This course, the first in the core curriculum for majors in science and premedical students, will center on evolution as the organizing principle of living systems and will form the framework for the problems and processes considered in the courses Bio 162 and Bio 261 that follow.

The course begins with Elements of Living Organisms, and will explore the biological, physical, and chemical principles that govern a living organism. The context in which these principles will be explored is the evolutionary origin of life on Earth. Students will learn in brief the cosmological origin of the Universe, our sun and solar system, and the chemical and astronomical processes leading to the conditions of the prebiotic Earth. Next, basic functions of living organisms will be explored as representing evolved solutions to the organizational challenges of defining organism boundaries, assembling an autocatalytic metabolism, and generating a mechanism of inheritance to pass favorable characteristics to progeny.

The second part, Biological Evolution, will continue this evolutionary theme and will detail genetic mechanisms of inheritance and the micro- and macroevolutionary processes that result. Students will learn (a) how genetic information is encoded, inherited, and affects organismal structure and function, (b) the evolutionary significance of genetic variation, and (c) how to model the biological processes that create, preserve, or destroy genetic variation and can lead to the origin of species. We will also explore applied topics in biotechnology (e.g., biomedical, agricultural, human eugenics) and the uses of evolutionary knowledge in society.

The third part, Ecological Systems of Life, will elucidate organizational principles by which groups of interacting individuals form populations, ecological communities, and ecosystems. Students will learn (a) how physical, biological, and evolutionary processes affect individual organisms and their populations and communities that in turn affect ecosystem structure and function, and (b) the vast interdependencies between our global society and the natural world. Contextual themes for this part of the course include the ecological significance of biodiversity, conservation ecology, and the global ecosystem consequences of our 6+ billion human population.

class #	date	topic (pages in Campbell)
		Elements of Living Organisms
#1	Fri, Sept 5	Introduction to Biology (post class reading - Chapter 1)
#2	Mon, Sept 8	The Scientific Method (pp. 16-22)
#3	Wed, Sept 10	Earth's Early History
#4	Fri, Sept 12	Chemistry of Life (chapter "Reviews" p. 39, p. 50, p. 60, p. 85, p. 153)
	Fri, Sept 12	noon - Quiz 1
#5	Mon, Sept 15	Origin of Life on Earth (pp. 510-524)
#6	Wed, Sept 17	Metabolism Without Oxygen (pp. 87-101, 104, and glycolysis pp. 155-164)
#7	Fri, Sept 19	Natural Selection and the Origin of Life (pp. 12-15)
	Fri, Sept 19	noon - Quiz 2
#8	Mon, Sept 22	Evolution of Photosynthesis (pp. 168-186, pp. 513-514)
#9	Wed, Sept 24	Metabolism With Oxygen (aerobic respiration pp. 164-174)
#10	Fri, Sept 26	Origin of the Genetic Code ("Review" p. 301, pp. 313-326)
	Fri, Sept 26	noon - Quiz 3
#11	Mon, Sept 29	Origin of Eukaryotic Life (pp. 548-554, "Review" pp. 135-136)
#12	Wed, Oct 1	review for EXAM 1
#13	Fri, Oct 3	EXAM 1, part 1
	Fri, Oct 3	noon - EXAM 1, part 2
		Biological Evolution
#14	Mon, Oct 6	Cellular Reproduction: Mitosis (pp. 215-223)
#15	Wed, Oct 8	Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles (pp. 234-245)
#16	Fri, Oct 10	Genetic Variation, Mendel and Probability (pp. 247-255)
	Fri, Oct 10	noon - Quiz 4
#17	Mon, Oct 13	Non-Mendelian Genetics (pp. 255-260)
#18	Wed, Oct 15	Chromosomes and Linkage (pp. 269-284)
	Fri, Oct 17	*** fall break ***
	Mon, Oct 20	*** fall break ***
#19	Wed, Oct 22	History of Evolutionary Thought (pp. 428-436)
#20	Fri, Oct 24	Evidence for Evolution (pp. 436-442)
	Fri, Oct 24	noon - Quiz 5
#21	Mon, Oct 27	Hardy-Weinberg and Microevolution (pp. 445-452)
#22	Wed, Oct 29	Natural Selection as Mechanism for Evolution (pp. 452-461)
#23	Fri, Oct 31	Species and Speciation (pp. 464-481)
	Fri, Oct 31	noon - Quiz 6
#24	Mon, Nov 3	Fossils and Geologic Time (pp. 484-492) and Systematics (pp. 492-505)
#25	Wed, Nov 5	review for EXAM 2
#26	Fri, Nov 7	EXAM 2, part 1
	Fri, Nov 7	noon - EXAM 2, part 2
		Ecological Systems of Life
#27	Mon, Nov 10	Introduction to Ecology (pp. 1092-1095)
#28	Wed, Nov 12	Patterns in Global Biodiversity (pp. 1095-1120)
#29	Fri, Nov 14	Physiological Ecology
	Fri, Nov 14	noon - Quiz 7
#30	Mon, Nov 17	Animal Behavior (ch. 51 figures from class handout and "Key Concepts" pp. 1148-1149)
#31	Wed, Nov 19	Population Demography and Regulation (ch. 52 figures from class handout and "Key Concepts" pp. 1172-1173)
#32	Fri, Nov 21	Competition (pp. 1174-1177)
	Fri, Nov 21	noon - Quiz 8
#33	Mon, Nov 24	Predation, Parasitism, and Disease (pp. 1178-1186)
#34	Wed, Nov 26	Mutualism and Coevolutionary Ecology (figures from class handout)
	Fri, Nov 28	*** Thanksgiving break ***
#35	Mon, Dec 1	Ecological Disturbance (pp. 1186-1195, and ch. 53 "Key Concepts" pp. 1195-1196)
#36	Wed, Dec 3	Global Ecosystems Ecology (ch. 54, figures from class handout and "Key Concepts" pp. 1221-1222)
#37	Fri, Dec 5	Global Carbon Cycle, Climate Change (class handout)
	Fri, Dec 5	noon - Quiz 9
#38	Mon, Dec 8	Global Ecological Energetics: Feeding Six Billion (class handout)
#39	Wed, Dec 10	Urban Ecosystems Ecology: Our Last Frontier (ch. 55, figures from class handout and "Key Concepts" pp. 1245-1246)
#40	Fri, Dec 12	noon - review session for EXAM 3
	Fri, Dec 12	review session for FINAL EXAM
	Mon, 15 Dec, 1:00-3:00	EXAM3 and FINAL EXAM, Kirk 108