Biology 101 On-line Course Syllabus
Wayne's Word Index Noteworthy Plants Trivia Lemnaceae Biology 101 Botany Search

Biology 101: General Biology Lecture
On-line Course Syllabus, W.P. Armstrong, Instructor
NOTE: After Registering For This Class Be Sure To Send Professor Armstrong Your E-Mail Address
Put Biology 101 in the subject line of your message. If your e-mail address is not received by
the end of the 1st week of class, you will be replaced by another student on the waiting list.
Send An E-Mail Message To Professor Armstrong:
Disclaimer About This Course

Biology 101 On-line is designed for self-motivated students with average or above average computer skills. Since the five required exams are "open book," they are quite long (approximately 150-230 questions each) with numerous choices to reduce the odds of lucky quessing. Each exam is submitted electronically on an answer form. Due to the complexity of preparation, these exams will not be returned to individual students. All submitted forms will be computer analyzed and compared for completeness, correct answers and unlikely similarities between different answer forms. Questionable "cloned" submission forms with duplicate answer patterns will be carefully scrutinized and referred to the Life Sciences Department Chair for further review. There is no required textbook, only a recommended text listed in the syllabus below. All of the information necessary to answer the exam questions is on-line at the Wayne's Word website. Searching for answers to questions requires a considerable amount of reading through numerous pages on Wayne's Word. Although there are suggested deadlines for each exam to keep everyone on task, the only critical date is the final deadline at the end of the semester. The precise final deadline date and time will be announced each semester. Students may submit the exam forms at their own pace; however, it is preferable to follow the suggested deadlines in order to avoid getting behind. There is minimal student-teacher interaction in this course. Hint pages are provided for each exam that include useful hyperlinks and other helpful information. These pages are continuously updated by the instructor. Because of the substantial number of students enrolled in this on-line course, exam submissions cannot be extended beyond the final deadline. This is truly an on-line course with no required meetings on campus. It is definitely not for everyone, but is very convenient for students who simply cannot fit on-campus classes into their busy schedules. It contains all the information of a traditional on-campus Biology 101 compressed into the Wayne's Word pages. This course is explained in more detail in the following paragraphs.

Based upon a survey of past students, the average time spent on one exam is 20-25 hours. The exact time per exam will vary, because some exams are easier than others. A typical 3 unit on-campus lecture class requires 48 hours of classroom instruction plus a 2 hour final examination during finals week. In addition, the recommended out-of-class study time is at least 2 hours per unit per week. For the traditional on-campus Biology 101, this represents an additional 6 hours per week or 90 hours per semester.

1.  Information About This On-line Course

Note: Biology 101 On-line is designed primarily for students who need a three unit transferable (non-laboratory) biology/natural science elective, and who want to learn about the major principles of general biolgy. It is especially appropriate for students who cannot fit a traditional on-campus course into their schedules, or students who do not want to attend traditional lecture classes for whatever reason. This course is taken completely on-line, and there are no on-campus meetings, such as orientation sessions, seminars or proctored exams. The course involves the reading of pictorial articles (hyperlinked text) in Wayne's Word, and the submission of five on-line objective (multiple choice) exams based upon the reading material. The exams are long and range from 152 to 200 questions each. Biology 101 On-line is a self-learning, electronic course in which the student is provided with guidelines and information. Since it is not an interactive course, it is up to the student to search the information and find the answers to the exam questions. There are no chat sessions and a minimum of instructor-student contact through e-mail. During the past few years, Wayne's Word has grown and evolved into a large botanical encyclopedia containing literally hundreds of pages of articles, illustrations and color images. For this reason, the supplementary textbook for this course is recommended rather than required. This course is not for everyone; it is designed for self-motivated students who enjoy reading articles packed with information, and who can answer a lot of objective questions from the material they have read. Each of the five on-line exams must be completed in three weeks according to the schedule below. The course is summarized in more detail in the following sections.

2.  Course Description For Biology 101

Biology 101 General Biology:

Basic principles of general biology as they relate to the cellular, organismic and population levels of organization. Includes cell ultrastructure and function, energy transfer, reproduction, genetics, evolution, diversity of organisms, and ecology.

