What is this course about?

This course is about living organisms - microbes, plants, and animals - and the structure and function of their organs and organ systems. The course is organized as an introduction to many of the different kinds of organisms that exist and how they are related to, and differ from each other. For each type of organism, we have selected to introduce one or two general principles. The lecture titles reflect both the type of organism and these principles. We also introduce some of the main concepts of ecology and evolution. This course is complemented by BIOLOGY II, a winter semester course that introduces living processes at the level of cells and molecules. Together, the two courses and their laboratories serve to introduce the study of life to beginning university students. Specific lecture and laboratory topics are given below.

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What are the different components of this course?

 

The course consists of two lectures and one laboratory session per week.

 

Lectures:

The purpose of the lectures is to convey the concepts of the course. There are 25 lectures + 1 review session in the course. Attending class and taking good notes is the best way to understand the material.

 

Exams:

• Two exams test your understanding of the material presented in lectures:

• The midterm lecture exam covers the 7 lectures from September 6th to the 27th inclusive.

• Both exams are in multiple choice format.

• All material on which you will be examined in the midterm and final exams will be presented during the lectures.

 

Textbook:

• The textbook is Life: the Science of Biology by David Sadava et al., 9th edition (2009). This text is also used in BIOLOGY II during the winter term and as a reference text in ANIMAL DIVERSITY. You can buy it new or used at the McGill Bookstore.

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Laboratories:

• The purpose of laboratories is to give you hands-on experience with a variety of organisms and biological processes.

• You are expected to attend all laboratories and to arrive on time. Attendance will be taken.

• The laboratories are taught by teaching assistants (TAs). These are graduate students who are responsible for teaching under the guidance of the laboratory and the course coordinators.

• You are required to read the lab exercise in the online manual before coming to the respective lab.

 

• Lab Deliverables: To encourage participation and engagement with the lab material, each lab will have a hand-in due either at the end of lab or a week later at the beginning of the next lab (none accepted after 14:40; no late arrivals), as specified by your TA for each week. Deliverables will consist of questions on content covered in that week’s lab and may also involve interpretation of data collected during the lab.

 

• Research Project: Each student, working in pairs, will be responsible for designing and conducting an experiment addressing a question of their choice. The specific question can be motivated by other labs, by lecture topics, and by discussions with TAs, instructors, and fellow students. Students are required to submit a project proposal and equipment list for their project in the lab of week 6, to set up the experiment at the end of week 9, to run the experiment in lab week 10, and to present the results in lab week 12.

 

• Presentations: To provide an experience of public speaking about science, each student will give a presentation about their research project. Students will be graded on their presentation and on their participation as members of the audience. All presentations will take place during the last week of labs (lab week 12) in a symposium session.

 

• Participation: You are expected to participate in discussions during the student presentations and during weekly class discussions.

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List of Lab Topics

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Lab 1: The microscope, experimental design

Lab 2: Bacteria, protists and fungi

Lab 3: Plants on Land - responses to the environment

Lab 4: Non-seed plants, gymnosperms, general angiosperm structure

Lab 5: Angiosperm growth and reproduction

Lab 6: Invertebrates I

Lab 7: Invertebrates II

Lab 8: Fish

Lab 9: Mammals

Lab 10: Research project data collection

Lab 11: Animal physiology

Lab 12: Student symposium