Syllabus

Dr. Steven J. Wolf
Office: Naraghi 269
Office Hours: M 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.; F 8:00 - 10:00 a.m., and and by appointment
Phone: 667-3489
Email: swolf@arnica.csustan.edu Email is for emergencies, setting up an appointment, or for questions with very short answers. Put Boty 1050 in the subject line. Emails without a subject, in this case the course number, will not be read, nor acknowledged by your instructor. Please ask complex questions during the lecture or office hours. Questions regarding grades and/or those answered on the syllabus will not be acknowledged.

Lectures: Tues. & Thurs. 12:55 - 2:22 p.m. in N-101

Lab: Mon. 2:30 - 5:38 p.m. in N- 210

Course Prerequisite: A or B in high school Biology, or Biology 1010 or equivalent. 

Course Web Page: http://arnica.csustan.edu/boty1050. Consult it often for important, up to the minute information.

Announcements: Consult the announcements page often for important, up to the minute information.

No classes on the following days:

Oct. 13 - Columbus Day
Oct. 29 - Furlough Day, Population Connection lecture Sept. 22, 7-8 pm, see below
Nov. 12  - Furlough Day, out of class assignment TBA
Nov. 23, 24  - Furlough Days, watch Intelligent Design trial online (see below), turn in work sheet Dec. 1st. worth 10 pts.
Nov. 26 - Thanksgiving

Evening Lecture: Sept. 22, 7 - 8 pm, Snider Music Recital Hall, "Global Population: 6.8 billion and growing, are we there yet?" Attendance is mandatory, students who do not attend will lose 10 pts. The following lab quiz will include questions from this lecture. Students with a legitimate excuse may write an eight (8) page paper using resources from the Population Connection website in lieu of attendance. Be sure to notify your instructor by Sept. 14 if you can not attend. You must fill out this form and personally hand it to your instructor at the end of the lecture.

November 23, 24 Furlough Days Assignment: Watch 12 videos on Intelligent Design trial and hand in worksheet worth 10 pts. by 12:55 pm on Dec. 1st. Questions from this material will occur on final exam.

 Questions for Intelligent Design trial: Click here to download as a pdf file. Requires free Acrobat Reader.

Furloughs: Due to budget cuts imposed upon the CSU, Faculty and Staff have been forced to take unpaid days off (furloughs) and their pay has been reduced by 10%.  No classes will be held on furlough days; however, you are responsible for the assigned materials on these days.

Texts: Biology of Plants by Raven, Evert & Eichorn 7^th Ed. and Introduction to Botany laboratory by T.L. Carosella. You must purchase the lab manual by the second lab or you will be dropped from the course. Always bring both text and lab manual to lab. 

Course objectives: This course is intended to:

1. provide an understanding of what science is and its methodologies.
2. provide an overview of the issues, principles, methodologies, and perspectives of biology. 
3. develop an understanding to allow effective communication on biological issues. 
4. provide a working background to critically evaluate biological issues and develop continuous inquiry and life-long learning. 
5. provide the framework to understand, examine critically, and use information from various sources to answer questions relevant to biology. 
6. provide an understanding of the accomplishments of selected individuals to biology.
7. demonstrate the relationships between the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, geology and the other sciences with an emphasis on how these fields are closely inter-related. 
8. demonstrate the interdependence of humans on natural ecosystems and the diversity of life on earth. 
9. develop more informed and responsible citizens with respect to issues concerning the living world.
10. provide an overview of plants and organisms historically considered as plant-like.

Labs: No food or drink is permitted in the labs. The lab grade constitutes more than 30% of your grade in this course so you should take the labs very seriously. 

Grading: There will be two (2) midterm exams (one hour each) and a one-hour exam (8:30 am, December 15) covering lecture material. Your lab grade will be derived from quizzes and assignments. There will be a 10 pt. quiz on the previous weeks material at the beginning of every lab. A few questions from that day's lab may also be on the quiz. So be sure to familiarize yourself with the upcoming lab. There are no makeup quizzes and if you are late you will have less time to complete the quiz.

The instructor reserves the right to reduce your grade due to excessive absences and/or tardiness.
You will receive only one warning. Each successive warning will result in 10 points being deducted from your grade total.

Exams: Exam questions come directly from the lecture notes and announcements page. Exams may consist of multiple choice, matching, short answers, diagrams and short or long essays. Always bring a #2 pencil and Scantron form 883E or 883-ES to the lecture exams. There are several important terms, noted in red and quotes in the notes, that you must know the exact definition.