3.  Major Topics Included In Biology 101

I. Introduction

A. Course Overview
B. Characteristics of Living Things
C. The Nature of Science Compared to Non-Science
D. Scientific Method
E. Experimental vs. Observational Science

II. Chemistry

A. Atomic Structure: Subatomic Particles, Electron Shells
B. Chemical Bonding: Covalent, Ionic, Hydrogen Bonds
C. Biologically Important Compounds and Molecules

    1. Properties of Water
    2. Acids, Bases, Buffers
    3. Macromolecules: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins & Nucleic Acids

III. Cell Biology

A. Comparison of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cell Structures
B. Eukaryotic Cell Structure

    1. Functions of Organelles

      Nucleus
      Ribosome
      Endoplasmic Reticulum
      Mitochondrion
      Chloroplast
      Lysosome
      Golgi Complex
      Peroxisome (Microbody)
      Centriole
      Cilium/Flagellum
      Cytoskeleton

    2. Membrane Structure and Function
    3. Movement Across Membranes

      Diffusion/Osmosis
      Facilitated Diffusion
      Active Transport
      Endocytosis and Exocytosis

C. Energy Conversion in Eykaryotic Cells

    1. Laws of Thermodynamics
    2. Energy Flow: Photosynthesis, Cell Respiration

      2a. Photosynthesis

        1. Structure of the Chloroplast
        2. Light Reaction of Photosynthesis

          aa. Location
          ab. Photosystems and Their Pigments
          ac. The Role of H2O
          ad. The Role of NADP
          ae. The Role of Electron Transport
          af. Chemiosmotic Phosphorulation

        3. Light Independent Reaction - Calvin Cycle

          aa. The Role of RuBP
          ab. The Role of CO2
          ac. The Role of NADPH2
          ad. The Role of Rubisco Enzyme
          ae. The Role of ATP

        4. How Are Cycles Dependent On One Another
        5. Overall Equation
        6. C3 and C4 Photosynthesis

      2b. Cellular Oxidation of Glucose

        1. Mitochondrion Structure
        2. Glycolysis

          aa. Where is ATP Required
          ab. Where is ATP Produced
          ac. What is Net Gain in ATP
          ad. Compare Aerobic and Anaerobic Glycolysis
          ae. What is the Role of NAD
          af. What is the Purpose of Anaerobic Glycolysis

        3. Conversion of Pyruvate to AcCoA.
        4. Krebs Cycle and the Role of AcCoA

          aa. Role of NAD
          ab. Role of FAD
          ac. Net Gain of ATP

        5. Electron Transport System

          aa. What is the Role of FADH2 and NADH
          ab. What are its Components
          ac. What is the Role of O2
          ad. How Much ATP is Produced per NADH, FADH2

        6. Overall Equation For Cellular Oxidation of Glucose
        7. Net ATP Production Per Glucose

IV. Genetics: Heredity

A. Mendel's Laws and Modern Genetic Terminology
B. Monohybrid Crosses and Dihybrid Crosses
C. Patterns of Inheritance

    1. Dominant/Recessive
    2. Sex-linked
    3. Incomplete Dominance
    4. Co-dominance
    5. Polygenic Inheritance
    6. Multiple Alleles

D. The Genetics of ABO and Rh Blood Groups

V. Genetics: Molecular

A. Structure and Replication of DNA
B. Structure of RNA
C. Transcription and Translation
D. Control of Expression
E. Techniques of Molecular Genetics

    1. DNA Fingerprint
    2. PCR
    3. Techniques For Inserting Genes Into Cells

VI. Origin of Life

A. Spontaneous Generation
B. Chemosynthetic Origin

    1. Inorganics to Organics
    2. Organics to Macromolecules
    3. Protocells
    4. Other Considerations (RNA World?) As Time Permits

VII. Evolution (Origin of Species)

A. History of Development of Evolutionary Principle

    1. Lamarck
    2. Cuvier
    3. Malthus
    4. Darwin
    5. Lyell

B. Mechanisms of Evolution

    1. Genetic change
    2. Natural selection
    3. Genetic drift

C. Other Evolutionary Topics

    1. Adaptation
    2. Fitness
    3. Co-evolution/Co-adaptation
    4. Convergent vs. Parallel Evolution

D. Evidence For a Common Ancestry of Organisms (Evolution)

E. Speciation

    1. Allopatric
    2. Sympatric
    3. Parapatric

F. Human Evolution

VIII. Diversity of Nature Survey

A. Kingdom Survey Monera
B. Kingdom Survey Protista
C. Kingdom Survey Fungi
D. Kingdom Survey Plantae
E. Kingdom Survey Animalia

