Instructor: Dr' Frank Rosenzweig, Assoc' Professor of Biology

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Biology 100N Spring 2007 The Science of Life
Instructor Dr. Frank Rosenzweig, Assoc.
Professor of Biology Dr. Heidi Kuehne, NSF
Teaching Research Fellow Office Health
Science 505 Office hrs MW 1000-1100AM by
appt. Ph [phone] (FR) E-mail
Frank.Rosenzweig_at_mso.umt.edu (406)
243-4857 (HK) E-mail Heidi.Kuehne_at_mso.umt.edu
GTAs Kim Crider, E-mail Kimberly.crider_at_grizm
ail.umt.edu Ph (406) 243- Cameron Naficy,
E-mail Cameron_at_wildrockies.org Ph (406)
721-3431 Textbooks Campbell, Reece, Simon.
2007 Essential Biology. Murray, K. 2006.
Symbiosis. Pearson
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Biology 100N The Science of Life
Major theme the Unity and Diversity of Life
across scales and taxa
Most parsimonious explanation for these
observations?
Evolution by mutation, drift, natural selection,
etc.
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• Course Description - Two major goals
• to become familiar with general principles of
  biology, particularly as they relate to current
  issues in genetics, medicine and ecology
• (2) to understand what distinguishes science
  from other human activities and ways of knowing.

Biotechnology has given humans power over our own
destiny and that of all other species. You
will make decisions that require understanding
the underlying biology. Examples?
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How to Study for Bio100N? We aim to make Biology
100N exciting and provocative. Lectures are
designed not only to illuminate general
principles and recent advances, but also to
challenge conventional views of how and why
biological systems behave the way they do.
Each discipline has its own language. These
languages arent designed to exclude outsiders,
but to facilitate communication among insiders.
A certain amount of memorizing cannot be
avoided. But dont blindly compile vocabulary
words.
Synthesize streamline Build a skeleton of
basic principles, then hang terminology on that
skeleton. Keep up with the reading. We assume
that youve read textbook assignment before
coming to class. Your ability to follow lectures
will depend on your having done so.
What you get out depends on what you put in.
Successful students devote 2 hrs outside class
for 1 hr in class.
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• Lectures Reading. Biology is a vast domain of
  knowledge. We cannot survey it all. Lectures
  reflect instructors research interests. Should
  major advances occur in areas not on the syllabus
  we will make time to take stock of these
  developments.
• Text Essential Biology. 2007. Campbell, Reece,
  Simon.
• "Science Times" section of each Tuesday's New
  York Times.
• (5 copies kept on reserve in UM library).

Lectures draw upon text guide you as to the
level of detail youre expected to master.
Lectures will be question-driven. Each week
beginning Feb 1st youll be provided with lecture
outlines that consist of a set of questions.
Prepare yourself for exams by answering these
questions and questions in your book.
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Grading Category Number of points
Total Hourly exams 3 100 pts 300 Final
exam 1 150 pts 150 Laboratory 1 200
pts 200 650 pts Grades will be assigned
on a straight scale where, gt 585 pts gt 90
A 520 584 pts 80 89 B 455 519 pts
70 79 C 390 454 pts 60 69 D lt
389 lt 59 F
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• Explanation of Categories
• LABORATORY 200 pts Beginning next week
  (Thursday Feb 1 Friday Feb 2) lab sections will
  meet in NatSci208. If you miss 2 or more labs
  during the semester youll automatically receive
  a grade of F in Bio100N. Lab period will be
  devoted to the following
• Discussion 30 pts In first 15 min of lab
  youll review the previous weeks lecture and
  reading, and discuss a biology-oriented article
  in the NY Times "Science Times." Our major goal
  is to foster scientific literacy. Everybody who
  passes Bio100N should be able to read,
  understand, and critically evaluate a NY Times
  Science Times article. (see http//nytimes.com )

TAs will allocate discussion" pts based on
student participation and lab citizenship. The
same rules of conduct regarding behavior in
lecture apply in lab.
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• Quizzes 100 pts Each week following
  discussion, there will be a brief 10 pt quiz.
  Please come to lab having read the previous
  weeks lecture assignments reviewed the lab
  exercise for that period. Quizzes will be given
  beginning week of Jan. 29th. Your lowest score
  will be dropped.

