This course will introduce you to the fundemental processes and principles at work in all living things, large and small. From humans to tiny creatures that live in the base of your eyelashes, all life uses the same common methods of energy utilization, growth, genetic storage, heredity, reproduction and development.

In this course, these methods will be explained and you will see the underlying cellular plan from which all creatures are constructed. You will also see how the forces of natural selection have led to the evolution of a vast diversity of animals, plants and other creatures, and how the competition between individuals and species has led to the complex, tangled web of life that now covers the surface of our planet.

Sources of Information

There are three important sources of information that you will need in this course; the lecture, the web-site for the course, and the laboratory intstructor.

Lectures are give once a week and are intended to introduce you to each topic or subject. They will provide an over-view and a context for each subject but they are NOT a comprehensive presentation of all the information you will need to know or understand.

Science at a Distance - this is the comprehensive web-site (where you are now!) for this course. It holds all the factual information you will need concerning each topic, and it is also designed to help you learn and test yourself. There are a very large number of resources on this web-site and you should NOT try to print them all out onto paper. You should read the material from the computer screen and make your own notes. This is a much better way of learning.

Laboratory Instructor - is a person who will be available to you thoughout the course, usually in a laboratory or computer classroom. Each instructor will be there to help you with any problems you may have in the course, and also to deliver, collect and assess a required set of assignments. You should make sure that you collect all the required assignments and complete them on the published schedule. This is very important and the grade you get on your assignments will be an important part of your course grade (see below).

Basis of Grading

Your total course grade will be determined by combining the grades you achieve in your lecture midterm exam, your lecture final exam and your laboratory grade. Each component will count for one third of your total course grade.

1. Lecture Midterm exam = 33.3 %
2. Lecture Final exam = 33.3 %
3. Laboratory Grade = 33.4 %
   

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4. Total Grade = 100 %

Laboratory grades (and the overall course grade) are calculated by your individual laboratory instructor. Each instructor will inform you of his/her policy, however all instructors are expected to test your knowledge of biology using a hands-on series of computer assignments and/or laboratory excercises. Your participation in this part of the course is mandatory and you will fail the whole course if you do not participate, or you miss more than one assignment.