IX. Population Dynamics

A. General Population Characteristics

    1. Linear Growth
    2. Exponential Growth
    3. Logistic Populations
    4. Carrying Capacity
    5. Limiting Factors

B. Human Population Dynamics

    1. Birth Rate, Death Rate, & Annual Percentage Growth Rate
    2. Comparison Between More Developed & Less Developed Countries
      3. Methods and Ethics of Human Population Control

X. Ecology

A. Ecosystem Structure

    1. Abiotic Factors
    2. Biotic Factors

B. The Flow of Energy in Ecosystems

    1. Food Chains
    2. Food Webs
    3. Energy Pyramids
    4. Symbiotic Relationships

      a. Communalism
      b. Mutualism
      c. Parasitism

C. Major Ecosystems

    1. Marine
    2. Aquatic
    3. Estuarine
    4. Terrestrial

D. Biogeochemical Cycles

    1. Nitrogen
    2. Phosphorus
    3. Carbon/Oxygen
    4. Soil
    5. Water

E. Succession

    1. Primary
    2. Secondary

F. Others Topic in Ecology

    1. Biological Magnification
    2. Feedback Loops

G. Controversies in Ecology

    1. Greenhouse Warming
    2. Ozone Depletion
    3. Endangered Species List

Biology 101 On-Campus Course Syllabus On File At Palomar College

4.  Course Requirements And Grading:

This course requires the submission of five on-line exams according to the deadline schedule for fall and spring semesters outlined in the next section. The exams are multiple choice and matching, with 26 choices per question to reduce the probability of "lucky" guessing. Each exam covers 1/5 of the course. The last exam (Exam #5) is not comprehensive, it only covers the fifth unit of the course (Ecology and Population Growth). Answers to the questions are obtained by reading the numerous articles available on Wayne's Word. Articles corresponding to each of the five exams are outlined in the schedule of reading assignments.

Some students still feel they need a textbook, even though finding answers with Wayne's Word hyperlinks is easier and more efficient than searching through the index of a textbook. I must admit that some of the recent general biology textbooks contain numerous beautiful illustrations and have more detailed explanations than Wayne's Word. The textbook recommended for this course is Biology (Seventh Edition) by Sylvia S. Mader (2001), WCB/McGraw-Hill, New York, ISBN # 0-07-013657-2 and 0-07-118080-X (ISE). The book can be ordered on-line through amazon.com or through your local book dealer. Due to delays in processing orders and shipping, it is often much faster to order the book on-line. It may also be cheaper.

Answers to most of the exam questions can be found in selected Wayne's Word articles listed in the reading schedule. You may also find answers using the Wayne's Word Index or Search. During the past few years, Wayne's Word has grown and evolved into a large biological encyclopedia containing literally hundreds of pages of articles, illustrations and color images. For this reason, the supplementary textbook for this course is recommended rather than required. The recommended text provides a lot of information and illustrations in well-written chapters, and would definitely enhance the learning experience of an on-line course such a this. Answers to many of the questions can be found in other general biology textbooks available in public libraries. In addition, a World Wide Web search may be very rewarding for some of the topics. The bottom line here is that you don't need to buy a textbook for this course unless you really want one. Everything you need for this course in on-line at the Wayne's Word website.

All five exams are available in .htm and .pdf format in a special subdirectory. They may be accessed on-line using specific URLs which will be provided to each student enrolled in the course. It is strongly recommended that the student print out each exam and write the correct letter choice by each question. The reading and research for each exam will take 2-3 weeks. Upon completion of an exam on the hard copy, the student will enter the correct letter choices for each question on the submission form for each exam (also available in the exam directory).

Five Required On-line Exams:

Exam #1. Survey Of The Kingdoms Of Life ...................... 152 points
Exam #2. Biochemistry & Cell Structure/Function ............ 232 points
Exam #3. Mitosis, Meiosis & Life Cycle Patterns ............ 160 points
Exam #4. Mendelian Genetics and Immunology ............... 176 points
Exam #5. Ecological Principles & Population Growth ....... 224 points

Grade lookup table for Biology 101 is available on-line at:
https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/grlookup.htm#biology101

NOTE: The corrected exam forms will be sent to the instructor, and will not be returned to the student. For this reason, students should make a note of any questions they are unsure of while they are taking each exam. Difficult or confusing questions can be discussed with the instructor (see the section below about communication with the instructor). Another suggestion if you want to go over all the questions missed on an exam is to call and make an appointment with the instructor at Palomar College.

