NCSSM COURSE CAtAlOG - North Carolina School of Science and ...

NCSSM COURSE CAtAlOG - North Carolina School of Science and ... NCSSM COURSE CAtAlOG - North Carolina School of Science and ...

04.11.2014 Views

BI370 Evolution One trimester Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit. Meeting pattern: Five periods per week including lab. In this course, students gain an appreciation for evolution as a process that is relevant to their everyday lives. Students learn to identify and quantify variation in populations and understand the sources of variation, including independent assortment, crossing over, and mutation. Basic evolutionary processes are studied including natural selection, mutation, drift, and migration. The course concludes with the study of speciation, phylogeny, and other selected topics. NOTE: Students may take either this course or BI402 Evolution with Advanced Topics, but not both. BI374 Ecology One trimester Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit. Meeting pattern: Five periods per week including lab. In this course students study ecology at the level of the organism, population, community, and ecosystem. Special emphasis is given to quantifying population growth and interspecific interactions, including predator-prey, competitive, and mutualistic relationships. Labs are designed to expose students to working with live organisms, seeing ecological patterns in the field, and quantifying ecological variables. BI400 Aquatic Ecology One trimester Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit. Prerequisite: Completion of BI374 Ecology. Meeting pattern: Four periods per week including lab. Aquatic ecology is the study of abiotic and biotic factors that influence the structure and dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. It includes the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of streams, lakes, estuaries, and intertidal zones. Special emphasis is placed on adaptations to aquatic environments, energy flow in food webs, and the role of humans in altering aquatic ecosystems. Students learn about ongoing research in aquatic ecology and gain experience making field observations, designing experiments, and 64

analyzing data to test hypotheses. Regular outdoor experiences, both on and off campus, expose students to a variety of aquatic ecosystems. BI402 Evolution with Advanced Topics One trimester Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit. Corequisite: MA305 Precalculus & Modeling. Meeting pattern: Four periods per week including lab. In this course students learn about genetics at the population level and start the course by identifying and quantifying variation in populations. Evolutionary processes, such as natural selection, drift, mutation, migration, and non-random mating are studied alone and in all possible combinations. Students explore how natural selection produces adaptations at the morphological and molecular levels. The course concludes with a study of macro evolutionary patterns including speciation. In contrast to BI370 Evolution, this course is fasterpaced, places more emphasis on mathematical models, and requires more independent learning. NOTE: Students may take either this course or BI370 Evolution, but not both. BI404 Climate Change Biology One trimester Credit: One unit core biology or elective credit. Prerequisite: Completion of a precalculus course, or a computer science course or permission of the Dean of Science. Meeting pattern: Four periods per week including lab. Climate change biology is the study of the impact of climate change on natural systems with emphasis on understanding the interactions between biological systems and the climate system. The goal of climate change biology is the development of management techniques designed to preserve natural systems. Students study past climate-biological systems interactions, currenlty observed changes, biological theory, and modeling in order to develop an understanding of possible mitigation and management approaches. BI410 Molecular and Cellular Biology One trimester Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit. Prerequisite: Completion of a high school chemistry course. Meeting pattern: Five periods per week including lab. The first portion of this course examines biochemical principles and the structure and properties of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Students then examine 65

BI370 Evolution<br />

One trimester<br />

Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit.<br />

Meeting pattern: Five periods per week including lab.<br />

In this course, students gain an appreciation for evolution as a process that is<br />

relevant to their everyday lives. Students learn to identify <strong>and</strong> quantify variation<br />

in populations <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> the sources <strong>of</strong> variation, including independent<br />

assortment, crossing over, <strong>and</strong> mutation. Basic evolutionary processes are<br />

studied including natural selection, mutation, drift, <strong>and</strong> migration. The course<br />

concludes with the study <strong>of</strong> speciation, phylogeny, <strong>and</strong> other selected topics.<br />

NOTE: Students may take either this course or BI402 Evolution with Advanced<br />

Topics, but not both.<br />

BI374 Ecology<br />

One trimester<br />

Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit.<br />

Meeting pattern: Five periods per week including lab.<br />

In this course students study ecology at the level <strong>of</strong> the organism, population,<br />

community, <strong>and</strong> ecosystem. Special emphasis is given to quantifying population<br />

growth <strong>and</strong> interspecific interactions, including predator-prey, competitive, <strong>and</strong><br />

mutualistic relationships. Labs are designed to expose students to working with live<br />

organisms, seeing ecological patterns in the field, <strong>and</strong> quantifying ecological<br />

variables.<br />

BI400 Aquatic Ecology<br />

One trimester<br />

Credit: One unit core biology or core elective credit.<br />

Prerequisite: Completion <strong>of</strong> BI374 Ecology.<br />

Meeting pattern: Four periods per week including lab.<br />

Aquatic ecology is the study <strong>of</strong> abiotic <strong>and</strong> biotic factors that influence the<br />

structure <strong>and</strong> dynamics <strong>of</strong> aquatic ecosystems. It includes the chemical,<br />

physical, <strong>and</strong> biological characteristics <strong>of</strong> streams, lakes, estuaries, <strong>and</strong> intertidal<br />

zones. Special emphasis is placed on adaptations to aquatic environments,<br />

energy flow in food webs, <strong>and</strong> the role <strong>of</strong> humans in altering aquatic<br />

ecosystems. Students learn about ongoing research in aquatic ecology <strong>and</strong><br />

gain experience making field observations, designing experiments, <strong>and</strong><br />

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