Biology 130 A Course Information - Winter 2004

Name: Rosemary Richardson
Office Location: L-200K
e-mail: rrichard@bcc.ctc.edu

Office Hours: Thursday 12:30 - 1:20 in L-200K and 1:30 Ü 2:20 in B-113

The BCC Biology 130 Internet Site: http://SciDiv.bcc.ctc.edu/rkr/Biology130/nutrition.html
BCC's Life Science Home Page: http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/lifesci/
Bellevue Community College Internet Site: http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/

2. Topics Covered
Biology 130 studies nutrition in relation to how our body works. This includes looking at the digestive, circulatory, endocrine and regulatory systems, along with how our cells and tissues absorb and use nutrients. We will learn about dietary recommendations for carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. We will discuss the role our food choices and eating habits play in maintaining optimal health and fitness, and the role of diet in cardiovascular and other diseases. In addition, we look at consumer concerns about food safety and "what's in food besides food". Hunger problems in our neighborhoods and in our world will also be addressed.

Biology 130 meets the General Education Outcomes #16, Nature of Science, and #18, Technology and Science, with ratings of "2". See the BCC Catalog for more information on General Education Requirements.

3. Required Materials

1. Textbook: Understanding Nutrition, 9th. Ed. by Whitney and Rolfes
   
2. Package of Scan-Tron cards for exams
3. Internet Access (All students have access to the internet on campus.)
   

4. Class Preparation
It is your responsibility to read the syllabus and prepare in advance for all course materials. The syllabus is the best "guess" for the progress of the course. You are expected to read the assigned textbook material before each topic is discussed. You should reread the material following lecture and classroom discussions to coordinate text materials with the classroom presentations. You are also encouraged to share outside resources with the others during our class discussions. If you are absent, you are still responsible for materials covered in the classroom.

In addition to the printed syllabus, a Course Calendar published on the Biology 130 class internet site lists references with links to lecture notes and assignments.

The syllabus may need revising during the quarter. Revisions to the syllabus will be announced in class. You will be responsible for any revisions even if you are absent at the time of announced changes, or for some reason, fail to note the revision at the time it is announced.

It is valuable to form a study group with two or three other students. A good study group helps each of you learn the course materials more effectively as you collectively work with the pieces given in class to build a complete picture of the subject.

Please note that all assignments and papers are at the beginning of class on the date. Late papers are not accepted and will receive no credit. If you anticipate being late to class, turn your assignment in early in the Science Division Office, L-200.

5. Attendance
Class attendance is expected. It is difficult to do well in any subject without attending class. You are responsible for knowing class materials whether you attend class or not. You are also responsible for any announcements and/or changes in the syllabus (including exam dates or assignments, etc.) whether you have been attending class or not, or if for some reason, fail to note a change at the time it is announced.

6. Examinations
Five exams and a comprehensive final exam will be given during the quarter. The exams will cover lecture, text and discussion material. All exams are closed book; no notes or supplemental information are allowed. The exams will include an objective section You will need to bring a scan-tron card and number 2 pencil to each exam. (Both can be purchased in the BCC bookstore.) The exams may also include a written portion. Paper will be provided for the written portion of exams.

The anticipated exam dates are listed in the course syllabus. Any changes in exam dates will be announced, in class, in advance. You must take the exams at the scheduled time. No makeÜup exams will be given. If there is an extenuating circumstance for missing an exam that includes discussion of the circumstance with the instructor prior to the exam time, the instructor may, at her discretion, use the final exam score as a "makeÜup" exam for the missed exam. If you miss an exam you will receive a zero (0). Missing an exam will seriously affect your course grade.

7. Assignments

1. Computer Dietary Analysis
   You will keep a five-day diary of your food intake starting the first week of the quarter. (You should choose typical days for your diary.) You will use the Diet Analysis program available in the BCC Science Study Center, B-113, or in BCC's N-250 computer lab. The program is available in both Windows and Macintosh versions as well as an online version that may have been purchased with your textbook. The Diet Analysis software program may be available for purchase in the BCC Bookstore as well.

   You will use your computer dietary analysis to help complete a series of assignments adapted from the textbook self-study exercises and other materials from the text publisher. You may repeat the dietary analysis throughout the quarter for comparison purposes if you wish. For the Diet Analysis Assignment you will submit the just the computer summary (average) printout for the five days. Do not submit the daily analysis and daily spreadsheet pages that you will print out for your own use in completing the diet analysis internet assignments..

   Instructions for the diet analysis program are available on the Assignments page of the class internet site for the Macintosh and Windows operating systems and for the online version that may have been purchased with your textbook.

2. Diet Analysis Internet Assignments
   You will be completing a set of assignments that relate to your diet and nutritional information that you are learning in this class. Many of them use information from your diet analysis. The assignments forms will be submitted on the internet. You can use any computer that has internet access, including those in BCC's Science Study Center, B-113 and the BCC computer lab, N-250. The assignments can be accessed at: Assignments page. The assignments are also linked from the Biology 130 Course Calendar.

   When you submit an assignment on the internet you will get a feedback message telling you that your assignment was submitted at a particular date and time, along with a complete record of the assignment. You should print and keep that information for your files as confirmation that you did the work.

   dates for the assignments are on the course syllabus. All assignments are at 10:30 am on the date. Late assignments are not accepted. Each assignment is worth a maximum of 10 points.