Two Grade Scales Are Better Than One

This course utilizes two grade scales, a traditional grade scale based on percentages of the total points, and a grade scale based on percentages of the highest student. It is NOT based on a curve where there must be a given number of A's, B's, C's, D's and F's. You will receive the higher of the two grade scales for your final grade in the course. Grade scales based on the highest student are often used in difficult courses where students seldom come close to the maximum possible points, and the traditional grade scale is much too stringent with few or no A's. My grade scale based on the highest student generally has more C's. It also has more A's and B's if the total points of the highest student are considerably less than the total possible points; however, in on-line classes, students often come closer to the total possible points, and consequently there are more A's using the traditional grade scale. The two grade scales are shown below:

Grade Scale Based On The Highest Student:

> 94.5% = A   > 84.5% = B   > 64.5% = C   > 49.5% = D   Less Than 49.5% = F

Grade Scale Based On The Total Possible Points:

> 90.0% = A   > 80.0% = B   > 70.0% = C   > 60.0% = D   Less Than 60.0% = F

The following cluster bar graph shows a typical biology class comparing the number of letter grades based on the total points (green) with the number of letter grades based on the highest student (red). A grade lookup table will be available to see the total points and the points achieved by each student during the semester. How to interpret the grade spreadsheet is explained under the section about grade lookup below.

At the end of a semester, I will compare each student's percentage based on the highest student with their percentage based on the total points (traditional grade scale). If you do better with the traditional grade scale, I will utilize that scale for your final grade. For example, on the grade scale based on the highest student 83.0% is a C. On the traditional grade scale 83.0% is a B, so you would receive a B for your final letter grade in the course rather than a C. Percentages are always rounded off to one decimal place; therefore, 83.68% = 83.7%, 89.42% = 89.4% and 89.45% rounds off to 89.5%.

5.  Reading Assignments

The successful completion of the on-line version of Biology 101 involves a considerable amount of reading from the many articles on Wayne's Word. A complete schedule of reading assignments corresponding with each of the five major exams is available below. Be sure to make a bookmark for this anchor (https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/bioonlne.htm#reading) because it is a very important reference page for this course. You may also look up articles and topics in the Index by clicking on the Index tab at the top of each page. In addition, you may also search for words or groups of words by clicking on the gray Search tab.

Unit
Wayne's Word Links:
Course Introduction
   1.  Biology 100 Course Syllabus
  2.  Biology 100 Syllabus Addendum
  3.  Biology 100 Laboratory Schedule
  4.  Links On The World Wide Web
  5.  Life Sciences Dept. Home Page
  6.  W.P. Armstrong's Home Page
  7.  Biography Of W.P. Armstrong
  8.  Biology Crossword Puzzles
  9.  Final Grade Lookup Table
1. The Kingdoms Of Life
   1.  The Five Kingdoms Of Life
  2.  Archaebacteria & Life On Mars
  3.  Cyanobacteria & Water Fern
  4.  Halophilic Bacteria & Algae
  5.  Desert Varnish Bacteria
  6.  The Algae (Kingdom Protista)
  7.  The Amazing Kingdom of Fungi
  8.  Marriage Between Algae & Fungi
  9.  The Major Divisions Of Life
10.  The Major Phyla Of Animals
11.  Diversity Of Flowering Plants
12.  Key To Duckweeds & Figs
  II. Cell Structure & Function  
   1.  Chemicals Of Living Systems
  2.  Physical Properties Of Cells
  3.  Imbibition & Power Of Plants
  4.  Plant Cells vs. Animal Cells
  5.  Diagrams: Molecular Models
  6.  Photosynthesis & Respiration
  7.  Cell Division (Mitosis)
  8.  DNA Structure & Function
  8.  PCR & DNA Sequencing
  9.  Link To Outstanding DNA Site
III. Life Cycle Patterns
   1.  Mitosis & Meiosis Compared
  2.  Life Cycle Patterns
  3.  Life Cycle Quiz Hint Page
  4.  Plant Life Cycle Explanations
IV. Genetics & Immunology
   1.  Mitosis Compared With Meiosis
  2.  Genetics Of Corn & Parakeets
  3.  Chi Square For Dihybrid Cross
  4.  Transposons: Jumping Genes
  5.  Red-Green Color Blindness
  6.  Determining A-B-O Blood Types
  7.  Polygenic Inheritance
  8.  Rh Factor: Polygenic Inheritance
  9.  Selection & Genetic Drift 
10.  Genetics Extra Credit Problems
11.  Articles About Plant Genetics
12.  Hybrids In San Diego County
13.  More Hybridization In Plants
14.  Poison Oak Immune Response 
V: Ecology & Adaptations
   1.  Some Ecological Principles 1
  2.  Some Ecological Principles 2
  3.  Articles About Plant Adaptations
  4.  Fire Ecology: Adaptations To Fire
  5.  The Rustyleaf Fig & Its Wasp
  6.  The Yucca & Yucca Moth
  7.  Ecological Adaptation Photos
  8.  Biomes of North America
  9.  The Growth Of Populations