You must not leave the room during an exam without the instructors permission. Turn off cell phones and remove baseball caps during exams. If your cell phone rings during an exam five (5) points will be deducted from your score. Failure to follow exam instructions will result in two (2) points being deducted for each violation. No food or drinks are permitted during exams. Taking out a cell phone during an exam is considered cheating, your exam will be confiscated, and you will receive a grade of F for that exam. 

It is your responsibility to notify the instructor prior to missing an exam and to supply him with a valid, written excuse. There will be no extra credit nor makeup exams. All requests to take exams at other than scheduled times must be in writing to the instructor at least one week prior to the scheduled exam. If an emergency suddenly arises causing you to miss an exam it is your responsibility to notify your instructor via phone or email as soon as practical. Failure to do so will result in a 0 for that exam.

The instructor reserves the right to give unannounced quizzes if it becomes apparent that students are not keeping up with the material and/or there are an unacceptable number of absences. If you happen to be absent that day you will receive a grade of 0 for that quiz.

Note: the Scantron machine sometimes makes mistakes, particularly when you change an answer and do not completely erase the other choice. In order to verify these mistakes you must also circle the correct answer on the question sheet. Challenges to the machine's accuracy will not be accepted if you did not do so. You have until the next class period, after the exam is returned, to challenge its accuracy. 

Grades: A = 100-90%, B = 89.9-80%, C = 79.9-70%, D = 69.9-60%, F = <60%, CR = > 69.9%, NC = < 70%.

Grading Options: November 19, 2:30 pm is the last time your instructor will sign a properly filled out add/drop form, to change your grading option. No exceptions. It is your responsibility to turn this form in to Admissions and Records by 5 pm that day. Your instructor will strictly follow the grading option indicated on the final grade sheet supplied by Admissions and Records. Consult with your advisor before making your decision. Grades will not be changed once they have been submitted. Note: No more than 4 units of CR-graded courses in total may apply toward the major.

Recording policy: recording of classes (audio/video) is permitted only with the prior permission of the instructor. Authorized recordings are for the personal use of the student, and may not be distributed to others without the permission of the instructor.

 IMPORTANT DATE:  OCTOBER 6 IS LAST DAY TO DROP THE COURSE

Teaching philosophy: "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime" - Confucius. Your instructor is here to teach you to fish, i.e. think. Therefore, a question may sometimes be answered with a question. As long as you make an honest effort to answer the question you need not be embarrassed. However, if you are not keeping up with the material then you may indeed be embarrassed.

Student Conduct: It is essential that students respect the rights of others. Therefore, those who disrupt the class by talking or any other means will be asked to leave. Repeat offenders will be turned over to the appropriate student disciplinary committee. Turn off your cell phones.

Cheating: There is a zero tolerance policy. Any cheating whatsoever will result in an automatic F in the class and the matter will be turned over to the appropriate student disciplinary committee.

Evolution is the unifying theme of biology and it will be the central theme of this course. If you have an open mind, which is what college is all about, and you understand the first lecture, you should not be threatened by it, regardless of your religious beliefs. Please remember that your beliefs are but one of dozens. If you wish to argue for them or you feel the instructor has disrespected them then please see him personally.

Study skills: This course is designed to introduce you to plants and "plant like" organisms as well as the basic principles and processes of biology which provide a foundation for further study in the major. The lectures will cover only selected topics from the text chapters listed below, supplemented by additional material from many other sources. Therefore perfect attendance is a virtual necessity if you expect to pass the course.

To gain the most from lectures, it is best to read relevant text material beforehand and make a few notes or prepare questions for especially difficult material. Do not be overly concerned if you do not immediately grasp the material, if it were that easy we would not need lectures. During class pay attention and take complete and orderly notes. Exam questions come directly from my lecture notes and announcements page! Do not assume you will remember things because they are easy or obvious; several weeks later when you are preparing for an exam they may not seem so easy or obvious. Pay particular attention to diagrams, lists and terms written on the board as well as anything the instructor clearly emphasizes by tone of voice.

During lecture do not hesitate to ask questions, the only "dumb question" is an un-asked one! Very soon after class you should re-read the text material along with your notes. You may find you missed something in lecture or the text, and very frequently you may find misspellings in your notes. Make frequent use of your text glossary and index for further explanations on a subject you still don't understand. Ask the instructor to clear up any problems you may still have. The instructor needs your feedback in order to know if the class is encountering any problems.

  The above schedule and procedures in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances.

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