Biology Courses

Course Detail: This course is an intensive two-quarter, college-level sequence in biology, entailing broad coverage of the entire subject area including biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, organismal biology, population biology, ecology, behavior, bio-diversity, and evolution. Laboratories include all or most of the recommended AP labs, plus additional laboratories of the instructor’s choice. Other sequences of courses may also enable the student to cover the AP Biology curriculum and prepare students to sit for the Collegeboard Exam. Students are encouraged to seek advice from the Biology Department. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites: BL 101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course is an intensive two-quarter, college-level sequence in biology, entailing broad coverage of the entire subject area including biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, organismal biology, population biology, ecology, behavior, bio-diversity, and evolution. Laboratories include all or most of the recommended AP labs, plus additional laboratories of the instructor’s choice. Other sequences of courses may also enable the student to cover the AP Biology curriculum and prepare students to sit for the Collegeboard Exam. Students are encouraged to seek advice from the Biology Department. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course is a two-term interdisciplinary course. The course provides students with scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. The course considers environmentally based issues such as pollution, habitat degradation, and resource conservation. This course requires a keen interest in issues concerning the welfare and sustainability of the earth. Many of the labs conducted will involve issues relating to pollution and energy. Completion of this course prepares students for the AP Environmental Science exam. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course is a two-term interdisciplinary course. The course provides students with scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. The course considers environmentally based issues such as pollution, habitat degradation, and resource conservation. This course requires a keen interest in issues concerning the welfare and sustainability of the earth. Many of the labs conducted will involve issues relating to pollution and energy. Completion of this course prepares students for the AP Environmental Science exam. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course is a two-quarter sequence in honors high school biology, entailing broad introductory coverage of biology including molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, organismal biology, population biology, ecology, behavior, biodiversity, and evolution. Laboratories are designed to reinforce the concepts introduced in lecture. The course is intended to supply an introductory biology for students who have not yet had an opportunity to take biology in high school. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites: Placement in this course is determined by performance on the Biology Placement Exam.

Course Detail: Botany and Plant Physiology gives students an introduction to basic principles of plant function and their interaction with and response to the environment. Broadly the term will include the evolutionary history of plants as organisms; physical processes like photosynthesis, water relations and transport processes; cell physiology and biochemistry covering mineral nutrition and assimilation; and lastly hormones, growth and development in the plant life cycle. Labs will cover botanical identification of common vascular plants. Typically offered during even academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course is an advanced study of topics in modern avian biology and avian evolution. Emphasis will be placed on experimental approaches investigating the physiology (nutrition, energetics, osmoregulation), ecology (population and community organization), evolution (genomics, phylogenetics, fossil record) and behavior (foraging, breeding, and sociality) of different avian species. This course will also have a field component, with several field trips to observe avian behavior and participate in bird banding activities. Typically offered during odd academic years Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course begins with the fundamentals of cell division and focuses on modes of inheritance of traits, beginning with Mendel's pea plants and stressing extensions and exceptions to Mendel's principles. Laboratory activities, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills are emphasized. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisite: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: The marine environment encompasses the majority of the Earth’s biosphere and contains tremendous biological diversity. This one quarter course is an introduction to the common marine organisms of the ocean and examines the abiotic and biotic factors that influence their distribution and abundance. Topics include basic biological oceanography and ecology principles and investigations into the rocky intertidal zone, coral reefs, pelagic and deep-sea communities and ocean conservation. Offered during even academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: The one-term Anatomy & Physiology course offers broad coverage of basic scientific concepts, gross anatomy, and human physiology with clinical applications and relevance to disease states and tissues. An independent research component and presentation is included in each unit. Emphasis is placed on the relationships between structure and function and units cover cellular and autonomic physiology; integumentary; endocrinology; neuromuscular and musculoskeletal physiology; cardiorespiratory physiology; and gastrointestinal and metabolic physiology. The course focuses on human anatomy with some comparative physiology mixed in. Offered every academic year. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102or equivalent.

Course Detail: Oceanography serves as an introduction to physical and biogeochemical ocean processes. Specifically, this course enables students to understand the basic physical and biogeochemical processes and cycles that shape life in oceans and recognize how they differ from terrestrial systems; consider threats to the marine environment and the basics of marine conservation; understand how geology, physics, chemistry and biology interact in complex ways that are fundamental to the oceanic environment; and lastly understand how oceanic research is conducted. Offered every academic year. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent and CH090. This course does not satisfy the 1.5 CU graduation requirement. Students must have completed or be currently enrolled in a biology elective w/lab that satisfies biology graduation requirements. This course does count towards a concentration or concentration with distinction in Biology.