Length of Articles: Some of the Wayne's Word files, such as Major Phyla of Animals, Major Divisions of Life, The Amazing Gourd Family, etc., are quite long and include a lot of (10+) .jpg and/or .gif images. Depending on your modem speed, time of day and service provider, they may take several minutes to fully load on your browser (unless you are lucky enough to have a T1 line, DSL or cable connection). For long articles such as these, it is recommended that you print out the article so you can refer to it off line. The articles contain a lot of information that will be invaluable to the completion of the five on-line exams. You can also save the articles to your hard drive, but you will need all the images in the same directory (folder) in order to view them properly. For especially long articles, it might be better to just go and make a cup of coffee while the pages load on your computer. A Wayne's Word CD will be available to students officially enrolled in Biology 101; however, since this site is constantly being revised, it is difficult to provide up-to-date CDs with the latest articles and images. More about this in section 11 below.

An Important Wayne's Word Tip

To speed up the loading time of a page, you may also set your browser to display the pages without images. In Internet Explorer go to Tools--Internet Options--Advanced--Multimedia: Then unclick the Show Pictures box. [In Netscape go to Edit--Preferences--Advanced: Then unclick the Automatically Show Image box.] Loading pages without images may be useful if you are only interested in doing a search for key words and explanations. Since image dimensions are included in the original html code, the text of most pages will appear in the proper spacial format. The assigned spaces for the images will appear as empty boxes. If you want to view the image, just right click on the empty box and click on Show Picture.

6.  Communication With Instructor Over The Internet

As stated previously, the on-line version of Biology 101 is a self-learning, electronic course in which the student is provided with guidelines and information. Since it is not an interactive course, it is up to the student to search the information and find the answers to the exam questions. The requirements for successful completion of this course involve a considerable amount of reading followed by the submission of five objective on-line exams. Although the exams are multiple choice/matching, they range in size from 152 to 200 questions, so it is important to stay on task and avoid getting behind schedule. This requires self motivation without procrastination. It is imperative to keep up with the schedule of submission dates for all five exams. There may be times when the student needs clarification of difficult concepts, or simply needs some guidance. The instructor can be reached by e-mail through a special address dedicated to this course. In fact, all e-mail must be directed to this address:

Send An E-Mail Message To Professor Armstrong:
Be sure to type Biology 101 in the subject line of your message. In addition, the instructor will be available for office hours by appointment. The exact times and dates will be determined prior to registration, and will be given to all students who officially register for the course.

7.  Submission Of Exams Over The Internet

Each of the five exams required for this course has a corresponding submission form that works like a machine-scored answer sheet. The five exams and five submission forms are located in a special subdirectory. The exams are available in .htm and .pdf format. They may be accessed on-line using specific URLs which will be provided to each student enrolled in the course. It is strongly recommended that each exam be printed out and the correct answers written on the hard copy before filling in the submission form. When an exam is completed, simply transfer the correct letter choices to the submission form for that particular exam. You must click on the box for each choice before typing in a letter, then you can simply tab over to the next question. You may use large or small case letters, but no other characters. Only one letter per box will be accepted. Some letter choices may be used more than once, and you may use all letters of the English alphabet from A to Z. When all the letter choices are entered on the submission form, fill in your name, e-mail address and class (Biology 101) at the bottom, and then click the submit button. If the answers are sent successfully, you will see another page come up in the web browser. If you don't see this page, it is possible that an error occurred during transfer and you should either resubmit your answers or notify your instructor by e-mail. Be sure to print out a copy of your completed submission form. Occasionally, a submitted exam is lost in cyberspace and never reaches my e-mail box. At least you will have a copy of the answer form and can resubmit it.

