PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGY I LABORATORY (BIOL 1107L/2107L)

Fall 2017 Syllabus

The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor and/or
posted on eLC may be necessary.

BIOL 1107L/2107L (lab) is a required co-requisite of BIOL 1107/2107H, the lecture course in cellular and
molecular biology for science majors. This means that you must register for both at the same time. If you drop
either class at any point before the drop/add period is over, Athena will drop you from the other course, contact
the Biology Advising Office for assistance. Students who withdraw from BIOL 1107L2107L after the drop/add
period will be assigned a WP or WF based on completed assignments and class participation up to the time of
withdrawal. After the drop/add period, you can drop either lab OR lecture and stay in the other course. If you
withdraw from both lab and lecture in the same semester after the drop/add period is over, UGA counts this as ONE
total withdrawal.

LAB PROGRAM COORDINATOR:

Kimberly Brown
Office: Room 349 Science Learning Center
Office Hours: By appointment email using UGA email or call
Phone: (706) 542-1680 E-Mail: brownkim@uga.edu

TEXT AND MATERIALS FOR LAB CLASSES:

1. Lab Manual: Principles of Biology I BIOL 1107L Laboratory Manual, Third Edition this is an
online lab manual. It is available at https://www.bluedoorpublishing.com/bluedoorlabs and access may
be purchased directly through the publisher (save $$). You may also purchase through the University
Bookstore and you will receive an access code to use when you register on the Bluedoorlabs website.
To register you will create a password and you will need to know your lab course CRN number. There
is a link to the website labeled Lab Manual in the navigation bar of eLC.

2. Carbonless Notebook: This, or its equivalent, may be purchased from the University Bookstore, at
bookstores off campus, or online. You will need this to turn in assignments each week in lab. If you are
using one for another class, it is fine to also use it for this lab course. You will need to bring this to lab
each week.

DRESS CODE:

Feet and legs must be completely covered. You must wear long pants or skirt. Shorts, skirts, and open-
toed/heeled shoes are NOT allowed. Lab coats and goggles will be provided. If you are dismissed from lab
because of improper dress, it will count as an excused absence (refer to Attendance section below for
details).

ACCESS TO COURSE INFORMATION, SYLLABUS AND POLICIES:

All course information including a copy of the syllabus, assignment due dates, and policy information can be
found in eLC. Announcements about the lab will be posted here as well as changes to the syllabus. You are
responsible for checking eLC for announcements on a regular basis.

ACADEMIC HONESTY:

All academic work must meet the standards contained in A Culture of Honesty. Students are responsible for
informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work. This includes using social
media to share answers to course assignments (example of Unauthorized Assistance). This information is
available online: http://honesty.uga.edu. Any form of possible academic dishonesty will be reported to the
UGA Office of the Vice President for Instruction.

COMMUNICATION: To comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), all
communication that refers to individual students must be through a secure medium (UGAMail or eLC) or in
person. Instructors are not allowed to respond to messages that refer to individual students or student progress in the
course through non-UGA accounts, phone calls, or other types of electronic media.
LABS: Labs are scheduled to run for approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes(two consecutive class periods).

You will need this time to adequately complete the lab exercise, analyze the results and clarify any points
with your lab instructor. You are expected to participate and carefully observe all lab exercises, making
certain you fully understand the material covered. Remember, your GLA is there to help you with the lab
exercises and to evaluate your performance and participation.

BIOL 1107L/2107L is a Writing Intensive Course. It closely follows the guidelines established by The
University of Georgias Writing Intensive Program (WIP). Our goal in following these guidelines is to
help you become better writers in your academic field of science, as writing and thinking are parallel
cognitive (learning) processes. Writing engages individuals in the information being studied and therefore
results in better retention of this subject material.

PREPARATION FOR LAB AND PRE-LAB QUIZZES:

It is critical that you read the lab exercise in the lab manual before coming to lab. You will
frequently be asked to carry out experiments of your own design. To do so effectively, you must come
to lab prepared.
Pre-lab homework (quizzes): Pre-labs will be administered through your eLC web site for BIOL
1107L/2107L. They will be released to you at 6 pm, a week before they are due. All pre-lab quizzes are
due at midnight, the night before your lab day. Example: if you have a Tuesday lab, your pre-lab quiz
for the following week will become available at 6 pm on Tuesday. This quiz will be due on Monday the
next week at 11:59 pm. Late submissions will not be accepted. There are no exceptions to this policy.

