BIO 205 SYLLABUS

CHEMISTRY FOUNDATIONS

Please note that this schedule is from FALL of 1998

Future schedules will be added as soon as they become available

Faculty : Dr. Snyder : Cooke 648 : 645-2870 : gsnyder @ acsu.buffalo.edu : Cooke 109 mailbox

Dr. Nicholson : Cooke 615 : 645-3344 : bjn @ acsu.buffalo.edu : Cooke 109 mailbox

Texts : (1) Principles of Biochemistry : Lehninger, Nelson & Cox : 2nd edition

(2) Bio 205 Classnotes - Snyder

(3) Bio 205 Classnotes - Nicholson (available 11/98)

Evaluations : Exam # lectures Homework

Chemistry foundations 100 7

Structures : proteins 100 8 50 : best 10 of 15

Structures : others 100 7 @ 5 pts apiece) Metabolism : glucose catabolism 100 7

Metabolism : other 100 8 Total pts = 550

This course will cover the five main topics below. It is a one-semester biochemistry course for science majors (bio, chem, health-related pre-professionals, engineering), and should not be taken by students looking for a general education course. The prerequisite is 1 yr of general chemistry. 1st semester organic chemistry should be taken prior to or simultaneously with Bio 205.

I. CHEMICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BIOCHEMISTRY

II. PROTEINS : STRUCTURE / FUNCTION

III. CARBOHYDRATES, NUCLEIC ACIDS, & LIPIDS : STRUCTURE / FUNCTION

IV. METABOLISM : AEROBIC CATABOLISM OF GLUCOSE

V. METABOLISM : OTHER PATHWAYS

The lectures are accompanied by approximately 35 sets of homework problems. Most of the questions in exams resemble the homework exercises. Homework is due by 8:50 AM at the next class period after a lecture is completed. Printed answer sets will be placed on the course shelves (outside Cooke 648), and also will be brought to lectures for students who don't want to make the trip to the 6th floor of Cooke Hall. Only 15 of the homework sets will be collected, but students must do all the exercises since they won't be told which ones are going to be collected and graded. Three sets will be collected from each of the five main topics listed above, and the best 2 out of 3 graded sets in each main topic area will count towards the final grade. If you are absent for 1 of the 3 collected sets in any part of the course, then your other 2 sets will count. If you are absent for more than 1 of the 3 collections, then you should bring written documentation excusing your absences to Dr. Snyder to request a special make-up homework. If you know you are going to be absent, you may turn in homework ahead of time in the Dr. S mailbox in Cooke 109.

There are five exams, one for each part of the course. The dates of the first four exams are included in a calendar in the classnotes. The last exam covers only part V of the course. Parts I-IV will be taught by Dr. Snyder, and part V will be taught by Dr. Nicholson. The format of the exams will depend on how much TA help is assigned to Bio 205 this year. Previously, each 50 minute exam contained 24 multiple choice @ 3.5 pts each, plus 3 short written exercises (such as calculations, matching questions, short essays) @ 5-6 pts each. Exams begin at 7:55 AM and end at 8:50 AM. If students want to arrive early and study some notes, they must bring a bookbag or other closed container where they can secure those notes during the exam. Make-up exams will be provided when the student has a valid medical excuse or family emergency, or makes arrangements with Dr. Snyder ahead of time. Students who miss an exam must phone Dr. Snyder (645-2870) and talk to him personally on the morning of the date when the exam is missed. Requests for regrading of exams or homework must be made within 1 week after papers are returned. Exams are photocopied before they are given back to students, in order to discourage students from altering their papers in a dishonest attempt to obtain extra points during regrading. The final grades in the course are based on a numerical scale enclosed on a separate sheet in the classnotes. This is a tentative scale, but you should expect it to be very close to the final proficiency levels established for the Fall '98 version. If any exam turns out to be harder than the faculty planned, then we will lower our cutoffs to generate a scale that is more beneficial to the students.

Dr. Snyder's office hours are 2-3 PM Monday thru Thursday (Cooke 648), or by appointment. There are no TA's or tutors assigned by the university to help students in Bio 205. Thus you are encouraged to come to faculty for help during office hours. We also hope that the extensive printed classnotes and the large number of exam-related practice problems will help your studies.

The Biological Sciences department is undergoing a major revision of the schedule of courses in its curriculum. In '98-'99, which is a transition year, the biochem laboratory course (Bio 215) will be offered in the spring, one semester after the biochem lecture course (Bio 205). As explained in a schedule of courses enclosed in the classnotes, sophomore Bio majors will eventually choose 3 out of 5 lab choices for their major. Some of you may choose to take Bio 215 in Spring '99, but some of you will choose not to take it at all.

OPTION FOR RETAKING ONE EXAM A 2nd TIME

Dr. Snyder will permit a student to retake one of his four exams a second time. The purpose is to help those individuals who for some reason perform significantly below their level on one particular exam day. If Dr. S is not too busy, a student can arrange to schedule the retake before the end of the semester at a time that is best for the student. If things get too hectic for Dr. S, then every student will at least have the option of retaking an exam during the last hour of the official 3-hr final exam time slot for Bio 205. Requests for a retake must be made a week in advance. If a student arranges for this option, the result will be a weighted average calculated as follows : 2/3 times the higher grade plus 1/3 times the lower grade. Examples :

1st try = 50% , later retake = 80%, student will get a 70% in that part of the course.

1st try = 80% , later retake = 70%, student will get a 77% in that part of the course.

1st try = 80% , no retake is requested, student will get that 80%.

Obviously since one's grade can go down as well as up, the "retake" option must be exercised with care.

POLICY ON INCOMPLETE ("I" ) GRADES

A student who is physically unable to take one of the exams in the course (for example because of an extended illness documented by a doctor's letter) may request to complete that work at a later date, receiving an "I" in the course. That student may not restart the whole course all over in a later semester. The completed exams have been completed, and those grades will be saved and used to calculate the final average when the missing exams have been finished. Students who are failing the course and want an "I" so they can restart fresh in another semester will not be given that option. Official university policy is to record that failure when it happens, not to conceal it with an "I". We are telling you in advance that we adhere to that policy, so you can take advantage of the university's procedures which let you resign from a course with an R grade before the middle of the semester. The 2nd exam in Bio 205 will be completed one week before the university's dealine for resigning with an R grade, so you will have two exam grades to help you formulate your plans when that deadline arrives.

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