. a death in the family (you must provide official documentation with a date).

Family reunions, anniversaries and weddings are NOT legitimate excuses, and make-up exams will not be given for these reasons. Check the exam schedule now to see if there are any conflicts between your academic and social calendar. Make adjustments or arrangements in your social calendar right away.

NOTE: Oversleeping is not a legitimate excuse!

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Lab/recitation attendance is mandatory. If you miss a lab/recitation you must have a legitimate excuse (see the list above), we will try to give you an equivalent assignment.

If you fail to make-up a missed lab/recitation you will lose 10 of your participation points. If you miss additional labs/recitations, 20 points will be deducted for each absence. If you lose all of your Participation points from missing labs/recitations, points will be deducted from your Written Assignments and Lab Quiz points with each additional lab/recitation missed. Missed labs/recitations will indeed affect your grade!

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Academic dishonesty, either in the form of cheating or plagiarism, will not be tolerated, and will be handled as described on pages 44-46 of the Penn State University publication on Policies and Rules.

49-20 Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception and is an educational objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. At the beginning of each course, it is the responsibility of the instructor to provide a statement clarifying the application of academic integrity criteria to that course. A student charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge by the instructor. If students believe they have been falsely accused, they should seek redress through informal discussions with the instructor, department head, dean, or campus executive officer. If the instructor believes that the infraction is sufficiently serious to warrant referral of the case to Judicial Affairs, or if the instructor will award a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and instructor will be afforded formal due process.   

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Lecture exams (totaling 650 points) and your biodiversity presentation (100 points - 50 points for presentation content and 50 points for outline) count for 75% of your course grade; the remaining 25% will come from the laboratory exercises and recitations (250 points). The grading scale is:           

A         93 - 100%

A-        90 - 92%

B+       87 - 89% 

B         83 - 86% 

B-        80 - 82%

C+       77 - 79%

C         70 - 76%

D         60 - 69%

F          Less than 60%

If the class mean is below 75%, then grades will be assigned with the mean being a "C". There are no extra credit points available in this course.

*In extraordinary circumstances, a final grade may be based upon fewer than the total number of points available.

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