biol101 full course latest

11 Jun biol101 full course latest

Question
Week 1 discussion

The Scientific Method Tutorial

Course Outcomes:

recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems

make observations and discriminate between scientific and pseudoscientific explanations

Click on Course Content, Science Learning Center, The Scientific Method Tutorial, Button 4: The Scientific Method

Work through the entire Scientific Method Tutorial, then pick one (1) of the following 3 options:

Option 1: Stating a Good Hypothesis

Read step 2: The hypothesis

Answer the following questions:

What is a hypothesis?

How is a hypothesis different from a theory in science?

Describe an example of how you may use the scientific method in your daily life and state a good hypothesis for that example.

Which hypothesis did you first pick in the “Recognizing a good hypothesis” activity in the scientific method tutorial? Why? If any, which mistake(s) did you make when picking a hypothesis?

Include “Hypothesis” in the title of your post.

Option 2: Designing a Good Experiment

Read Step 3: Testing a Hypothesis

Answer the following questions:

What is a control and why is it an important part of an experiment? Provide an example of a control.

What is the difference between the control and controlled variables?

Why is it important that scientists are aware of the controlled variables in an experiment?

What are independent and dependent variables? Provide an example of each.

What did you learn from the “jelly bean” activity about sample size in experiments?

Include “Experimental Design” in the title of your post.

Option 3: Writing a Good Conclusion

Read Step 5: Stating Conclusions

Answer the following questions about the “E.coli kills cancer” article:

Which conclusions did the scientists make from the described experiments?

Which information about the experiments do you believe is missing in the article?

Where would you look to find this missing information?

Is the title of the article accurate? Why or why not?

Do you believe this is science or pseudoscience? Explain your answer.

Include “Conclusion” in the title of your post.

Week 2 discussion

Molecules of Life in Food

Course Outcome:

use knowledge of biological principles and the scientific method to ask relevant questions, develop hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, interpret results, and draw conclusions

Let us take a closer look at what we eat! Pick one food (or drink) and think about it in terms of molecules and atoms by answering the following questions:

Which plant and/or animal species is this food item made of? (if might be more than one for processed food items, check the list of ingredients).

State a hypothesis about which micro (vitamins and minerals) and macromolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) this item contain. Remember, a hypothesis is an educated guess or prediction of results.

After stating a hypothesis, do a web-search to find reliable scientific information about which nutrients this food item contains. Include a brief summary of your results.

Does your results support the hypothesis? Why or why not?

Pick one of the macromolecules (molecules of life) in this food and briefly describe the chemical structure. What are the building blocks? What is the role of this macromolecule in our body?

Pick one of the elements found in this macromolecule. Determine its atomic mass, atomic number, as well as number of protons, electrons and neutrons.

Include the name of the food you pick in the title of your post. You may need to use resources in addition to the course module and text book. Please ask if you need help with web and library search. Make sure you include references to your information resources. Give your answer a subject title that reflects the content.

Week 3 discussion

Science or Pseudoscience?

Use critical thinking, what you have learned in the OLI course modules, and a web-search to determine whether or not the following examples are Science or Pseudoscience.

Pick one of the examples below, try to locate a published peer-reviewed scholarly article that supports the claim, make a reference to something you read in the OLI course modules, and summarize your conclusion in 250- 400 words. Your conclusion must be supported by at least one reliable information source in addition to the OLI course material. Please cite this source at the end of your response.

If there are other examples you would like to investigate instead of the four provided, please send me a message so that I can approve it first.

You may find this article useful: Science and Pseudoscience in Adult Nutrition Research and Practice:http://www.csicop.org/si/show/science_and_pseudoscience_in_adult_nutrition_research_and_practice/

1. Green coffee supplements burn fat: http://www.greencoffeepremium.com/images/study1-greencoffee.pdf

2. The blood type diet improves your health: http://www.dadamo.com/program_welcome2.htm

3. The Atkins Diet will help you lose weight quickly: http://www.atkins.com/Program/Overview.aspx

4. Talking to your plants make them grow faster: http://organicgardening.about.com/b/2009/06/23/its-true-you-really-should-talk-to-your-plants-especially-if-youre-a-woman.htm

Give your post a title that describes your example

Week 4 discussion

Cancer Treatment

weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge

use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant questions and draw conclusions

Explain cancer based on what you have learned about mitosis.