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Oral Presentation 40 pts One way to gauge your
progress towards scientific literacy is to see
how effectively you can communicate scientific
concepts and observations. You will be required
to give a 10 min. oral presentation that follows
up on a topic covered either in lecture, your
text or the "NY Times Science Times."
Presentations will be made during the last 2
lab periods. Clear topic date of your talk with
your TA on or before April 11th. Turn in your
research materials after your talk. GTAs will
distribute guidelines for Oral Presentations and
grading criteria 2nd week in lab.
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• LECTURE EXAMS 450 pts. There will be three 50
  minute exams worth 25 pts each plus one two-hour
  Comprehensive Final worth 150 pts.
• Exams will be a mixture of short answer,
  matching, fill-in-the-blank, and multiple choice.
  
• You are encouraged to submit potential
  multiple-choice exam questions. Questions must
  be handed in at the beginning of lecture 1 week
  prior to the exam. Any student who submits a
  creative question that ends up being used on the
  exam will be awarded 10 bonus pts.

Make-up exams will, if necessary, be given 1 week
after the scheduled exam, and consist of essay
questions. They will include additional lecture
material covered after the regularly scheduled
exam. Make-up exams are more difficult than the
regularly scheduled exam. You must present
medical or university excuses directly to your
professor at least 24 hrs before the scheduled
exam to be eligible for a make-up exam.
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• Adds, drops, and changes of grading. University
  policies on drops, adds, changes of grade option,
  or change to audit status will be strictly
  enforced. Policies are described at
  http//www2.umt.edu/catalog/acpolpro.htm.
• After March 5th, such changes are NOT
  automatically approved. They may be requested by
  petition, but the petition must be accompanied by
  documentation of extenuating circumstances.
• Requests to drop a course or change the grade
  basis to benefit a students grade point average
  will not be approved. A grade of D will not be
  considered passing for the P/NP option.

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• You are not required to attend lecture. However,
  if you do you will almost certainly perform
  better on exams and quizzes than people who
  dont! If you choose to come to class, kindly
  conduct yourself as a responsible, courteous
  adult.
• Disruptive or distracting behavior such as
  talking, receiving cell phone calls, reading the
  newspaper eating will not be permitted. A
  person engaged in disruptive behavior will be
  dismissed from class. The second infraction will
  result in dismissal from Bio100N and assignment
  of an F.

