BI 205L – Cellular and Organismic Biology Laboratory (1 credit)	Fall 2011
Chaminade University of Honolulu					
Section 05 Friday 2:30-5:20 Henry Hall Lab 03
Dr. Joan Kuh (email: joan.kuh@chaminade.edu, phone: 739-4642)
Office: WESS 102; Office hours: MW 1-3 or by appointment

COURSE SYLLABUS AND OUTLINE

Text:  
1.	Biology 205L Lab Manual Fall Day 2011 – Astern, Cogbill, Iwamoto, Kuh, Ohta
2.	Symbiosis, a custom manual for CUH 
3.	Van De Graaff, and John L. Crawley 2001 (6th ed.) A Photographic
Atlas for Biology Laboratory Manual.    Morton Publishing, Englewood, CO.  
The last two texts can be purchased at the CUH Bookstore.  The BI205L Lab Manual is available from the Natural Science Office in Wesselkamper 114 for $5.

Course description, learning objectives and goals for the course:
See the BI205L lab manual on pp. 3-13.

Course outline & important general rules:
See the lab manual on pp. 3-13

Laboratory prep, outline and attendance:
Also in the lab manual but I want to emphasize a few points here
1.	Reading the assignments prior to attendance to lab is ESSENTIAL to successful completion of the lab in a manner that is also safe to you and fellow students.
2.	Attendance is mandatory.  Laboratory absences must be documented by valid excuses, such as those from a physician.  In the event you do miss a lab, there is no makeup lab.  If you know ahead of time (2-3 weeks notice) that you will not be able to attend lab, see me to make arrangements to attend another lab earlier in the week.  Also, you will not get credit for labs in your notebook that you missed nor can you submit a lab report if you were absent for that lab.  

Grade Determination:
1.	Separate grades will be given for lecture and laboratory.  It is possible to receive different grades for lecture and laboratory.
2.	The instructor does not curve grades or curve scores.  
3.	There will be two lab practical examinations with each consisting of station questions.  Station questions are those questions in which the student has a specified period of time to identify the organism under a microscope, relate a function of a structure, explain a graph, or relate an objective to a exam and will include material completed prior to the exam; the second exam will include material covered since the midterm exam, it is not cumulative. No one will pass this course without taking both lab exams.
4.	You are required to keep a bound laboratory notebook. As a general rule, each lab’s entry should contain (a) a date (b) purpose (c) results.   Lab notebooks are submitted on the day of each exam for grading.  Spiral bound notebooks and binders with loose leaf papers are not acceptable.  If there is a handout for a lab exercise, these can be taped or stapled to a page in the lab notebook.  See page 5 in the manual for format and recording hints for the notebook.
6. 	There are five lab reports that will be submitted by the student this semester.  See page 4 for the format that should be followed for these reports.  One full length report will be also required for the cellular respiration lab which contains all sections of a scientific journal article. Additionally, 
a.	 All lab reports are to be done individually.  Although we will share the data from the experiments, the analysis and interpretation of the data must be your own. If plagiarism from a labmate or classmate is detected both the person who copied the work and the one who allowed it to be copied will receive “zeros” for the report.
b.	All tables, graphs, figures, etc. must be computer generated.  
c.	You can COPY the graphs, tables, etc. from your classmates as long as you have contributed equally in their creation.  BUT I have found that wrong results get spread quickly this way.  
d.	Notebooks and lab reports that are one day late will be penalized by one grade level. No credit will be given for lateness beyond one day.  This is the Biology Department policy on late notebooks and papers.  
7.	Incomplete grades, early exams, and late exams are not given.
Grades:
1st lab exam			             	   75 points             360-400 = A
2nd exam			             	   75 points             320-359 = B
Lab reports				     	  150 points            260- 319 = C
Exit Exercises			   	     	    50 points            220 -259 = D
Two lab notebook checks @ 25 points each	    50 points          below 220 = F			
Total						400 points

Class standing and tutoring
1.	 You may ask about your grade at any time during the course.  See my office location and hours at the top of the syllabus.
2.	Tutoring from upper class Biology/Forensic Science majors is usually available.  Go to the Student Academic Advancement Office to make an appointment for tutoring.

Safety Rules and Regulations
1.	Read these important rules and regulations on page 12 of the lab manual.  
2.	Brandi Sasaki is the lab coordinator for Chaminade University.  She is also in charge of making sure students and professors adhere to the safety rules. There are penalties that include monetary fines and disciplinary action for not following the rules and regulations.  
3.	Lab coats are available for purchase.  Paper lab coats are $5 and available from the Natural Science office in Wesselkamper.  Cloth lab coats are also available for purchase ($25)—see me if you are interested.