Much of the material on pre-lab quizzes will be new to you. The pre-lab quizzes are designed to
introduce you to these new topics just prior to the lab sessions in which you will engage in the topics.
To prepare for the quizzes you should read the lab with which a pre-lab is associated before you
begin the pre-lab quiz. You are also encouraged to use your textbook, your lab manual, and appropriate
internet sites to help you complete these exercises.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance is required for this class. Missing even one class means that you have missed a
significant portion of the course. DO NOT schedule any other appointments or activities during your scheduled lab
sessions.

Students who miss THREE or more labs at any point during the semester, even with valid excuses, will
earn the grade of an F in BIOL 1107L/2107L. If a student has missed three or more labs due to extenuating
circumstances and wishes to avoid a failing grade, they should request an Incomplete. Note: even if you make
up the lab in another lab section with GLA approval, this will be recorded as an excused absence. Grade appeal
options can be found at http://www.franklin.uga.edu/students/student_appeal_guidelines.php

Missing labs with a valid excuse: A valid excuse is one that is written, verifiable, and covers the date and
time of your scheduled lab class. Oversleeping and job conflicts do not constitute acceptable excuses. Missing a
lab with a valid excuse allows you to make-up the lab provided that you contact your lab instructor within 48
hours of the absence. If you know in advance that you will miss a lab with a valid excuse, contact your GLA
before the lab for possible reassignment to another lab period. Do not simply attend a different section. Doing
so without prior approval by your GLA will be marked as an unexcused absence.

Missing labs without a valid excuse: If you do not have a valid excuse for missing a lab, you will not be
allowed to make up any work and will automatically receive a minimum of 20-point deduction from your total
lab points (even if the lab is worth less than 20 points). If a lab is worth more than 20 points for that day, you
will lose the total number of points for that day

Tardiness and leaving lab early without permission are not tolerated in lab. If you arrive to lab more than 15
minutes late you will be marked as absent with a valid excuse but will be allowed to hand in work for that lab as
well as stay and complete the lab. If you leave lab early without permission, you will be marked as absent
without a valid excuse - even if you have completed all work for that day - and will automatically receive a 20-
point deduction from your total lab points for that day.
ASSIGNMENTS:

Make-up assignments: These assignments are for excused absences and are due within a time limit
agreed to between you and your GLA and may include any or all of the following: evidence that you have
consulted with your team members regarding missed work and data, completing the lab with a different
section, submitting assignments associated with the missed lab, making up a lab assessment, and/or by
completing an alternate assignment designated by the GLA or course instructor. Students who fail to
complete the make-up work within the allocated time will not receive credit for the lab exercise. You are
responsible for all material and data presented and gathered in lab.

Written assignments: You will be asked to prepare multiple written assignments of varying length during
the semester. Your laboratory schedule and instructor will give you instructions as to the nature of each
assignment. If needed, Microsoft Excel, Open Office, and other spreadsheet software can be used to create
graphs that can be inserted into your document. If you cite any articles in your assignment, you must
either include a web-address (URL) for the article in your report (for on-line articles) or give photocopies
of these articles to your GLA when the assignment is due. If you would like assistance in preparing your
assignment, you may contact your GLA during their office hours. GLAs will not read or edit your lab
report the day before it is due. Plan ahead and make the most of your time with your instructor.

Group work: Many of your laboratory experiences in BIOL 1107L/2107L will be based upon work
completed in small groups. We encourage you to interact with your GLA and your classmates when
completing your in-class work and your homework. However, you are expected to complete all written
assignments by yourself (i.e., showing independent thought) unless otherwise directed by your GLA.

In the sciences, all co-authors on papers are held accountable for the accuracy and originality of the
published work. Similarly, in lab assignments, when a students name is on a group project, this implies
that they take responsibility for the accuracy and originality of the entire assignment (and also for any
academic dishonesty that may have been involved). Students often have difficulties determining how to
demonstrate independent effort when they work in groups to complete assignments (e.g., we all did the
same thing so shouldnt the work that we turn in be the same?). Please carefully review the information
Expectations about Group Work & Plagiarism, located in eLC, under the link Plagiarism. You are
responsible for being familiar with this document. If you ever have a question about whether or not you
have crossed the fine line between group work and independent work, ask your GLA for assistance before
you hand in an assignment. 58888

GRADES:

You should keep a record of all your lab grades and save your graded papers until the end of the term.
Under no circumstance will a grade be changed at the end of the semester. Any complaint about a grade
must be brought to your GLAs attention, in written form with a thorough explanation as to why
you disagree with the grade, within one week of the grade being posted.

