BI 102 - Topics in General Biology

The goal of this course is to help students majoring in other fields understand the scientific way of thinking, how it is practiced and its limitations. The course will cover, as a minimum, the following topics: 1) the transfer of energy and materials through cells and the environment, 2) species definitions, 3) evolution, and 4) how populations change over time. Laboratory investigations will focus on testing assumptions about the natural world and exploring how to answer questions through hypothesis testing. Lecture material will clarify these investigations and link to current topics in science and technology, including their moral and public policy implications. Topics will change each term, e.g. Food and the Environment, Animal Diversity, Biology of Death, etc.

Note: Meets Scientific Reasoning Learning Outcome (SCI)

Three hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory each week. Four credits.