Lab Syllabus and Schedule

Contact Information
Laboratory Fall 2007 Syllabus
Lab Director: Dr. James Pitts phone: 797-8872 email: jpitts@biology.usu.edu
Course Instructor: Dr. Gregory Podgorski phone: 797-3712 email:
podgorski@biology.usu.edu
Lab Manual: Biology I & 2 Lab Manual, Pitts et al., Thomson, Brook/Cole Publishing,
3 rd Ed.
Relationship Between Lab and Lecture: Laboratories and lectures together form the
integrated courses of Biology 1610 and 1620. Lecture and lab are not separate entities
and should not be viewed this way. Laboratories offer learning opportunities not possible
in lecture. If you don’t see questions on lecture exams that come directly from lab, this
does not mean that the laboratory experience is a waste of time. Laboratory requires
significant time and effort, but offers equally significant rewards. Lab constitutes 20% of
the course grade.
Laboratory Learning Objectives:
♦ Gain experience in applying the scientific method
♦ Better understand the experimental approach to biology
♦ Improve scientific writing skills
♦ Be introduced to the primary scientific literature
♦ Deepen understanding of life’s diversity
♦ Improve skills in applying mathematics to biology
♦ Gain experience with basic laboratory apparatus and procedures
Grading: Your grade in lab will come from lab reports, homework assignments, lab prequizzes,
and lab exams. The lab grade is based on 200 points, but lab counts as 60 points
toward your final grade for the course. To determine your score out of 60, multiply your
points earned in lab by 0.3. The point distribution is shown in the table on the next page.
The dates of all assignments and exams are given in the lab schedule on the last page of
this syllabus. Weekly pre-quizzes must be taken and lab reports and homework
assignments must be turning in at the beginning of your regularly scheduled lab. Late lab
reports and homework assignments will not be accepted. Exams must be taken during
your scheduled lab. No make-up exams will be given.
Pre-quizzes will be given at the beginning of each lab starting the week of September
19. The pre-quiz is designed to insure that you read the lab exercise for that week. These
quizzes will be in the form of 4 multiple-choice questions that will be easy to answer if
you have read the lab exercise before coming to lab. An example of a pre-quiz is posted
on the course website. If you are late for lab, you will NOT be able to take the pre-quiz
for that lab.

Questions about any grades you receive must be handled promptly. Any disputes about
points or grades need to be made within one week of that particular grade first being made
available to the class. After this time the recorded grade stands.
Assignments, Exams, and Point Distribution
Assignment/Exams Points for Each Total Points
Pre-quizzes (10) 4 points 40 points
Exam 1
30 points
Exam 2
25 points
Exam 3
25 points 80 points
Lab Reports (2) 20 points 40 points
Homework 1 15 points
Homework 2
Homework 3
Grand Total
10 points
15 points 40 points
200 points
Attendance and Make-Up Labs: Attendance in lab is mandatory. Seventeen points (out
of 200) will be deducted from your lab points for any lab missed. We understand that
different students work at different rates. However, if it is obvious you are leaving lab
without having completed the exercise, your TA will deduct points. If you need to miss
your regularly scheduled lab for what you believe is a valid reason, you must inform your
TA before the time your lab starts. Your TA will decide if you can make up the lab.
Make-up labs for students with an excused absence will be offered on Friday (10:30-120
BNR 124 and 12:30-3:20 BNR 120). Space in the make-up labs is limited, so your TA
will need to sign you in for the make-up lab. Students not on the list will NOT be allowed
to attend the make-up lab. Each student may only attend the make-up labs a maximum of
two times during the semester.
ADA Compliance Statement: Students with physical, sensory, emotional or medical
impairments may be eligible for reasonable accommodations in accordance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All
accommodations are coordinated through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in Room
101 of the University Inn, 797-2444 voice, 797-0740 TTY, or toll free at 1-800-259-
2966. Please contact the DRC as early in the semester as possible. Alternate format
materials (Braille, large print or digital) are available with advance notice. Please note,
however, that participation is required in lab for all students.

Laboratory Schedule
Week of Lab Homework Pre-Quiz
(PQ)/Exam
8-27 – No Labs
9/7
9-10 Microscopy/Cellular Diversity
Lab Exercise1
Report 1 (20 pts.)
assigned
9-17 Metabolic Rates
Report 1 due PQ 1
Lab Exercise 2
9-24 Enzyme Specificity
Report 2 (20 pts.) PQ 2
Lab Exercise 3
10-1 Cell Division: Mitosis/Meiosis & Report 2 due PQ 3
Crossing Over and Gene Mapping
in the fungus Sordaria fimicola
Lab Exercises 4 & 11
10-8 Analysis of a Monohybrid Cross in
Drosophila
Exam 1 (30 pts)/ PQ
4
Lab Exercise 12
10-15 Sex Determination in Nasonia HW 1 assigned (15 PQ 5
Lab Exercise 13
(Because of Fall Holiday, Friday
labs will receive special
instructions)
pts.)
10-22 Molecular Genetics I—DNA HW 1 due PQ 6
Extraction and PCR
Lab Exercise 15
10-29 Molecular Genetics II—Gel
Electrophoresis & Bioinformatics
HW 2 assigned (10
pts.)
Exam 2 (25 pts.)/ PQ
7
Lab Exercises 16 & 14, respectively
11-5 Kingdom Fungi & Beer-Lambert
Law of Light Extinction
Lab Exercises 5 and 9
HW 2 due & HW 3 PQ 8
assigned (15 pts.)
11-12 Bryophytes and Seedless Vascular
Plants
Lab Exercise 6
11-19 Thanksgiving – No Labs
11-26 Ferns and Gymnosperms
Lab Exercise 7
12-3 Angiosperms & Paper
Chromatography of Plant Pigments
by Paper Chromatography
Lab Exercises 8 and 10
HW 3 due PQ 9
Exam 3 (25 pts.)/ PQ
10