Syllabus for BIOL 411 Laboratory (Summer Session)

Contact Information:
Instructor: Ashton Bain
Email: amb1140@wildcats.unh.edu
Office: Rudman 201 AB

Course Overview
The laboratory component of BIOL 411 serves as an introduction to the scientific method by
employing techniques commonly used in the fields of cellular and molecular biology. This will
be fulfilled by applying an inquiry-based approach to the materials and content presented in
lecture. The techniques and skills gained from this lab are applicable in many areas of the life
sciences and will serve as the basis for future courses such as microbiology, genetics,
physiology, and biochemistry.

Specific Learning Objectives

A successful student should be able to…
1. Understand and actively engage in the three basic steps of scientific inquiry:
Hypothesis, Experimentation, and Observation.
2. Competently carry out techniques in molecular biology, including microscopy,
spectrometry, gel electrophoresis, bioinformatics, and other basic laboratory
techniques.
3. Analyze and present data through Excel spreadsheets and peer presentations.
4. Conduct reviews of relevant literature
5. Apply concepts of cellular and molecular biology to real-world settings through the use
of live organismal models.

Accessibility Statement:
If you require special accommodations in this course, please register with the Student
Accessibility Office for assistance in developing a plan to address your academic needs. Have a
copy of your current accommodation letter sent to the instructor, so the appropriate
modifications can be made. Please see the Instructor/TA to discuss your accommodations
after the first lab meeting. For more information, visit Student Accessibility Services in 201
Smith Hall (862-2607) or visit online at http://www.unh.edu/studentaccessibility.

Academic policies
Be familiar with the University policies on Academic honesty, you are expected to have read
and adhere to all academic policies found in the UNH Rights, Rules and Responsibilities
handbook, which is available online at https://www.unh.edu/student-life/2017-2018-student-
rights-rules-and-responsibilities.

Examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to the following:

• Direct use of sources without proper citations and paraphrasing.
• Submitting a report which is not your own original work, including jointly written
sections or sections taken directly from the group presentation.
• Turning in old lab reports, regardless of whether they are your own

1
Plagiarism is a very serious offense. Even if it seems inconsequential, failure to comply with
these guidelines can result in failure of the assignment or the course.

Course Grades:

Assignment: Weight:
• Three lab reports .30
• Weekly participation and attendance .20
• Four online quizzes .15 94-100 A
• Three “My Proposed Experiment” forms .15 90-93 A-
• Oral presentation .10 87-89 B+
• Final research project and presentation .10 84-86 B
• There are no make-ups for missed labs 80-83 B-
77-79 C+
Example grade calculation 74-76 C
Score Weight 70-73 C-
Lab reports 83% X .30 67-69 D+
Participation 97% X .20 64-66 D
60-63 D-
Quizzes 91% X .15 <60 F
MPE Forms 100% X .15
Oral Presentation 86% X .10
Project 89% X .10

Weighted Score = (83 X .30) + (97 X .20) + (91 X .15) + (100 X .15) + (86 X .10) + (89 X .10)
= 25 + 19 + 14 + 15 + 9 + 9
= 91 (translates to an A-)

Written lab reports:

The written lab report must be composed and typed by each student individually. The lab
reports will follow standard scientific format: brief introduction/presentation of the problem
being addressed, materials and methods, results, and conclusions. Brief feedback will be
included on Canvas when grades are released—reading and applying this feedback will be the
key to improvement on future reports.

Copying all or part of another person’s lab report is plagiarism, and will be treated as such. It is
fine to discuss the meaning of your results with your lab partner, but once you begin charting
your results and writing your report, it must reflect your own data analysis and writing.

Graphs must be prepared using Excel spreadsheets and the charting functions. Curve-fitting
and trendline analysis must be performed by Excel—not by eye.

Online Quizzes:
In order to ensure a basic understanding of the procedures, each student is responsible for
reading their lab protocol and taking an individual, online prelab quiz. The quiz will be
available on your Canvas site from 12:01am –11:59pm the day prior to day 1 of each module.
No late submissions will be accepted. Each quiz will be open for 15 minutes for one attempt.

2
My proposed experiment:
At the end of the lab session in day one of a module, each individual will be required to fill out
a ‘my proposed experiment’ form that they have printed and brought with them. This form
should be signed by the TA/instructor before the end of day 1, and you will keep this form as a
general protocol for day 2 of each module. These forms should be turned in to the TA on the
day lab reports are due for credit.

Oral Presentation:
As a group, you will present your findings in day three of each module. Each group will rotate
which portion of the presentation each individual is responsible for—you will receive your
assigned sections on day one of the lab meetings. You will then need to prepare a PowerPoint
presentation that is approximately 10 minutes in length discussing your group’s experiment
and findings.

Final Research Presentation:

After learning techniques for the last module, your group will have two weeks to prepare a
ten-minute presentation followed by a brief class discussion of a topic relevant to the field of
biotechnology (cloning, forensics, etc.). This presentation will follow a similar format to
previous presentations, discussing the background, technical methods, and applications of the
topic of interest. We will use the third week of this module as a workshop day to research and
prepare presentations, with presentations taking place the last week of the semester.

Biology 411 Laboratory Schedule

Unit Lab Date Activity
Module #
Introduction 21-May Safety, Lab Report Guidelines, Pipetting
Molecular Foundations 1 22-May Designing scientific experiments, Memorial
of Biology 23-May Day-No Lab
29-May
30-May Cell Structure and Function
Cellular Biology 2 4-June
5-June
Cell Physiology & 3 6-June Energetics and Photosynthesis
Communication 11-June
12-June
Genetics and Molecular 4 13-June DNA isolation and analysis
Biology 18-June
19-June
20-June