Course Detail: Students will gain an understanding of the origin, function and structure of living organisms by examining life at increasing levels of biological complexity, from the molecular and cellular level to whole organisms. This course deals with the biology of cells of higher organisms: the structure, function, and biosynthesis of cellular membranes and organelles; cell growth; transport, receptors, and cell signaling; the cytoskeleton, the extracellular matrix, and cell movements. After developing a foundational understanding of cell biology, this course explores the interactions of these cells to form tissue, organs, organ systems and ultimately complete organisms, and finally students will be able to make predictions about how positive feedback mechanisms amplify activities and processes in organisms based on scientific theories and models. Offered during even academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course focuses on understanding the diverse world of modern microbes. Students will demonstrate knowledge in comparative characteristics of microbial organisms, general bacteriology and microbial techniques, and collection and handling of laboratory specimens. This course will be accompanied by a lab portion where students will develop a research question aimed at understanding the role, distribution, and environmental controls of microbes etc. Offered during odd academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. Students will understand the major ecological principles, concepts, classical and contemporary hypotheses dominating the field of ecology through exploring topics on biogeochemical cycles; the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems; regulation of the distribution and abundance of organisms; structure and function of ecosystems and the factors that govern interactions between organisms and their environment; metabolic diversity; productivity; trophic dynamics; models of population growth; and species interactions at the population, community, and ecosystem levels. Students will acquire a thorough understanding of the scientific field of ecology, how ecologists conduct research, explore some of today’s major ecological challenges, and the important research that is being done to address these concerns. The laboratory portion covers the four major areas of ecological study: organism, population, community, and ecosystem. Offered during odd academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course is a two-quarter sequence in honors high school biology, entailing broad introductory coverage of biology including molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, organismal biology, population biology, ecology, behavior, biodiversity, and evolution. Laboratories are designed to reinforce the concepts introduced in lecture. The course is intended to supply an introductory biology for students who have not yet had an opportunity to take biology in high school. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites: Placement in this course is determined by performance on the Biology Placement Exam.

Course Detail: The one-term course is designed as an overview of the field of zoology, the branch of biology that studies animals. The course emphasizes critical thinking and the scientific process by exploring the structural/functional adaptations and evolutionary history of vertebrates and invertebrates. Students explore the diversity and evolutionary relationships among major invertebrate and vertebrate phyla with an emphasis on morphological features, functional aspects, systematics, and life history for each phylum. The laboratory builds scientific skills experience by dissections and both microscopic and macroscopic examination with a diversity of organisms from structural, functional, and ecological perspectives. Offered during odd academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and 102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: This course focuses on DNA. Beginning with Watson and Crick's double-helix model, the course focuses on DNA structure, replication, transcription and translation. Current topics in DNA technology, gene cloning and bioinformatics are discussed as well as the ethics of emerging genetic techniques and possibilities. Critical thinking skills, thoughtful data interpretation, and scientific writing are stressed. This is a non-lab course that will meet 4 days a week for one hour. Offered every odd academic year. Prerequisites: Completion of ASMS Biology credits in the same term. This course does not satisfy the 1.5 CU graduation requirement. Students must have completed or be currently enrolled in a biology elective w/lab that satisfies biology graduation requirements. This course does count towards a concentration or concentration with distinction in Biology.

Course Detail: This course will provide students with an overview of the field of veterinary medicine. They will participate in a survey of topics typical in veterinary programs such as anatomy, parasitology, animal health, animal handling, etc. and explore the various career opportunities in veterinary science. Students will have a chance to tour a vet facility and talk to veterinary guest speakers. Laboratory sessions will work to build hands-on skills that are relevant in small animal clinics. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 or equivalent.

Course Detail: A college-level study of biological diversity and the ecological, biogeographic, developmental, geological, taxonomic, anatomical, and molecular bases for the development of diversity over time, which comprises the science of evolutionary biology. This course stresses scientific discussion. This is a non-lab course that will meet 4 days a week for one hour. Offered during even academic years. Prerequisites: Completion of ASMS Biology credits in the same term. This course does not satisfy the 1.5 CU graduation requirement. Students must have completed or be currently enrolled in a biology elective w/ lab that satisfies biology graduation requirements. This course does count towards a concentration or concentration with distinction in Biology.

Course Detail: This course will have students take a journey through how microbes have intimately shaped our world, and the scientists responsible for the field of microbiology. Students will be expected to read and digest primary literature and emphasis is placed on scientific writing and communication. This is a non-lab course that will meet 4 days a week for one hour. Offered during even academic years. Prerequisites: BL101 and BL102 equivalent. This course does not satisfy the 1.5 CU graduation requirement. Students must have completed or be currently enrolled in a biology elective w/lab that satisfies biology graduation requirements. This course does count towards a concentration or concentration with distinction in Biology.

Course Detail: The Biological Research Course gives students an understanding of the fundamentals of biological research over two terms. Broadly, this course covers finding your research interest, reading papers and writing papers, scientific methods for developing a hypothesis and research plan, research ethics, presenting your research plan, and professional skills. Students learn how to interpret, present, and discuss data from primary literature as part of their prospectus during the first term, followed by learning science as a visual language to communicate information in a clear, engaging, and objective fashion in the second term. Students participate in a Biology research project under the guidance of ASMS faculty and construct a logical set of experiments to address a biological question. Projects may entail competition participation, conference attendance, authoring a professional paper, Research Fellows work, or similar efforts. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisite: BL101, BL102 (or equivalent), GE101 and GE102 AND by Instructor Approval Only. Maximum of three students per year.

Course Detail: This course will examine life of the geologic past as revealed by the fossil record. Students will gain an appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of paleontology by examining a broad range of topics including analytical approaches to identifying patterns in the fossil record, the extent of geologic time, and the contributions of data from stable isotopes, functional morphology, phylogenetics, and developmental biology. Students will examine the various methods paleontologists use to interpret the physical remains of organisms and preserved traces of their behavior to better understand the biology and behavior of extinct organisms. Emphasis will be given to the fossil record of Alabama. This course will have a field component, with several trips to locations in south Alabama to collect fossil material. This course is offered every academic year. Prerequisites BL101 and 102 or equivalent.