Research one drug that is used to treat cancer and explain how this drug works. Does this drug’s mode of action and side effects have anything to do with mitosis? And if so, which phase of the cell cycle is affected? What specifically does this drug do inside the cell?

Include the name of the drug in the title of your post. Use a web search engine to find reliable information and as always include your references.

Fun Mitosis and Meiosis Video: Mitosis vs. Meiosis Rap Battle-ASAP Science

Week 5 discussion

Dominant and Recessive Traits

If you have not already done so, you may want to check out these videos about Punnett Squares:

Learn Biology: How to Draw a Punnett Square

Gregor Mendel’s Punnett Square

Complete this Mendelian Activity (click on “Go to Animation” and then the Play button for each step of the activity, you can skip the pea example with two traits) before preparing your response to this conference topic.

What are recessive traits?

What are dominant traits?

Describe one recessive OR one dominant human trait.

Do you, your (biological) parents, grandparents and/or kids have this recessive/dominant trait?

What is your phenotype for this trait? What is your likely genotype for this trait?

Show how you came to your conclusions using a Punnett Square (you can copy this table, or use the Insert table button in the text editor).

Include the trait in the title of your post. Use the text book and/or your favorite search engine/library to find information, include references.

Optional: Still struggling to understand Punnett Squares? Try these:

Chicken and lemming breeding: http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/Punnett/punnettsquares.html (I needed to open this in Internet Explorer-did not work in Chrome).

Detached and attached earlobes: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/genetics_puzzle.html

Week 6 discussion

Tree of Life

Course Outcomes:

make observations and discriminate between scientific and pseudoscientific explanations

weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge

use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant questions, interpret results, and draw conclusions

Go to the Tree of Life web-site. Look around and pick one species that you find interesting (living or extinct). Consider watching the “Tree of Life Web Project” video (11 min) at www.esciencelabs.com under Kingdoms of Life

Write 1-2 paragraphs about this species answering the following questions:

Try your best to find out which kingdom, phylum, class, order, family and/or genus this species belong to.

Who is this species closely related to? Ancestors? Were you surprised by any of its evolutionary relationships?

Which features does this species share with closely related species? What makes it unique?

Which environmental factors do you think have been important in the evolution of this species?

Is this information based on scientific evidence or pseudoscience?

Depending on the species you chose you may find information directly in the Tree of life web-page, from a list of links to information about this species, or you may have to do a web-search yourself. As always, include references.

Week 7 discussion

The Web of Life

Course Objective:

use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant questions and draw conclusions

Search the web to find a specific example that illustrates how changes in the population of one species affects populations of other species in the same ecosystem.

Discuss the cause(s) for change in populations (human activities involved?), label the species involved (producers, herbivores etc) and describe their interspecific interactions.

As always, include references.

Written Assignment 1- Trace the Scientific Method in a Primary Scientific Article

Addresses course outcomes 1 and 4:

recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems

weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge and the scientific method

Before starting this assignment you might want to revisit the Scientific Method Tutorial in the Science Learning Center under the Content area.

The original peer-reviewed research article that the above article discusses can be found in the Content area. You may want to look at the peer-reviewed scholarly article for more detail (not required).

* Yamauchi et al. (2010). Coffee and caffeine ameliorate hyperglycemia, fatty liver, and inflammatory adipocytokine expression in spontaneously diabetic KK-Ay mice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58 (9), 5597-5603. May 12, PMID: 20405946, ISSN: 1520-5118.

Researchers recently investigated (see summary in New Evidence That Drinking Coffee May Reduce the Risk of Diabetes) in laboratory mice whether or not coffee prevented the development of high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). The mice used in this experiment have a mutation that makes them become diabetic.

