Biology I Laboratory Manual

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This set of Biology I lab assignments ensures students have the opportunity to apply the concepts and information they learn as they work through Biology I course content. Content includes lab assignments for students, as well as Instructor Materials Preparation for each lab with detailed lists of what faculty members need for each lab. The materials required are broken down by student (or groups of students). These lab materials were developed by faculty at College of the Redwoods and Tidewater Community College.

Course Introduction
This set of Biology I lab assignments ensures students have the opportunity to apply the concepts and information they learn as they work through Biology I course content. Content includes lab assignments for students, as well as Instructor Materials Preparation for each lab with detailed lists of what faculty members need for each lab. The materials required are broken down by student (or groups of students).
Faculty Resources
This course comes with a collection of OER faculty resources. Since they are openly licensed, you may use them as is or adapt them to your needs. To preserve academic integrity and prevent students from gaining unauthorized access to faculty resources, we verify each request manually.
Module 10: Human Inheritance
In this lab, you will explore human traits governed and not governed by Mendelian Genetics as well as solving some genetic problems in humans. Furthermore, you will perform a pedigree analysis to trace the inheritance pattern using a pedigree chart. Finally, you will be given more practice problems to check your understanding of human genetic inheritance.
Module 11: DNA Structure and Function
Our genetic information is coded within the macromolecule known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA belongs to a class of organic molecules called nucleic acids. The building block of all nucleic acids is a structure called a nucleotide. A nucleotide has three parts: phosphate, deoxyribose sugar, and a nitrogen base. James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the 3D shape of DNA in the early 1950s. The shape, which they described as a double helix, has the shape of a twisted ladder.
Module 12: Diversity of Life
How many types of living things are on the earth? How might we categorize different life forms? The purpose of this lab is to provide you some background knowledge and experience in exploring the diversity of life. There are two parts to this lab. First, you are expected to learn about the different organisms. This may require research on your part. Second, you are expected to go into a non-human dominated landscape and look for organisms that fall into different categories.
Module 13: Evolution and Natural Selection
The process of biological evolution can be accurately defined as “descent with modification.” This definition includes microevolution (changes in allele frequency of a population over time) and macroevolution (the descent of different species from a shared common ancestor over many generations). In this lab, the students will experience natural selection at work from generations to generations through a simulation.
Module 14: Viruses, Bacteria, and Epidemiology
Some people are carriers of diseases. A pathogen (disease agent) may not cause its host any immediate discomfort. Nonetheless, the infected individual may become diseased. The danger to others is that a carrier may not be recognized as being infected and could inadvertently spread the pathogen to others that they come in contact with. In this lab, you will explore the characteristics of virus, bacteria, and archaea as well as observe how an epidemic can spread via a simulation.
Module 15: Classification and Tree Thinking
Humans are excellent classifiers. Scientists classify organisms based upon features that are shared in common with other related organisms. The formal process of classifying organisms is referred to as taxonomy. Traditional taxonomy relies primarily on physical traits so that organisms that look alike are placed in the same group. In this lab, you will learn both the traditional Linnaean system and the new cladistic system as well as creating a caminalcule cladogram.
Module 16: Double Helix Movie Night
Read the introduction and the “Right Timing” pages of The structure of DNA: Cooperation and Competition. After reading this, you’ll need to watch the movie Double Helix and respond to the following questions.
Module 1: Data Analysis and Presentation
Today's lab exercises are designed to help you learn to collect and graph biological data in a scientific manner. The techniques you will practice today can be applied to many different types of data sets (e.g., wildlife populations or vegetation sampling). For convenience, we will use measurements that can be made in the classroom.
Module 2: The Chemistry of Life
All life exists within the context of its environment. Each environment is characterized by its biological, physical, and chemical properties. Since organisms are adapted to a specific environment, radical changes in these conditions often result in injury or extinction of the species. Chemical reactions that take place inside of an organism are dependent upon both internal and external chemical and physical properties. We will explore some of these properties in today’s lab.
Module 3: The Microscope and Cells
All living things are composed of cells. This is one of the tenets of the Cell Theory, a basic theory of biology. This remarkable fact was first discovered some 300 years ago and continues to be a source of wonder and research today. Cell biology is an extremely active area of study and helps us answer such fundamental questions as to how organisms function. Through an understanding of how cells function, we can discover how human ailments, such as cancer and AIDS, can be possibly treated.
Module 4: Diffusion and Osmosis
The cell membrane plays the dual roles of protecting the living cell by acting as a barrier to the outside world, yet at the same time, it must allow the passage of food and waste products into and out of the cell for metabolism to proceed. How does the cell carry out these seemingly paradoxical roles? To understand this process you need to understand the makeup of the cell membrane and an important phenomenon known as diffusion.
Module 5: Energy and Metabolism
Metabolism is defined as the sum of all chemical reactions that take place in an individual. This abstract concept lays the foundation for understanding how biological systems acquire and use energy. Metabolic processes either use energy to build large molecules from smaller precursors (anabolism), or they release energy by breaking down large molecules into smaller products (catabolism).
Module 6: Cellular Respiration
Metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions in a living organism. These reactions can be catabolic or anabolic. Anabolic reactions use up energy to actually build complex biomolecules (think of anabolic steroids building muscle mass). The energy for anabolic reactions usually comes from ATP, which is produced during catabolic reactions. Catabolic reactions break down complex biomolecules, such as carbohydrates and lipids and release the energy stored within.
Module 7: Mitosis and the Cell Cycle
Each cell has a limited number of options for its future: grow and divide (though this can be delayed in some cells, such as primary oocytes), differentiate into a specialized cell and cease growing and dividing, or die (programmed cell death called apoptosis). In this lab, you will explore the process of mitosis and estimate the amount of time spent in each stage.
Module 8: Meiosis and Gametogenesis
In both meiosis and mitosis, the original parent cell is a diploid cell. Remember, this means the cell has two copies of each chromosome. Meiosis and mitosis are both nuclear divisions that result in new daughter cells. However, the two processes have significant differences. In this lab, you will explore the process and mechanisms of meiosis as well as observe the gametogenesis in mammals.
Module 9: Mendelian Genetics
Beginning students of biology always learn about Mendelian genetics. Inevitably, the study of inheritance always leads to additional questions. We now know that inheritance is much more complex, usually involving many genes that interact in varied ways. Nonetheless, a clear understanding of basic inheritance patterns that follow Mendel’s original observations will provide a springboard for understanding current scientific exploration.