Office Hours: My office is CFS 91073, office hours are M-Th 10:0-11:00; T 12:40-1:00; W 4:10-6:10; Th 12:40-1:40; W 4:10-4:45. I can be reached by email at pcmsusa@hotmail.com. I encourage you to come see me for help or discussion. If you are having difficulty please come see me before you fall behind.

Required Texts (LISTED IN BOOKSTORE UNDER COURSE NUMBER)
(1) "Essential Biology with Physiology" by Campbell, 6th Ed.( newest edition in Pierce Bookstore); (2) Biological Patterns" (Lab Manual) by Farris, Koller and Beavers (newest edition in Pierce Bookstore). You can also use the 5th Edition. The reading for this edition is also listed.

Lecture and Examination Schedules

Lecture Schedule: You will be given a schedule of the lecture topics, reading and examination dates. This course covers a large amount of material per week; you must keep current with the reading.

Lecture Notes: The lecture outline "Biology 3 Course Guide" is published and is available either as a PDF download from the website www.pcmsusa.org - Biology 3, link or they may be purchased at Copies Plus at 19911 Ventura Blvd. Tarzana, CA - Hrs. M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM; Sat. 10:00AM-5:00PM; 818 346-1919. Be sure to ask for the Biology 3 Course Guide when requesting the notes. YOU MUST HAVE THE COURSE GUIDE THE SECOND WEEK OF CLASS. Keep the Course Guide in a standard 3 ring loose-leaf notebook. There will be hand-outs to be included with your lecture notes throughout the semester. Bring the Course Guide to very lecture session.

Attendance: Attendance is recorded daily. You are expected to be on time and to keep up with the class regardless of absence, excused or otherwise. After the number of hours of non-excused absences exceeds that of the hours the class, including laboratory, meets per week that student may be excluded from the class. IF YOU HAVE ABSENCES IN EXCESS OF SIX HOURS LECTURE, LABORATORY OR A COMBINATION OF THE TWO, YOU MAY BE EXCLUDED FROM THE CLASS. IF YOU FIND IT NECESSARY TO DROP THIS CLASS - IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SO FOLLOWING THE REGULAR ADMISSIONS AND RECORDS PROCEDURES.

Examinations: All examinations are multiple choice. You will be given three examinations worth 85 points each. Twenty (20) points of each exam will be based on information from laboratory exercises. Examination dates are on the lecture schedule but may be subject to change. If you cannot attend a scheduled examination you must make arrangements PRIOR to the exam. NO MAKE-UPS WILL BE GIVEN UNLESS THIS PROCEDURE IS FOLLOWED. Make-up exams are essay format.

Laboratory Information

Lab Philosophy and Quizzes: The laboratory is a major portion of this course. It is not possible to score highly on the examinations without careful attention to the laboratory exercises.

Each week, starting on the 3rd week of the semester, you will be given a quiz worth 5 points each based on your understanding of the previous week’s lab. The “Self Test” found at the end of each lab in the manual is important in preparing for the quizzes. The quizzes will be given the first 5 minutes of the lecture period each Thursday. You must be on time to take the quiz. You will need to purchase an 882 Scantron forms for the quizzes. In all 12 quizzes worth 5 points each will be given.

Lab Reports: Each week you will be required to complete a laboratory exercise in the Life Science Learning Center. The laboratory is scheduled for 3 hours, you should plan to to be there for a minimum of 2 hours per lab exercise to receive credit. Each lab report is worth 3 points if complete. THE COMPLETED LABORATORY BOOK IS TO BE TURNED IN AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER. Be sure to plan accordingly.

Lab Quizzes:

Narratives From Lecture Notes
Throughout the semester you will be asked three times on random basis to submit a copy the narratives you are writing from your course notes each week. Each narrative is potentially worth 5 points so they account for 15 points of your grade. Instructions for writing narratives are in your "Study Method Agreement" and an example is posted on the web site.

Final Course Grade
A curve will be generated for each mid-term exam and minimum points values assigned for each letter grade. The final grade will be based on the cumulative points for each letter grade. Breakdown:(1) EXAMINATIONS 3 @ 85 PTS = 255; (2) NARRATVES 3 @ 5 PTS = 15; (3) QUIZZES 12 @ 5 PTS = 60; (4) LABS 12 @ 3 PTS = 36; TOTAL = 366.

Example of grading grid (not actual curve - example only). Total points is the minimum score for that
grade e.g. A = 341 - 366.

Approved Student Learning Objectives

1. Given a microscope and prepared slide, students are able to properly use the microscope to focus on and view the specimen under high power.
2. Students are able to identify possible outcomes of an experiment.
3. Students are able to correctly identify steps in biological processes and their significance to the organism.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities, whether physical, learning, of psychological, who believe that they need accommodations in this class, are encouraged to contact Special Services as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. Authorization, based on verification of disability, is required before any accommodation can be made. The phone number for Special Services is (818) 719-6430 and they are located in the new Student Services Building #4800.

Academic Dishonesty Policy
The college may impose disciplinary sanctions against a student who commits, attempts to commit, aids, abets, incites, encourages, or assists another person to commit, an act(s) of misconduct which include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Academic dishonesty. Any act of academic dishonesty including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, and fabrication.
a. Cheating includes using or any attempt to use, give or obtain unauthorized assistance relating to the completion of an academic assignment.
b. Plagiarism includes taking and using as one's own, without proper attribution, the ideas, writings, or work of another person in completing an academic assignment. Plagiarism may also include the unauthorized submission for credit of academic work that has been submitted for credit in another course.
c. Fabrication includes falsifying data, information, or citations in completing an academic assignment and also includes providing false or deceptive information to an instructor concerning the completion of an assignment.
d. No student shall be allowed to withdraw from a course or from the college to avoid the consequences of academic dishonesty.