Answer the questions below based on the information given in the following paragraph.

A group of 11 mice was given water, and another group of 10 mice was supplied with diluted black coffee (coffee:water 1:1) as drinking fluids for five weeks. The composition of the diets and living conditions were similar for both groups of mice. Blood glucose was monitored weekly for all mice. After five weeks, there was no change in average body weight between groups. Results indicated that blood glucose concentrations increased significantly in the mice that drank water compared with those that were supplied with coffee. Finally, blood glucose concentration in the coffee group exhibited a 30 percent decrease compared with that in the water group. In the original paper, the investigators acknowledged that the coffee for the experiment was supplied as a gift from a corporation.

1. Identify and describe the steps of the scientific method. Which observations do you think the scientists made leading up to this research study? Given your understanding of the experimental design, formulate a specific hypothesis that is being tested in this experiment. Describe the experimental design including control and treatment group(s), and dependent and independent variables. Summarize the results and the conclusion (50 points)

2. Criticize the research described. Things to consider: Were the test subjects and treatments relevant and appropriate? Was the sample size large enough? Were the methods used appropriate? Can you think of a potential bias in a research study like this? What are the limitations of the conclusions made in this research study? Address at least two of these questions in your critique of the research study (20 points).

3. Discuss the relevance of this type of research, both for the world in general and for you personally (20 points).

4. Write answers in your own words with proper grammar and spelling (10 points)

Avoid plagiarism

It is very important to write with your own words. If you do copy one or two sentences directly (use sparingly), use quotation marks (“) around the copied text. All information sources need to be included in the reference list and as in-text references. Plagiarism will be reported to the proper UMUC authority. Guidance on how to avoid plagiarism can be found here: UMUC’s How to Avoid Plagiarism

Submission

Submit in assignment folder by due date stated in the course schedule.

Written Assignment 2-Biology and Technology in the Real World

Addresses course outcomes 2 and 3:

use knowledge of biological principles to ask relevant questions about the natural world

make observations and discriminate between scientific and pseudoscientific explanations

1. Select one of the topics listed below.

2. Find at least two information sources related to the topic. You can find assistance with searching for articles at the UMUC Library Subject Guides at http://libguides.umuc.edu/science.

3. Write a 750-1500 word paper, excluding references and title page. You must read the information sources that you find and summarize the information in your own words, addressing each of the questions and expectations for your chosen topic. Extensive quotes from the article are discouraged. Use APA style for citing references, see http://www.umuc.edu/library/guides/apa.html.

4. Post your assignment to your Assignments folder by the due date listed in the course schedule.

Topics (select one)

a) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs). What is the purpose genetic engineering of crop plants and domestic animals? Briefly explain how GMOs are created. What foods in your supermarket contain GMOs? Are foods that contain GMOs safe for human consumption? What types of regulations exist for these foods? Clearly explain your reasoning for each answer.

b) Stem cells. Your friend had a spinal cord injury after a bad car accident. The medical team has decided that he is a good candidate for a clinical trial using stem cell therapy. Your friend has not had a biology course since high school, so you decide to write him a letter sharing your knowledge of stem cells. Include in your letter a description of the biology of stem cells and how these cells are unique from other cells. Contrast the different types of stem cells, including pros and cons of each. Explain how stems cells are can be used to treat diseases and injury, with special focus on spinal cord injuries. Conclude with your own opinion.

c) Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) and tar sands (oil sands). With society’s dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels, the oil & gas industry is turning to the use of hydraulic fracturing and tar (oil) sands to extract natural gas and oil respectively. A friend asks you “What’s all this controversy in the news about fracking and tar sands?” Briefly explain to your friend how hydraulic fracturing and tar (oil) sands are used to obtain these fossil fuels. Then, in more detail, describe the environmental problems that may result from these processes and why they are controversial. Issues that may be addressed involves, but are not limited to, water, air and soil pollution, effects on human health, effects on other species and natural ecosystems. Finally, give your opinions on possible solutions to these environmental problems, with your reasoning backed by the references that you studied.