Nucleic Acids Syllabus Q2 2008-2009
Syllabus
Nucleic Acids Q2 2008-2009
0.5 Honors Biology Credit
Course Description: Nucleic acids can arguably be calledthe most important biomolecules. DNA contains the code for all genetic information, and RNA translatesthat code into proteins that carry out those instructions. Modern science is based upon ourknowledge of these molecules and our ability to manipulate them. Members of this class will study DNA replication,transcription and RNA translation. Students will perform experiments including plasmid purification,endonuclease restriction, DNA methylation, ligation, bacterial transformationand the polymerase chain reaction, and others.
Essential Question: How can a technique using nucleic acids advance our knowledge of thenatural world?
Grading System:
Laboratory work 30%
Lab notebook 25%
Ownership 10%
Research reports 20%
Tests & Quizzes 15%
Course text is:
Micklos, David, and Greg Freyer. DNA Science : A FirstCourse. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2003.
There is no exhibition for this course.
Portfolio items are your LabNotebook and Research Reports.
Additional information may befound at portaportal.com
On the right side of the page,under Guest Access, type carolgates as the password. On the next page, clickthe arrow on the left side of Nucleic Acids
Ownership is based upon student's contribution to classdiscussion and participation in other class work. This requires the student to be prepared for the class. If homework is not completed, yourclass participation grade is affected. Please come to class prepared with pencil,a notebook in which to put notes, your text book, your lab notebook andanything else you require.
Laboratory work is graded on your participation in the lab,including accuracy, cooperation with your lab partner, overall performance and,most importantly, your willingness to engage in the lab activity without havingto be prompted.
Lab notebooks should be an accurate record of yourexperimental work, recorded at the time you perform the experiment. You may not erase entries, but you maycross out and start over. Each labreport should contain the date, purpose, procedure, results anddiscussion. The purpose is thereason you are doing the experiment. The procedure should record how chemicals are made, any mathematicalformulae you use, and the methods you use to perform the experiment, such thatany other scientist could repeat the experiment using only your labnotebook. The results are thefacts you obtain from the experiment, while the discussion should contain yourhypothesis as to why you got the results you did, and an analysis of yourmethods, i.e., did you perform the experiment correctly, did you miscalculateanything or make other errors. Itshould also include a discussion of the methods and answers to any questionsthe lab handouts might propose.
Research reports will be on the nucleic acid methods ofother scientists. They should be10-20 minute oral reports, delivered to the class, and designed to educate theclass about new techniques in nucleic acids. They should include graphs andother visuals from the research. They should be taken from reputable scientificjournals, whether online or hard copy, such as PNAS, Nature, or Science. I have a subscription to Science, withhard copies in the lab and a password for the online journal.
Homework will include readings of text, both online andhandouts. Generally, you will haveone to two days to finish the readings. Ownership points will be deducted for those students who have notcompleted the reading.
Tests will be announced at least a week in advance (andlisted, below) while quizzes may be announced ahead of time or not. Three of the quizzes will count towardyour grade and are equal to one test.
Reports:
1st Report due Monday, November 17
2nd Report due Monday, December 8
3rd Report due Friday, January 9
4th Report due Monday, January 19
Tests
1st interim test Thursday, November 20
Midterm test Friday, December 5
2nd interim test Thursday, December 18
Final exam Friday, January 16
END
