NATURAL SCIENCES 104 LIFE ON EARTH Spring, 2010 Professor Davis, Office Hrs MW 2:00, GLD-S 344, [email protected], (621-7953) 621-6000 Welcome to NATS 104 - Life on Earth! In this course, you will learn about biological systems, from molecular to global. You will gain firsthand knowledge about the processes of scientific investigation and communication. You will gain a basic understanding of biological systems, how biological systems are studied and how biological systems change. Our goal is to prepare you to understand and evaluate the continuing developments and controversies in biological that affect your life. GENERAL POLICIES 1. Learn Biology! Attend all lectures and workshops on time, complete the readings before lecture, complete all assignments as soon as they are available. 2. Don't Cheat! Your grade must reflect your understanding of biology. Cheating prevents learning and makes your grade in this class meaningless. Read University Code of Academic Integrity (link). All the material you submit must be entirely your own words, not handed in for any other class by you or anyone else. Copying material from any source is cheating. Cheating also includes giving your assignments to another person to copy, because it causes that student's grade not to reflect their understanding of biology. Cheating will result in the sanctions determined by the (faculty-student conference) as set forth by Dr. Carol Thompson [email protected], Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs & Dean of Students, and Associate Dean Kendall Washington White [email protected]. 3. Be Prepared! Read the assigned material including instructions and readings before class starts Review for exams by using the practice exams as many times as possible. You are responsible for bringing a pencil and eraser to the exams. Don't put things off to the last minute. Lecture quizzes and workshop are available for 7 days. Complete them as soon as they become available. Dean's excuses for the last days of the 7-day period do not excuse you from completing the exercise as soon as it is available. Attendance is required; don't be tardy, the class starts on the hour. Always sit in your assigned seat. If you need to change your seat, contact Prof. Davis ([email protected]). It is your responsibility to check the D2L class web page frequently for any announcements.4. Be Responsible! You are responsible for understanding and following all of the rules outlined in this syllabus. Do not disrupt class by talking, by using your cell phone, or by using your laptop except in assigned areas. Disruptive behavior is a serious infraction. (UA policy) Never behave in a threatening manner. This is a very serious infraction (UA policy). You are responsible for monitoring your grades and reporting any mistakes on the D2L grade sheet within two weeks of the due date for the material. Always put "NATS104" in the subject line of emails to Prof. Davis or the GTAs, and always use your UA email account when sending emails. CLASS WEB PAGE, AND READINGS The NATS104 D2L home page includes CURRENT ANNOUNCEMENTS and a schedule that links to lecture notes, readings, quizzes, workshops, the term paper, class policies (including this document), and a lot more information that you will find useful for this class. The D2L schedule outlines the topics that we will cover in lecture and in the workshops, and provides links to the online reading assignments. The assigned readings are due before lecture. You may communicate with any of us at any time (see D2L home page for email addresses) and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We strongly encourage you to use this avenue to ask for clarification about the course material, to make appointments, or for any other reason relating to class. ATTENDANCE Attendance is required. Attendance will be monitored by assigned seating. You will be marked absent if you do not sit in your assigned seat, for any reason. If you need to change your seat, contact Prof. Davis ([email protected]). Excessive absences will result in an administrative drop. You should anticipate a lower grade if you miss classes - for the average student, about 1/5 letter grade for every class missed - not because points are subtracted by Prof. Davis, but because they understand less of the material. The lecture notes and readings are posted online, but neither gives the emphasis and explanation provided in the lecture. By missing lectures, you will miss any additions, corrections or explanations that are made in lecture. There are NO MAKE-UPs for Workshops or Lecture Quizzes. See "Don't put things off to the last minute," above. If you will miss an EXAM you must either notify us two weeks BEFORE the exam in writing (by email), or or submit convincing evidence for a valid excuse for the absence. Valid excuses, whether submitted before or after the exam are limited to major health-related emergencies(read MORBYMORT) or academically-sanctioned absences (requires Dean-of-Students' written excuse). The opportunity to take a make-up exam will be based in part on class attendance. Only one lecture-exam make-up will be given for all of the students missing the exam. This will be scheduled after the missed exam to accommodate any students with traumatic excuses. Tardiness: Students arriving 10 minutes after the hour will be marked tardy. No lecture exams will be handed out after the first person to finish the exam has handed in their exam. GRADES: Grades for most assignments are posted on D2L upon completion of the exercise, but some exercises require grading by the GTAs. The official grades are kept offline, because overall grades are not correctly recorded on D2L. Each student must check their grades frequently on D2L and report any discrepancies within two weeks of the due-date for the material. The level and amount of material has been selected so that an average student can get a "C" if they do an average amount of work, and an "A" if they work hard: spend 9 hrs/week outside class reading and reviewing, read assigned material before class and workshop, review the notes before and after class, miss no classes, be on time, hand assignments in on time, attend and participate in review sessions. Students who already know the material covered in NATS 104 should contact Prof. Davis, regarding testing-out of the course (CLEP). A=100-90% B=89-80% C=79-70% D=69-60% Lecture Exams (100 pts. ea., 3 exams)