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Themes in Biology100N
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Biology 100N - Spring 2006 The Science of
Life Instructors Dr. Frank Rosenzweig, Assoc.
Professor of Biology Dr. Heidi Kuehne, NSF
Teaching Fellow GTAs Cameron Naficy, Kim
Crider Lecture Rm/Time Urey 101 MW 910
1000 Syllabus The syllabus is flexible
amenable to student interest, the need to
prolong discussion, and scientific breakthroughs.
Additional reading may be assigned either from
the text or in the form of supplements from the
popular scientific press. Date Topics
Reading 1. Jan 22 (M) Course mechanics
Introduction Introduction, pp. 2-12 2. Jan 24
(W) The Holy Grail How to describe explain
Biodiversity? pp. 46-48, 270-278, 286-295 3. Jan
29 (M) Biodiversity I. Diversity manifest as
species but pp. 303-305, 311-312, what
is a Species? 320-324 334-336, 343-348. 4.
Jan 31 (W) Biodiversity II. Diversity manifest as
variations on pp. 55-59, 62, 66-69, 121-123,
fundamental attributes of life but what is
Life? 171-172, 296-299 5. Feb 5 (M) Biodiversity
III. Systematics how do we organize pp.
286-295 Biodiversity? 6. Feb 7
(W) Principles of Ecology I. What mechanisms
explain pp. 379-386 the distribution
abundance of organisms? 7. Feb 12 (M) Principles
of Ecology II. Can we estimate biodiversity pp.
405-416, 450-456 and why bother? 8. Feb 14
(W) Applied Ecology Ms. Crider and Mr.
Naficy Same as for Feb 12 (M) 9. Feb 19
(M) Presidents Day No classs 10. Feb 21
(W) LECTURE EXAM 1 11. Feb 26 (M) Organization of
biomolecules order from disorder? pp. 36-48 12.
Feb 28 (W) The Cell A window on lifes unity
and diversity. pp. 53-68 13. March 5 (M) Origins
of Life Competing scientific hypotheses pp.
296-303
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Date Topics Reading 14. March 7 (W) A
primer of metabolism Tyger, tyger burning
bright pp. 73-84 15. March 12 (M) Photosynthesis,
respiration the origin of organelles pp.
104-116 The force that through the green
fuse drives 16. March 14 (W) DNA structure
replication Are genes inherently selfish? pp.
49-51, 61-62, 171-179 17. March 19 (M) Selfish
genes and the evolution of infectious disease pp.
170-179, 187-196 18. March 21 (W) LECTURE EXAM 2
March 26 March 30 Spring Vacation 19. April
2 (M) The Central Dogma How does information
flow in most organisms? (and is there
advantage to reversing that flow?) pp.
177-188 20. April 4 (W) Classical genetics I.
Genetic basis for disease? pp. 142-158 21.
April 9 (M) Classical genetics II. Genetic basis
for complex traits? pp. 159-167 22. April 11
(W) Cancer, carcinogens retroviruses I. What
happens when when good genes go bad? pp.
121-130, 187-189 23. April 16 (M) Cancer
genetics. II. Regulation of the cell cycle pp.
211-215 24. April 18 (W) Evolutionary processes
What are selection, mutation, drift and how
do they promote evolutionary change? pp.
253-268 25. April 23 (M) LECTURE EXAM 3 26.
April 25 (W) Revenge of the Killer
Microbes pp. 253-268, 303-307 I. Where do
we know that evolution occurs? 27. April 30
(M) Real-time speciation in plants and
fungi Supplementary reading II. Observing
macroevolution in action 28. May 2 (W) Ethical
issues in genome biology pp. 231-238 Monday
May 7th 1010AM 1210PM Final Exam 150 pts
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Biology 100N- The Science of Life Spring 2007
Laboratory Schedule Instructor Dr. Frank
Rosenzweig, Assoc. Prof. Microbiology GTAs
Cameron Naficy, E-mail Cameron_at_wildrockies.org
Kim Crider, E-mail Kimberly.Crider_at_mso.umt.e
du Textbook Murray, K. 2006. Symbiosis.
Pearson Custom Publishing. Room/Time NS208 R 101
0 12N or 1210 2PM F 810 1000 or
1010 1200 Week Dates Topic Reading 1. J
an 25, 26 No Labs 2. Feb 1, 2 Safety Issues
Introductions to Microscopy pp. 1-14 3. Feb 8,
10 Unseen Worlds Pond Water pp. 15-26 4.
Feb 15, 16 Microbes in the Environment pp.
27-34 5. Feb 22, 23 Diffusion, osmosis, plant
cells and tonicity pp. 35-44 6. March 1,
2 Eukaryotic cells Human cheek cells pp.
45-52 7. March 8, 9 Photosynthesis pp.
83-92 8. March 15, 16 Digestion
Respiration pp. 77-82 9. March 22, 23
Mitosis in plant cells whitefish pp.
53-66 March 26 March 30 Spring Vacation
10. April 5, 6 Embryological development pp.
67-76 11. April 12, 13 Cancer Video Suppl
reading 12. April 19, 20 Ecology Greenhouse
Effect, Mutualism pp. 123-132 13. April 26,
27 Student presentations 14. May 3, 4 Student
presentations
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• Biology 100N Eight Helpful Hints
• (1) READING ASSIGNMENT Skim it before lecture.
  Read outline after lecture.
• (2) LECTURE NOTES Try to gather the main
  points. Use lecture questions as a guide.
• (3) QUESTION ANSWER IN LECTURE There are no
  stupid questions. Never be afraid to ask
  anything about lecture or reading. If
  somethings unclear to you (in this class 100),
  I guarantee its unclear to at least 50 other
  people.
• (4) DISCUSSION PERIOD IN LAB Use discussion to
  clarify information from your reading lecture.
  Use quizzes to gauge your understanding, and as
  study guides for the lecture exam.

