BIOG 1440 - Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology

(BIO-AG, PBS-AS)

Fall, spring, summer. 3 credits.

Forbidden Overlap: Students may not receive credit for both BIOG 1440 and BIOG 1445.
Biological sciences majors must take course for a letter grade.

Fall, E. Loew, T. Silva; spring, N. Buchon, C. Gilbert; summer, D. Dean.

An introductory physiology course intended for freshman and sophomore biology majors and other students majoring in life sciences. The course integrates physiology from the cell to the organism with comparisons among animals, plants and microbes. Emphasis is on understanding of basic physiological concepts, stressing structure-function relationships and underlying physio-chemical mechanisms.

Outcome 1: To understand the principles of how organisms work at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels, how these principles are based on the rules of physics and chemistry, and how the processes of physiology at one level emerge from processes at the lower levels.

Outcome 2: To be able to think like a physiologist. This involves understanding how the properties of cells determine function at all higher levels of biological organization including how cellular membranes create selective barriers and how substances cross these barriers, how biological processes are regulated, and how cells and organisms exchange energy and matter with the environment, respond to their environment (including stimulus transduction, intercellular communication, and information processing), and generate mechanical forces and movement.

Outcome 3: To appreciate the similarities and differences between the physiologies of humans and other organisms, and so to appreciate how the study of comparative physiology is relevant to understanding your own life, and to understanding how evolution explains both the unity and diversity of life.