Kingsborough Community College, The City University of New York

Department of Biological Sciences

BIO 100

THE CUNY COMMON CORE: SELECTED TOPICS IN BIOLOGY

(3 credit and 3 hours)

Spring 2019

Syllabus and Course Information

Instructor: Navneet Kaur

Email: [email protected]
Office: S133; Phone: 718-368-4578
 Kingsborough Community College, The City University of New York
Department of Biological Sciences

SYLLABUS FOR BIO 100

THE CUNY COMMON CORE: SELECTED TOPICS IN BIOLOGY

Course description: For non-science majors and those who plan to transfer to senior colleges within CUNY.
Through lecture and discussion, selected biological topics, such as evolution, ecology, genetics, and human
biology will be explored. For each topic, interactive computerized lab experiences involving formulating
hypotheses and the process of scientific inquiry will be conducted. In addition, current ethical issues in science
will be studied. This course satisfies the CUNY Common Core Requirement for a course in Life and Physical
Sciences.

Credits/hours: 3 credits, 3 hours per week

Textbook: We will be using online openstax book titled “Concepts of Biology”.

The online link to the book is:
https://openstax.org/details/books/concepts-biology

Additional instructional materials:

Smart Science Lab Units: Students are required to perform online labs on Smart Science.
Students require codes for registering to this site and the online codes are available and can be purchased from KCC
bookstore.
The instructions for registration are provided with the code.

Course Goals for student learning outcomes

1. Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of biology

2. Apply the scientific method to explore natural phenomena, including hypothesis development, observation,
experimentation, measurement, data analysis, and data presentation.

3. Use the tools of a scientific discipline to carry out collaborative laboratory investigations.

4. Gather, analyze, and interpret data and present it in an effective written laboratory or fieldwork report.

5. Identify and apply research ethics and unbiased assessment in gathering and reporting scientific data.

Grading Policy:
3 Lecture Exams: 30%
1 Final Exam: 20%
Smart science lab reports: 30%
Presentation: 10%
Class/Lab activities: 10% (these include the group activities, class discussions, writing assignments,
Field trips etc. If a student misses any class activity due to absence, student will
score a zero)
 Kingsborough Community College, The City University of New York
Department of Biological Sciences

Week Topics Resources

# (Chapters are from ebook)
1 The Process of Science/The Scientific Method
Writing assignment on Scientific method Chapter 1 (Topic 1.2)
Making observations: To compare the amount of caffeine in a given
sample of coffee at the three fast food chains: McDonalds, Starbucks
and Dunkin donuts
Collaborative lab report on caffeine activity

2 Characteristics/Properties of life Chapter 1 (Topic 1.1)

Online Activity: Observing the characteristic of life. http://www.exploratorium.e
du/imaging-
station/activities/classroom/c
haracteristics/ca_characterist
ics.php
Life’s diversity (classification: kingdoms)
Chapter 3 (Topic 3.2)
Eukaryotes vs prokaryotes
Chapter 12 (Topic 12.1)
Chapter 13 (Topic 13.1-13.4)
Smart Science lab: Simple Graphs. Lab report to be submitted online

3 Evolution
Principle: Darwin’s observations and deductions Chapter 11
Natural selection (Topics 11.1 to 11.5)
Evidence:
o Fossil record
o Comparative anatomy & physiology (form/function)
Smart Science lab: Natural Selection Lab. Lab report to be
submitted online

4. Evolution
Adaptations and extinction Handouts will be provided for
Human Evolution - Did humans evolve from monkeys? this topic
Evolution of human skin color
Students will go to The American Museum of Natural History:
Hall of Man (independent)
Collaborative lab report on Hall of Man study
On campus group activity to compare skull of hominins

5. Ecology
Population and community ecology Chapter 19
Organization: population, community, ecosystems, biome and (Topic 19.1 to 19.4)
biosphere
Populations: importance of growth and size. Impact of human
population on the environment
 Kingsborough Community College, The City University of New York
Department of Biological Sciences

Field observations on campus (done as a class) http://www.populationinstitut

Population examination e.org/?gclid=CJjt4vXKlq4CF
Analysis of population data UFN4Aod8CGNKQ

http://www.globalchange.umi
ch.edu/globalchange2/current
/lectures/human_pop/human_
pop.html
6. Ecology:
Food chain, food web and trophic levels Chapter 20
Biomes and the biosphere Topics( 20.1 to 20.4)
Changes in ecosystems over time
2 Smart Science labs: Food Webs and Food web exercise
Lab report to be submitted online
Field observations on campus (done as a class)

7. Human impact on the Biosphere

Global warming, Pollution, Population explosion, Feeding the Chapter 21
population Topics (21.1 to 21.3)
Fossil fuels, Alternative energy sources
Use of KCC Aquarium for study of Marine Animal Behavior
Smart Science lab: Seed germination with Pollutants
Lab report to be submitted online

8 Bioethics http://www.bioethics.iastate.e
Introduction to ethics and ethics in science du/classroom/case_studies.ht
Case study (in class) ml

9 Current topics in biology: Food and Nutrition

Labels: RDA and nutritional information
Organic foods: pros and cons Handouts will be provided for
Genetically modified foods this topic
Ethical concerns
Analysis of food labels (in class). Testing of label claims
(example weight of food product in package)
Smart Science lab: Yeast and sugar. Lab report to be submitted
online

10 Current topics in biology: The Human Body and Wellness Handouts will be provided for
Obesity this topic
Heart Disease
Why are certain populations at greater risk? Is there an ethical issue? http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/pu
Assessing your health risk (in class): blic/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm
BMI calculation:
http://www.skinbodyfitness.com/b
mr_bmi_bfp.htm
 Kingsborough Community College, The City University of New York
Department of Biological Sciences

11 Current topics in biology: Genetics

Genetic testing http://www.stemcellresearch.
Stem cells org/
Gene Therapy
Human genome project http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbo
Ethical Issues ok/therapy/genetherapy

12 Student presentations on a biological topic of interest. List of topics to be given by

The presentation needs to include: the instructor in the class.
The techniques used to study the topic Students can however pick a
How data are gathered and analyzed topic of their interest after
Ethical concerns consulting with instructor
Students position