If you are really short on time, probably the quickest and easiest way to find information about specific word choices in the multiple choice exams is to use the gray, on-line "Search" tab (at the top of each Wayne's Word page). You can also use the "Edit-Find" (Control-F) command in your browser when a specific file is loaded. Some html editors such as Arachnophilia will allow you to open all the html files in Wayne's Word off-line at the same time, and then do "Edit-Find" (Control-F) on all the files collectively (globally). To do a global search off-line, it will be necessary to have all the Wayne's Word html files saved in a subdirectory on your hard drive, or on a storage device such as a zip drive or CD. With a printed hard copy of each exam in front of you, simply go through each matching choice to find information about specific words. As stated above, the possibility of providing a Wayne's Word CD at a reasonable cost to students is being considered; however, since this site is constantly being revised, it is difficult to provide up-to-date CDs with the latest articles and images.

Whether to use .pdf or .html files for viewing and printing exams:

If you want a crisp, printed document with the quality and formatting of the original word processor program it was created on, it is preferable to use the .pdf format. Pdf files preserve the original integrity of a document so that it displays correctly on different computer systems (unlike word processor documents that can appear drastically different depending on the viewing program and monitor). This is especially true when the document contains a lot of illustrations and photo images. For example, Exam #3 (Mitosis, Meiosis & Life Cycle Patterns) contains a number of illustrations that appear much sharper when printed from a .pdf file. In addition, the Adobe Acrobat Reader allows you to zoom in on an illustration to see cellular detail. In order to view the .pdf file you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader program on your computer. It may be downloaded free from the Adobe Web Site.

To download an exam in .pdf format, simply right click on the .pdf icon that appears on each exam at the top of the page. This will save the .pdf file to your hard drive where you can view or print it off line. Depending on your modem speed and service provider, it may take a few minutes, but the wait is worth it when you see how easy it is to view and print the exam directly from your hard drive. When you no longer need the file, simply highlight and delete it.
On each exam right click on this icon to download the .pdf version.

8.  Emergency Submission Of Exams

If for some reason beyond your control, you cannot submit an exam via the Internet, please contact Professor Armstrong through his e-mail address at:

Send An E-Mail Message To Professor Armstrong:
Be sure to type Biology 101 in the subject line of your message. This dire emergency could be caused by a multitude of problems, including computer or modem malfunction, software configuration or corruption, phone line or cable connections, or problems with your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If the problem persists and cannot be resolved during a reasonable time period, it may be necessary for you to use a high speed Internet computer at your nearby library or the Computer Lab at the Palomar College library.

9.  Deadline For Submission Of All Exams:

It is strongly suggested that you place a calender near your computer
and highlight the weeks according to the following fall/spring schedule:

Exam #
Spring Semester
Fall Semester
Exam #1 By End of 2nd Week of Feb. By End of 2nd Week of Sept.
Exam #2 By End of 1st Week Of Mar. By End of 1st Week of Oct.
Exam #3 By End of 4th Week of Mar. By End of 4th Week of Oct.
Exam #4 By End of 3rd Week of Apr. By End of 3rd Week of Nov.
Exam #5 By End of 2nd week of May By End of 2nd Week of Dec.

10.  Grade Lookup Over The Internet

The course grades for Biology 101 will be posted on the Internet following the submission date for each of the five exams. A spreadsheet summary will include the student ID number, total points, percent of total points, percent of highest student, letter grade (based on percent of highest student), and numerical scores for each of the five exams.

