General Biology (LIFE-1010-01) - Fall 2023
Dr. Jonathan Prather
MWF 10:00-10:50 am in Science Initiative building, room 2010
Office hours: Mondays 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM (Zoom link) and Tues 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM (Zoom link),
or by appointment
Office location: Biological Sciences Building, room 204
(Zoom link for each day is https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/98952506360)
Syllabus:
● Grading:
○ (1) Exams 50.0% of course grade
○ Exam 1: Tue, 3 October @ 5:10–6:50 pm (12.5%)
○ Exam 2: Tue, 31 October @ 5:10–6:50 pm (12.5%)
○ Exam 3: Tue, 28 November @ 5:10–6:50 pm (12.5%)
○ Final Exam: Thu, 14 December @ 1:15–3:15 pm (12.5%)
○ (2) McGraw Hill Connect® online assignments 12.5% of course grade
○ (3) Other lecture assignments (e.g., in-class activities & quizzes) 12.5% of course grade
○ (4) Laboratory 25.0% of course grade
○ Total 100.0%
○ No extra credit
● Exams:
○ Midterm Exams: The first three lecture exams will be given on Tuesday evenings (3 Oct,
31 Oct, 28 Nov) from 5:10 pm to 6:50 pm in rooms listed above under ‘Class Meeting
Times and Locations’.
○ Final Exam: The final exam for LIFE 1010 is scheduled for Thursday, 14 December from
1:15 pm to 3:15 pm. Final exam locations will be announced later in the semester.
■ If you have three final exams scheduled on the same day or have some other
foreseeable hardship, you may request alternative arrangements with your
instructors.
○ Exam Format: Each exam will consist of fifty (50) multiple choice questions. The Final
Exam will consist of new material from unit 4 and cumulative material from the course.
Exams 2 and 3 will also have some cumulative content because the content builds
sequentially throughout the course.
○ Required Materials: You are required to bring the following items to each exam: (1)
Student Campus Express ID Card and (2) a #2 pencil. We provide blue answer sheets –
, please, do not fold, crumple, or tear your answer sheet! Calculators will be available,
should you need one.
● Schedule:
○ 28 Aug – 1 Sep: Course Introduction & The Science of Biology (Ch. 1)
■ NO LAB
○ 4 Sep – 8 Sep: No Class on Monday (Labor Day) Atoms & Molecules (Ch. 2)
■ 5 Sep: Syllabus Quiz, Ch 2 Smartbook
■ 7 Sep: Ch 1 HW
■ 10 Sep: Ch 3 SmartBook
■ NO LAB
○ 11 Sep – 15 Sep: Macromolecules (Ch. 3)
■ 14 Sep: Ch 2 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 17 Sep: Ch 5 SmartBook
■ LAB 1: Introduction to Lab & Water
○ 18 Sep – 22 Sep: Lipids, Membranes, & Transport (Ch. 5)
■ 21 Sep: Ch 3 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 24 Sep: Ch 4 SmartBook
■ LAB 2: Scientific Inquiry
○ 25 Sep – 29 Sep: Cell Structure (Ch. 4)
■ 28 Sep: Ch 5 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 1 Oct: Ch 6 SmartBook
■ LAB 3: Membranes
○ 2 Oct – 6 Oct: EXAM 1: Tue, 3 Oct @ 5:10 pm* Energy & Metabolism (Ch 6)
■ Exam 1 covers Ch. 1, 2, 3, & 5
■ 5 Oct: Ch 4 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 8 Oct: Ch 7 SmartBook
■ LAB 4: Microscopes & Cells
○ 9 Oct – 13 Oct: Respiration (Ch. 7)
■ 12 Oct: Ch 6 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 15 Oct: Ch 8 SmartBook
■ LAB 5: Macromolecules & Enzymes
○ 16 Oct – 20 Oct: Photosynthesis (Ch. 8)
■ 19 Oct: Ch 7 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 22 Oct: Ch 14 SmartBook
■ LAB 6: Fermentation
○ 23 Oct – 27 Oct: DNA Replication (Ch. 14)
■ 26 Oct: Ch 14 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 29 Oct: Ch 10 & 11 SmartBook
■ LAB 7: Photosynthesis & Plant Pigments
○ 30 Oct – 3 Nov: EXAM 2: Tue, 31 Oct @ 5:10 pm* Mitosis & Meiosis (Ch. 10 & 11)
■ Exam 2 covers Ch. 4, 6, 7, & 8
■ 2 Nov: Ch 14 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 5 Nov: Ch 15 & 16 SmartBook
■ LAB 8: DNA Technology
, ○ 6 Nov – 10 Nov: Transcription & Translation (Ch 15 & 16)
■ 9 Nov: Ch 10 & 11 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 12 Nov: Ch 12 & 13 SmartBook
■ LAB 9: Mitosis & Meiosis
○ 13 Nov – 17 Nov: Genetics (Ch. 12 & 13)
■ 16 Nov: Ch 15 & 16 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 19 Nov: Ch 19 & 20 SmartBook
■ LAB 10: Gene Expression
■ Lab Report due 17 Nov
○ 20 Nov – 24 Nov: Natural Selection & Evolution (Ch. 19 & 20)
■ No Class on Wednesday & Friday (Thanksgiving Break)
■ 26 Nov: Ch 12 & 13 HW & Activity Quiz
■ NO LAB
○ 27 Nov – 1 Dec: EXAM 3: Tue, 28 Nov @ 5:10 pm* Natural Selection & Evolution (Ch.
19 & 20)
■ Exam 3 covers Ch 14, 10, 11, 15, & 16
■ 3 Dec: Ch 21 SmartBook
■ LAB 11: Genetics
○ 4 Dec – 8 Dec: Speciation (Ch. 21)
■ 7 Dec: Ch 19 & 20 HW & Activity Quiz
■ 13 Dec: Ch 21 HW & Activity Quiz
■ LAB 12: Evolution & Natural Selection
○ 14 Dec FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 14 @ 1:15–3:15 pm – Location TBD
■ Final exam is 50% on Ch 12, 13, 19-21 and 50% cumulative
■ * Midterm Exams 1-3 will be administered Tuesdays from 5:10-6:50 pm in
Classroom Building rooms 129 & 133
Lecture Notes:
Unit One
August 28th:
● Pre-lab quizzes are due 1 pm
● Who is future you?
○ Confident
○ Intelligent
○ Happy
● Don’t just email him a question
● Water is made out of two hydrogens, one oxygen
, August 30th:
● Tuesdays 5:10 is ONLY for exams
● What is biology?
○ Traits of living things
■ Cellular organization — organisms are made of membrane-bound “bags”
■ Energy use — Metabolism.
● Acquire and process energy
● Feed our needs
● Grow
■ Homeostasis — relatively constant internal condition
● Same state
■ Growth
● Development
● Reproduction
● Organisms can make more
● Increase contents
● Grow
■ Heredity — information transmitted across generations
○ Organism is made of cells
○ What is science?
■ Often driven by observation
● How do scientists discover new knowledge?
○ Observation
○ Research
○ Hypothesis
■ Has to be testable
○ Predict
○ Experimentation/collect data
○ Interpret data
■ Form conclusions
■ Go again
● I think this guy is pretty much okay with anything as long as you can argue it well enough
● Observation + logical reasoning
September 1st:
● Falsifiability
○ A hypothesis/idea/theory is falsifiable if it can be refuted by data and logic
○ If you reject the null, your other hypothesis is not necessarily correct
○ How science works: we try to determine what is false
■ Ideas not disproven become more likely to be true