3. Hunger Project
   You are required to do something (literally anything that you choose to do) to help the hungry in your local area sometime during the quarter. You will submit a paper describing what you did, and what it meant to you to have done so.

4. Evaluating Ethnic Diets
   You will need to meet with someone whose ethnic or cultural background is different from yours and share with that person what a "typical" meal is in his/her culture. You will then do a computerized nutritional analysis of this typical meal, and a second nutritional analysis of a typical meal that you eat. If you can not locate an individual whose culture is different from yours, an alternative can be to evaluate a meal from an ethnic (not fast food) restaurant. If even this is impossible, evaluating meals from ethnic cookbooks can be substituted with permission from the instructor.
   
   You will submit a narrative report on how the different ethnic/cultural meal compares nutritionally to a typical meal that you eat, along with computer Diet Analysis summary sheets for each of the meals. In your report you should identify the nutritional strengths and weaknesses of the ethnic meal relative to your typical diet, and make suggestions for improving the meal. Do not forget to include what your typical meal consists of in this comparison. If the two meals differ significantly in calories, you should make adjustments in your analysis for nutrient density relative to the calorie content of the two meals. You will also submit the computer Diet Analysis summary sheet of the typical meals.

   Some sample reports are available on the Sample Student Papers page for you to get an idea of what students have done in the past.

5. Poster Project
   Each of you will be assigned* a section of the material on vitamins, minerals and supplements. You will prepare a poster about your assigned subject, including functions, food sources, health issues, and with supplements, advertising claims and efficacy. You should search additional resources beyond your text for your project. The posters need not be large but must provide valuable resource material for other students. References are to be included.

   On the due dates, each student will be given a worksheet, will examine all posters, and will write down for each poster a significant feature learned, and the grade you would assign the poster based on the teaching effectiveness of the poster (that is Ü how much could you learn from that poster about the substance(s) being presented).

   *You can trade assignments if mutually acceptable.

6. Bonus Experiments
   Occasionally, you may be given the opportunity to do some nutritional experiment or observation. Experiments completed and written up will receive bonus points that are added to your exam point total.

7. Additional Assignments
   You may have additional assignments to complete and turn in during the quarter. Credit received for such assignments will be added to the course point total. You are responsible for assignments even if you do not attend class on the day an assignment is given.

8. Quizzes

1. Quizzes
   There may be short quizzes given that are announced in class prior to the day given. Credit earned on these quizzes will be a formal part of the course point total. There will be no makeÜups for quizzes. If you are absent, you will receive a zero (0) for the quiz.

2. Quizlets
   Occasionally you may have the opportunity to take quizlets. Credit received on quizlets will be added to your total course grade as bonus points. Quizlets are not announced in advance.

9. Bellevue Community College Science Division Policy on Cheating
You, the student, are expected to conduct yourself with integrity. When you cheat*, or aid someone else in cheating, you violate a trust. If you cheat the following actions may be taken:

1. You will receive a grade of 0 on the exam, lab, quiz, etc., where evidence of cheating has been demonstrated. This grade cannot be dropped.

2. A report of the incident will be sent to the Dean of Student Services. He/she may file the report in your permanent record or take further disciplinary action such as suspension or expulsion from the college.

If you feel you have been unfairly accused of cheating, you may appeal. (For a description of process procedures see WAC 132H—120, copies of which are available in the Student Body Government Office)

*Cheating includes, but is not limited to, copying answers on tests or homework, glimpsing at nearby test papers, swapping papers, stealing, plagiarizing, illicitly giving or receiving help on exams or assignments.

10. Course Withdrawal
Withdrawal from a course is the termination of the student's registration in that course. To do so, the student must complete an official Add/Drop form, available at the Registration Office.

If a student withdraws no later than the tenth day of the quarter the dropped course does not become part of the student's transcript record. After the tenth day of the quarter and through the last day of the seventh week of the quarter a grade of "W" will become part of the student's transcript record. No official withdrawal will be permitted after the last day of the seventh week of the quarter, except under special extenuating circumstances that arise after the withdrawal deadline that prevent the student from completing the remainder of the class. The Registrar may give permission for a complete withdrawal from the college at any time during the quarter.

Note: If you just stop coming to class and do not complete the course, you will receive an "F" at the end of the quarter.

11. Course Grade Information
Your grade will be determined at the end of the quarter as a percentage of the total points possible on all work assessed during the quarter, including exams, assignments, projects, and quizzes.

The Grading scale is:

A	4.0	95% or higher of total points possible
A-	3.7	90-94% of total points possible
B+	3.3	87-89% of total points possible
B	3.0	83-86% of total points possible
B-	2.7	80-82% of total points possible
C+	2.3	77-79% of total points possible
C	2.0	73-76% of total points possible
C-	1.7	70-72% of total points possible
D+	1.3	66-69% of total points possible
D	1.0	60-65% of total points possible
F	.	Less than 60% of total points possible

Your course grade is computed on a spreadsheet. An approximate course standing is computed and distributed after each exam to give you an idea of how you are progressing in the course. It also allows you to verify that your scores have been recorded correctly. The spreadsheet uses a code to identify each student. You may choose a code (a combination of any 4 keyboard characters) to be used on the spreadsheet. Final course grades will be posted (by your code) on the class internet site. Students can access their official grades through the BCC web site.