Grade lookup table for Biology 101 is available on-line at:
https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/grlookup.htm#biology101

The following table summarizes all the information in the grade lookup spreadsheet for Biology 101 On-line:


------------------------------------------------------------
 Biology 101 On-line  Spring 2000  W.P. Armstrong, Instructor
------------------------------------------------------------
       TOTL   % of    % of      EXAM  EXAM  EXAM  EXAM  EXAM
ID #    PTS   TOTL    HIGH   GR  # 1    #2    #3    #4    #5
        584    PTS    STUD        96   200    96    96    96
                      ****        96   200    96    96    96

 7377   504  86.3%  100.0%   A    83   174    87    76    84
 8622   285  48.8%   56.5%   D    20   120    68    42    35
 5645   331  56.7%   65.7%   C    45   122    56    53    55
 2478   427  73.1%   84.7%   B    67   166    69    59    66
 9324   391  67.0%   77.6%   C    61   136    75    50    69
 3031   387  66.3%   76.8%   C    57   122    66    66    76


SUMMARY OF GRADES:

TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS:   6

HIGHEST TOTAL POINTS:     504
[DIVIDED INTO INDIVIDUAL TOTALS TO GET % OF HIGHEST STUDENT]

TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE:    584
[DIVIDED INTO INDIVIDUAL TOTALS TO GET % OF TOTAL POINTS]

    BASED ON HIGHEST STUDENT:         BASED ON TOTAL POINTS:

  # of A's:      1   % of A's: 16.7%      TOTAL # A's:     0
  # of B's:      1   % of B's: 16.7%      TOTAL # B's:     1
  # of C's:      3   % of C's: 50.0%      TOTAL # C's:     1
  # of D's:      1   % of D's: 16.7%      TOTAL # D's:     2
  # of F's:      0   % of F's:  0.0%      TOTAL # F's:     2

      Grade Scale Lookup Table: 0.0% 49.5% 64.5% 84.5% 94.5%
       [Based On Top Student]      F     D     C     B     A

      Grade Scale Lookup Table: 0.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0%
       [Based On Total Points]     F     D     C     B     A

11.  How To Expedite The Completion Of On-line Exams

A Note To Students Enrolled In Biology 101:

A Wayne's Word CD is available on-line. All the files necessary to facilitate the completion of the five Botany 115 exams are on this CD. Note: This CD does not contain the actual exams and submission forms. They may be accessed on-line using specific URLs which will be provided to each student enrolled in the course. If you would like a CD and are willing to pay $20.00 to cover shipping and cost of handling, please Click Here to view the order form. Before ordering, you might want to read the following section to decide whether you really need the CD. Note: If your CD player is less than 16X we cannot guarantee that it will read the Wayne's Word CD properly. In addition, combination DVD/CD players are sometimes finicky with recordable CD data disks.

Expedite The Completion Of On-line Exams:

1. If you have a high speed Internet Connection, such as a T-1 line, DSL or cable connection, you can easily look up words and information on-line using the Search tab at the top of each Wayne's Word page.

2. If you are using a dialup modem through an ordinary telephone line, you might consider accessing Wayne's Word off-line from a CD. Using your browser, simply open 0index.htm on your CD, then navigate through Wayne's Word as though you have a high speed Internet connection. If space is available on your hard drive (about 70 megabytes), you can copy all of the Wayne's Word html (.htm) files and image files (.gif & .jpg) to your hard drive. Copy the html files into a folder on your hard drive named wayne (C:\wayne) and copy the images into a subfolder within the wayne folder called images (C:\wayne\images). Then, when files are updated on the internet, you can right click on the pages (and images) and save them into the appropriate folders on your hard drive. Remember that all image files go into C:\wayne\images and all html files go into C:\wayne. If the files are not in their correct folders on your hard drive, the Wayne's Word links will not work properly. Once you have all the files on a CD (or on your hard drive), you can open them at the same time. An html editor such as Arachnophilia will open all the files simultaneously if your computer has sufficient memory. We have tried this successfully with 150 mhz pentiums with only 32 megabytes of ram. You may download Arachnophilia free from arachnoid.com. Or perhaps a better way is just to save all the files in the Hint Pages to your hard drive. Read the following text box for instructions.

How To Save Specific Articles To Your Hard Drive

Newer versions of Internet Explorer (5.0 and higher) will automatically save a Wayne's Word article (and all the associated images) to a designated folder on your hard drive. To avoid long Internet page loads, articles listed in the Hint Page for a specific exam can easily be copied to your hard drive. You must first make a designated directory or folder to house these Wayne's Word files.

