Class schedule for Bio 40 (Fall 2025)
| Date | Topic | Reading | Labs & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 11 | Intro/Welcome What is life? | Syllabus, Chapter 1 – 1.5 | |
| Aug 13 | Intro to scientific inquiry | Chap 1.6 BioSkills 1 (P. 21 (7e); P. 19 (6e)): Measurements Chap 9 of Zen & the art… Watch HHMI video on Pocket Mice | Lots of reading for today. Give yourself enough time for it. Measurements lab. |
| Aug 18 | Chemical Basis of life | Chap 2.1 BioSkills 14: Chemical structures | |
| Aug 20 | Water and life | Chap 2.2 – 2.5 Bioskills 16: Primary literature | R lab: Bring a computer Primary Literature Lab |
| Aug 25 | Proteins | Chap 3 | |
| Aug 27 | Nucleic acids | Chap 4 Bioskills 2: Graphs Bioskills 8: Spectrophotometry | Protein lab (full lab report required) |
| Sep 01 | No Class – Labor day | ||
| Sep 03 | Carbohydrates | Chap 5 | Macromolecules lab 1st draft of protein lab (intro only) due. Peer review of intro. Refer also to Ye et al. (2016) paper. |
| Sep 08 | Exam 1 | Exam on Chapters 1 – 5 | |
| Sep 10 | Lipids and membranes | Chap 6 Protein paper (Ye et al., 2016). Read the intro. | Diffusion and Osmosis lab 1st draft of protein lab due Peer review of protein lab |
| Sep 15 | Cells I | Chap 7 – 7.3 Bioskills 9: Microscopy | |
| Sep 17 | Cells II | Chap 7.4 – 7.6 | Microscopy lab Final draft of protein lab due |
| Sep 22 | Energy and Enzymes | Chap 8 – 8.2 | |
| Sep 24 | Enzymes | Chap 8.3 – 8.5 | Enzymes lab (full lab report required) |
| Sep 29 | Cellular respiration I | Chap 9 – 9.4 Bioskills 12: Interpreting models | |
| Oct 01 | Cellular respiration II | Chap 9.5 | Enzymes lab (day 2) |
| Oct 06 | Fermentation | Chap 9.6 | Intro for enzymes lab due. Peer review of intro. |
| Oct 08 | Photosynthesis I | Chap 10 – 10.3 | Respiration lab |
| Oct 13 | EXAM 2 | Exam on chapters 6-9 | |
| Oct 15 | Photosynthesis II | Chap 10.4 – 10.5 | Fermentation lab 1st draft of Enzymes lab due. Peer review. |
| Oct 20 | Cell cycle and Mitosis | Chap 12 | |
| Oct 22 | Meiosis | Chap 13 Bioskills 3: Error bars | Photosynthesis lab Enzymes lab due. |
| Oct 27 | Mendel and Intro to genetics | Chap 14 – 14.3 | |
| Oct 29 | Linkage and Mendel’s extensions | Chap 14.4 – 14.5 | Mitosis/Meiosis lab |
| Nov 03 | Human genetics, pedigrees | Chap 14.6 Bioskills 4: Probabilities | |
| Nov 05 | Genetics problems | Bioskills 3: Statistical tests | Maize genetics lab |
| Nov 10 | Genetics review. | ||
| Nov 12 | EXAM 3 | Exam on chapters 10-14 | PTC lab (day 1); Oral report required |
| Nov 17 | DNA and DNA replication | Chap 15 Bioskills 6: Electrophoresis Bioskills 7: Centrifugation | |
| Nov 19 | Transcription | Chap 16 – 16.2 Chap 17 – 17.2 | PTC lab (day 2) |
| Nov 24 | Translation | Chap 16.3 – 16.4 Chap 17.3 – 17.5 | |
| Nov 26 | Biotechnology | Chap 20 – 20.4 Bioskills 10: PCR part only | pGLO day 1 |
| Dec 01 | Gene expression in prokaryotes | Chap 18 | |
| Dec 03 | Gene expression in eukaryotes | Chap 19 | pGLO day 2 and PTC lab student presentations |
| Dec 08 | FINAL EXAM 8:45-11:15 | Comprehensive final exam |