BISC306 - LAVERTY

BISC 306, GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY

    Welcome to the BISC 306, General Physiology course page. Here you will find the course syllabus, sample exam, outlines of class notes and specific reading/problem assignments for each semester exam.
 
 

                                                               COURSE SYLLABUS
 
 

FALL, 2000 COURSE DESCRIPTION & GUIDELINES

CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Principles underlying function of organisms at the organ, tissue and cellular levels. The major areas covered will be membrane function, neurophysiology, skeletal muscle, endocrine systems, cardiovascular function, respiration, osmoregulation and ion balance, acid base balance, metabolism, and digestive systems. A comparative approach will be used. This is a 4 credit course with required laboratory.

PREREQUISITES: 2 semesters of biology and 2 semesters of chemistry

CLASSES: Mon, Wed, Fri, 10:10-11:00; 130 Smith

OBJECTIVE: To gain an understanding of the basic physical, chemical and biological principles involved in the interactions of cells and organ systems in a complex organism.

TEXT: Eckert, Randall , Burggren & French, "Animal Physiology-Mechanisms and Adaptations" Freeman, Fourth Edition, 1997.

Text reading is extremely important; material from readings will be on the exams, whether covered in class or not.

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Gary Laverty 313 Wolf Hall, 831-8180 laverty@udel.edu

Office Hours: Mon (1:00-2:00), Tues (9:30-10:30), Thurs (2:00-3) Or by appointment (walk-ins usually welcome)

COURSE WEBPAGE: http://www.udel.edu/Biology/laverty/306home.html

LABORATORY: Laboratory participation is required. Exercises are designed to complement the material covered in the classroom. A lab grade will be assigned, based on quizzes and written lab reports. Total lab points will be normalized to 100 and factored into the final course grade (see below). See separate lab syllabus for more information.

GRADES: There will be three hour-long tests given during the semester and a fourth, cumulative final exam given during final exam week. The format of all exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer (including sketches, etc). Exams will cover the material from the lectures and from text readings assigned for each examination period, as well as relevant material from the lab exercises. Occasional problems or short readings may also be assigned to supplement specific areas. Generally, lectures will emphasize the most important points covered in the readings. The final grades will use a plus and minus letter grading scheme. Grades will be based on a point total of 500 points as follows

                                                                       three hour exams@ 100 points each ...............  300

Lecture Schedule and Reading Assignments*



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                                                                                                     3(37-62; 70-89)rev?
                                                                                                                      Spotlight 3-1

 
Sept 1, 6                 Cell Biology, membranes, transport                                 4(93-101; 105-117)
                                                                                                                         (119-122)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                           No Classes September 4
 

Sept 18, 20, 22, 25    Cellular neurophysiology                                              5(127-159)
                                                                                                                       6(163-174)

 
Sept 27,  29, Oct 2     Synaptic transmission and                                            6(174-210)
                                     integrative neurobiology

 
Oct 4                           Exam I

 
Oct 6, 9, 11, 13          Muscle physiology                                                       10(351-402)

 
Oct 16, 18, 20          Cardiovascular system (hearts, hemo-                             12(467-515)
   23, 25, 27                  dynamics, blood pressure, microcirculation)

 
Oct 30, Nov 1,3, 6     Respiration, gas transport, blood gases,                         13(517-547; 552-568)
                                    lungs, gills, acid-base balance                                       3(46-49)

 
Nov 8                    Exam II

 
Nov 10, 13, 15        Metabolism, energetics, body temperature                        16(665-706)
                                         regulation

 
Nov 17, 20, 22, 27   Osmoregulation, water balance, kidneys,                         14(571-615; 620-624)
                                   salt glands, nitrogen excretion

 
Nov 24                 No Class-Thanksgiving holiday

 
Nov 29, Dec 1, 4       Digestive physiology                                                     15(627-663)

 
Dec 6                   Exam III (last class)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Old Test #1

test