Open Windows Explorer and click on File--New--Folder. Type in a name for the folder, such as Wayne. Make sure the folder was created within your C: (root) directory, otherwise you might have trouble finding it. Now you can save your Wayne's Word pages to this folder. You can search through these files to find answers without connecting to the Internet. When you finish with an exam you can simply delete the files within the folder, or delete the entire folder.

When you open a Wayne's Word page while connected to the Internet, click on File--Save As--Save In. Just type in the name of your Wayne folder or find it by clicking on the down arrow and then click on C:. With your Wayne folder highlighted, click on Open and then click on Save. The article and all the associated image files will be automatically saved to the Wayne folder in your C: directory.

3. After all the files are opened on your desktop, use the Edit-Find (Control-F) command in a text editor, such as Arachnophila, to globally locate specific word choices from the exam questions. Search through all the files for different word choices from all the exam questions. This may seem repetitious, but you can make it into a challenging game and hopefully learn something about plants and people in the process. Remember that when you are ready to fill in an exam submission form and send it off, you must be connected on-line.

4. Another method of finding specific files containing key words or phrases is to use the Find command in Windows 98 or newer versions of Windows. Try this by clicking on Start--Find--Files or Folders. The Find: All Files window will appear on your screen. Go to Look In and click on Browse and then click on your CD drive (or C:\wayne folder) and click OK. A CD icon (or folder icon) and the drive letter of your CD (or C:\wayne) will appear in the Look In: box. Type a word into the Containing Text box. Leave the Named box blank. Click on Find Now. The Wayne's Word file (files) that contains this word will be listed. Double click on the file and it will automatically open in your default browser. Then use the Edit-Find command (Control-F) to find the word on that page. Click New Search when you are ready for another word and repeat the above operations.

5. For some word choices, it might be quicker to look them up in a dictionary. For example, if you try Edit-Find on the word ester, it will flag all sorts of words containing ester, such as western, southwestern, cholesterol, etc. The answer I wanted was the general type of chemical produced when an alcohol (such as glycerol) reacts with organic acids (such as fatty acids) to form triglycerides (fat molecules). You will eventually find this information in the files about the chemistry of oils (plmar99.htm and chemid1.htm), but you may need to go through a lot of other files containing the letters "ester" before you find the ester that is a fat molecule. Some of the Wayne's Word articles are fairly extensive and cover most of the questions in certain exams. For example, in the biochemistry sections of Exam #2, you may only need to have the files chemid1.htm and chemid2.htm open on your desktop. Similarly, for Exam #1 "Survey Of The Kingdoms Of Life," you may only need the files trfeb98.htm, trmar99.htm and trnov01.htm to be open.

6. I have prepared Hint Pages for the exams with difficult questions. The hint pages can be accessed at the Biology 101 Home Page. It is strongly suggested that you print out these Hint Pages and use them with the corresponding exam. They contain valuable links, images, diagrams and all sorts of helpful suggestions to get you through the exams. The Hint Pages should alleviate some of the frustration trying to answer on-line questions in high-memory-load courses of this type with a maze of information spread throughout a massive web site.

An Important Wayne's Word Tip

As I stated above, to speed up the loading time of a page you can set your browser to display the pages without images. Loading pages without images may be useful if you are only interested in doing a search for key words and explanations. You can turn off the image display on your browser to speed up the loading time of Wayne's Word pages. In Windows Explorer click on Internet Options in the Tools Menu, and then click on the Advanced Tab. Scroll down to Multimedia and uncheck the "Show Pictures" Box. The pages will load much faster, but there will be blank spaces where the images would normally appear.

12.  How To Evaluate Biology 101 On-Line

Palomar College encourages student evaluation of all on-line classes. At the end of the semester, simply go to on-line evaluation site and enter your current student ID number and password to login.

13.  How To Withraw From Biology 101 On-Line

If you find it necessary to drop this class, be sure to submit an official withdrawal request before the deadline listed in the class schedule. This information is also available on-line by using Student E-Services at the Palomar College home page. The deadline for withdrwal from a class is the last day of the 8th week of classes. Withdrawal after the 8-week deadline is not permitted and you will receive an evaluative grade for the semester. Incomplete is not an option for Biology 101 On-Line. If you receive a F or FW in this course, your only option is to successfully repeat the course and file a change of grade form available at the Office of Admissions and Records.