General Course
Information:
EEEB W2001.001 Environmental and Evolutionary Biology
I: Molecules to Cells
TR 01:10P-02:25P
614 SCHERMERHORN
Robert E., Pollack
E-mail: [email protected]
First- and second-year students who have not yet
taken general chemistry, and premedical students with any major. While all
students from all undergraduate schools of the University who are interested in
the subjects covered are welcome as well, this course is designed to meet the
particular requirements of the following majors in the College:
Biology, if followed by BIOL 2006.
General Chemistry should be taken concurrently.
Environmental Biology, if
accompanied by EEEB 2002.
This major is sponsored jointly by the Departments of
Biology and EEEB.
Premedical students in any year may take this course
and BIOL 2006 to satisfy the pre-med requirement of a year of introductory
biology. See the Pre-professional office of your school for details.
"Biological Science," 2nd
Edition, by Scott Freeman, published by Prentice Hall in 2005, is required for
this course. The 2002 First edition is
not as good, and all references in the course will be to the second edition.
"Signs of Life," by Robert Pollack,
published in paperback by Houghton Mifflin, is strongly recommended.
Chapters of each book are indicated in the syllabus
for each class. Chapters are identified by the author's last name's initial and
chapter number (e.g. Chapter 1 in Freeman will appear on the syllabus as
"F1" and Chapter 1 in Pollack will appear as "P1").
Other books on reserve in the Biology library, 6th
floor Fairchild, include
L. Margulis, "Early Life;"
R. Dawkins, “Climbing Mount Improbable;”
R. Pollack, "The Missing Moment."
M. Rose, “Evolution and Ecology of the
Environment”
Classes, recitations and exams will be organized so
as to accommodate religious observances wherever possible.
Exams and recitations will be based on class lectures
rather than textbook content, so regular attendance in class and recitation is
strongly encouraged. The grade for the course is based on class rank
on two midterm exams and a final exam along with participation in recitation
and lecture. From the sum of these three, a final grade will be
assigned according to cutoffs to be determined by the instructors after the
final exam.
The instructors are always available by email appointment
to discuss any aspect of this course during the semester.
Answers to students' questions and other useful items
will be posted on Courseworks.
In the fall semester the following secular and
religious observances (taken from the nyc.gov website) will impact on the
syllabus.
|
Rosh Hashanah: First/Second Day |
October 4-5, Tues-Wed |
|
Yom Kippur |
October 13, Thurs |
|
Succoth: First/Second Day |
October 18-19, Tues-Wed |
|
Shemini Atzereth |
October 25, Tues |
|
Idul-Fitr: First Day |
November 3, Thurs |
|
Election Day |
November 8, Tues |
|
Thanksgiving Day |
November 24, Thurs |
Syllabus Fall
2005
Environmental and Evolutionary
Biology I: Molecules to Cells
Class Date Topic
Modern cell
biology from an evolutionary point of view.
1 9/6 T I: Introduction F1
9/7 W Recitation
2 9/8 R II: Natural selection F1
NOTES: lecture 1, lecture 2
The origin of
molecules.
3 9/13 T I: Atoms, molecules,
bonds, water F2
9/14 W Recitation
4 9/15 R II: Biological
molecules; lipids and polysaccharides F5,
6
5 9/20 T III: Proteins and
nucleic acids F3,
4
9/21 W Recitation
NOTES: lecture 3, lecture 4, lecture 5
The origin of
cells.
6 9/22 R I: Prokaryotes,
endosymbiosis and eukaryotes F7,
28
7 9/27 T II: The membranes of cells today,
trans-membrane F8
proteins,
cell-cell interaction
9-28 W Recitation
NOTES: lecture 6, lecture 7
The origin of
energy transfer systems.
8 9/29 T I: Introduction to useful energy F2
Exam I 10/3 M **
Exam I: lectures 1-7 **
9 10/6 R II: Energy and the history of cells F2
10 10/11 T III: Energy in bonds vs. energy in movement F6
10/12 W No Recitation
11 10/17 M IV: Glycolysis and fermentation F9
10/19 W Recitation
12 10/20 R V: Chemiosmosis and photosynthesis F10
13 10/24 M VI:
Chemiosmosis and oxidative phosphorylation; F9
summary
of evolution of energy transfer
NOTES: lecture 8, lecture 9, lecture
10, lecture 11, lecture 12, lecture 13
The origin of
information transfer systems.
14 10/27 R I. Using energy to conserve genetic
information F14; P1,2
15 10/31 M II: Prokaryote versus eukaryote inheritance F15; P1, 2
16 11/1 T III: Mitosis, meiosis, cell cycle F11,12;
P1, 2
11/2 W Recitation
17 11/10 R IV:
Linkage maps, human phenotypes F13;
P5
NOTES: lecture 14, lecture 15, lecture 16, lecture
17
The molecules of
information transfer.
18 11/14 M I: DNA: the genetic molecule F14,20; P2, 3
19 11/15 T II:
DNA replication, RNA transcription F15,
16; P3, 4
11/16 W Recitation – Exam Review
Exam II 11/17 R **
Exam II: lectures 8-17 **
20 11/22 T III:
RNA translation F16; P3, 4, 5
21 11/29 T IV: Gene regulation F17,
18; P3, 4, 5
NOTES: lecture 18, lecture 19, lecture 20, lecture
21
Evolution from
a molecular point of view
22 12/1 R I: Origins of genetic variation:
mutation, F23,24; P5, 6
non-reciprocal
recombination, gene families.
23 12/6 T II: Microevolution by loss of HW
equilibrium due F24
to
selection
12/7 W Recitation
24 12/8 R III: Macroevolution from microevolution:
speciation F25
NOTES: lecture 22, lecture 23, lecture 24
*** TBD Reading Period / Review Session