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• (5) LABORATORY Attend labs. Your grade depends
  on it. The timing content of lab exercises will
  help to reinforce lecture reading.
• (6) YOUR TA Youll be given your current point
  total the week after each hourly exam If you see
  yourself slipping, consult your TA. Dont wait
  until the day before the next exam. Your TA has
  many other students, as well as his/her classes
  research.
• (7) YOUR PEERS Fellow students can be your
  best secondary source of information. 3 or 4
  people sharing notes should be able to accurately
  represent the course material. Form study groups.
  Write questions after each lecture, then pool
  them for discussion prior to an exam.

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(8) YOUR PROFESSORS We have office hours every
MW after class (HS505), or you may call
(X-4834/4857) to schedule appt.
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Biology 100N The Science of Life
Key terms Inheritance Nucleic acids, DNA(RNA),
Nucleotides (A, T(U), C, G) Species Mimicry,
Symbiosis, Sexual dimorphism, ontogeny
Systematics Taxonomy, Classification,
Phylogeny Kingdoms Monera (Archaea
Eubacteria), Protoctista, Fungi, Animalia,
Planta Domains Archaea, Eubacteria, Eucarya
Others Autotroph, heterotroph, prokaryote,
eukaryote, motile, sessile How do we explain
Biodiversity? How does Biodiversity reveal
itself? I. Revealed as species but what are
species? A species can be thought of as a
solution to a set of problems or competing
constraints What problems might we encounter
in recognizing species? II. How do we organize
Biodiversity? Systematics Taxonomy,
Classification, Phylogeny III. Revealed as
variations in the attributes of biological
systems, for example Architecture, Metabolism,
Development, Response to change, Reproduction,
Inheritance
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How does Biodiversity reveal itself?I. Revealed
as species.
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But just what is a SPECIES?
UNIQUE solution to the PROBLEM of maximizing
reproductive success . . . subject to a set of
competing constraints or demands.
Q How can I crank out as many kids as possible
that themselves will have kids? Subject to 1.
Where I live. 2. What my income is. 3. etc.
Fitness
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Fitness Genetic contribution by an individuals
descendents to future generations.
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• II. How can we ORGANIZE species diversity?
• Systematics
• 1. TAXONOMY
• 2. CLASSIFICATION
• 3. PHYLOGENY

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SYSTEMATICS - Science of organizing biodiversity
1. TAXONOMY. Assigning related organisms to
categories CATEGORY TAXON Organisms are not
classified as individuals, but as groups..
TAXON - any group sufficiently distinct to be
assigned to a definite category.
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How do you recognize a species?
What problems might an extra-terrestrial
biologist face if given the task of estimating
Earths biodiversity?
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1.Ontogeny Development of individual over its
lifetime.
Juvenile, adult forms may radically differ
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2.Ecotypes Environment strongly influences
expression of genotype in producing ? phenotype
3.Sexual dimorphismMale and female may be
strongly differentiated
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4.Polymorphism (multiple forms) . . . can
occur among Eusocial and other species.
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5.Mimicry One species may avoid predation by
evolving a form that resembles another
distasteful species.
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5. Mimicry - One species may avoid predation by
evolving form that resembles a dangerous species.
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6.Symbioses - 2 species may live together in an
obligate partnership that benefits one or both
partners.
Mutualism Partner 1 Partner 2
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Mutualism Partner 1 Partner 2
Acacia tree (Acacia colensii)
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Ants (Pseudomermex) and Acacia tree (Acacia
colensii)
Mutualism Partner 1 Partner 2
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6. Symbioses One species may be obligate host for
life stage of another species (e.g., wasp and
caterpillar).
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OTHER PROBLEMS ?? 7. Hybridization Some SPECIES
act like "good" species in pristine natural
habitat, but interbreed in disturbed habitat.
Banksi prionotes Banksi hookeriana
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8.MICROBIAL SPECIES - how do we recognize them?
Morphology (form)? Nutritional
requirements? Habitat? DNA sequence of chromosome?
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Recognizing species categories not a trivial
task! Complicated by problems such as
ontogeny, mimicry, sexual dimorphism,
hybridization, mutualisms, organismal size and
distribution.
Also, depends on HOW you define a species.