K Students examine the interrelationships of living organisms, their geographical distributions and environmental factors which affect their lives. Students study tissue preparation techniques for microscopic studies of plant and animal tissues. Various staining procedures will be employed. K Students examine the essential features that constitute life in terms of the coordinative interactions of small and large molecules. Phenomena explored by students include the cell as common denominator, proteins as agents of specificity, metabolic pathways, cell transport, the central dogma of molecular genetics, and regulation of the flow of information.
Students investigate the structural and functional dynamics of cells.
Students perform a broad spectrum of exercises to include growth kinetics, pH and buffers, spectrophotometry, quantitative assays, fractionation and differential centrifugation, organelle studies, determination of molecular weights, separation of molecules utilizing chromatography and restriction of endonuclease analysis. Any Upper Level Biol Course and Approval of Advisor Students learn the skills of reasoning, critical thinking and analysis. Students learn to conduct literature searches on assigned topics using different databases and the Internet. Also, students learn the use of different software programs on the computer in various subjects. Students learn the basic skills of seminar presentation using overheads and slides and also electronic presentations.