There will be no extra credit or bonus points given. Historically, students who attend their lab classes,
prepare for lab on a weekly basis, and turn in all of their written work on time, earn good grades for their
efforts.

You can earn a total of 325 points in this lab. More detailed assignment points are given in the attached
Outline of Labs and Point Values. Final grades are based on your accumulated points and will be
awarded as follows:

Grade Total Points

A ( 93%) 302 pts
A- (90-93%) 292-302 pts
B+ (87-90%) 282-292 pts
B (83-87%) 269-282 pts
B- (80-83%) 260-269 pts
C+ (77-80%) 250-260 pts
C (73-77%) 237-250 pts
C- (70-73%) 227-237 pts
D (60-70%) 195-227 pts
F ( <60%) <195 pts
 *REVISED 9/21/2017* BIOL 1107L Outline of Labs and Point Values Fall 2017

Date Lab Topic Assignments Due for Lab

8/14 8/18 Introduction, Safety, Instrumentation Micropipette training video (on eLC)
Practice Pre-lab Quiz (eLC) (PTP, 5.5 pt)
8/21 8/25 Lab 1: Practicing Science In-lab experimental design: (PT, 5 pts)

Lab 2: Organic Molecules I

Organic molecules I Pre-lab Quiz (eLC) (M1P, 10 pts)
8/28 - 9/1 Discussion: Scientific writing: Focusing
In-lab qualitative experimental design: (M1X, 5 pts)
on good introduction.

9/4 9/8 NO LABS LABOR DAY WEEK

Lab 3: Organic Molecules II Organic molecules II Pre-lab Quiz (eLC) (M2P, 10 pts)
9/18 9/22 Discussion: Writing formal lab reports: a Organic molecules I Post-lab: (M1B, 20 pts)
good methods section In-lab quantitative experimental design: (M2X, 5 pts)

Lab 6: The Science Library: Orientation,

Tutorial, and How to Avoid Plagiarism Library Pre-Lab Quiz (eLC): (LAP, 10 pts)
9/25 9/29 Discussion: Sources in scientific writing Organic molecules II Post-lab: (M2L, 20 pts)
and paraphrasing. In-lab Paraphrasing assignment: (LA, 2 pts)

Rates of Change Enzymes: Strange Brew Pre-Lab: (ESBPL, 12 pts)

Lab 5: Enzymes Strange Brew Library I Post-lab (LPL1, 20 pts)
10/2 10/6
Discussion: Science Writing: the results Rates of Change Sample Problem (RCSP, 5 pts)
section and figures. In-Lab Experimental Design (ESBX, 5 pts)

Lab 7 and 8: Photosynthesis I and II

Enzymes: Strange Brew Post-Lab: (ESBP, 20 pts)
10/9 10/13 Discussion: Bringing it all together:
In-class experimental Design (P1X, 5 pts)
Writing a research report

Restriction Enzymes and PCR Pre-lab Quiz (eLC):

Intro Discussion: The Utility of the
(RE1P, 15 pts)
10/16 10/20 Genetic Tools REs and PCR
Library II Post-lab (LPL1, 20 pts)
Lab 9: Restriction Enzymes I and II
In-class experimental Design (P2X, 5 pts)
10/23 10/27 NO LABS FALL BREAK
PCR video (eLC)
Agarose Gel video (eLC)
10/30 11/3 Lab 10: PCR I In-lab DNA analysis (DNA, 14 pts) - hand in one per
pair of students
Optional: first draft of photosynthesis Post-Lab

Lab 11: Introduction to Bioinformatics Photosynthesis Post-Lab (PC, 30 pts)

11/6 11/10
and PCR II Bioinformatics Pre-Lab (BPL, 9.5 pts)

Case It! Pre-lab Quiz (eLC) (CIPL, 5 pts)

Lab 12: Case It! Investigator and
11/13 11/17 Bioinformatics/PCR Post Lab (BPCRPL, 25 pts)
Preparing for a PowerPoint presentation
In-lab Case It interpretation and analysis (CIIA, 2 pts)

11/20 11/24 NO LABS THANKSGIVING

Group Presentations (GP, 30 pts)

11/27 12/1 Lab 13: Final Presentations Week 1
Group pres peer evaluation (eLC) (GPPE, 10 pts)
Classes begin Monday, August 14th
Classes end Tuesday, December 5th