Biochemistry I

Fall 2004, Chem 4400, Dr. Koni Stone, S237, 10:10-11:08
Office:
213 Science, 667-3570, koni@chem.csustan.edu		 Office hours:
T: 10-12, 2-3
R: 10-11
F: 1:00-2:00 		Text:
Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry by David Nelson and Michael Cox, 4th  Edition, Worth Publishers, 2004.

This is the first semester of a full year course in Biochemistry. You must have taken and passed (a C or better is highly recommended) 2 semesters of Organic chemistry in order to enroll in this course.

The learning goals for this class are:
1. Learn biochemical facts, including the language used to describe biochemistry and the methods used to study it.
2. Gain an understanding of some biochemical principles including

3. Improve writing skills and learn how to find and use resources to answer questions.
4. Learn how to work with others as a member of a team.

The following devices will be used to assess your learning in this class.

Device Dates Points Percent of total points
Exams September 27,  October 29th, and  December 8. There are no make-up exams, please plan accordingly. 300

37.5

Quizzes and Group activities Any day except exam days (actual points will be normalized to 100 points) 100

12.5

Service learning Final report due December 1st 100

12.5

Comprehensive Final Exam Friday, December 17th 8:30-10:30 200

25

Literature reports
 Due dates:
 September 22  (Brief summary  10 points)
October 27  (1st draft  30 points)
November 22  (Final draft 60 points)		 100

12.5

This course is graded with letter grades using the following minimum scores:
A, 90%; B, 80%; C, 70%; D, 60%.
The last day to withdraw from this course is Thursday, September 30th, 2004.

Quizzes and class activities will cover all information presented in class and all material in the required readings. These materials are designed to help you learn the material and determine your strengths and weaknesses. Some will be collected and graded, others will be for your eyes only. Exam questions will be very similar to homework, quiz and activity questions. No make-up exams, quizzes or class activities will be given. If you have extenuating circumstances that involve serious and compelling reasons for missing class, you are advised to schedule a consultation with Dr. Stone as soon as possible, so that an appropriate plan of action can be developed.

The final exam will be comprehensive and will be based on questions that were on the quizzes, activities and exams.

Service based learning is a great way to gain a greater understanding of chemistry while having fun. You can choose from several options in order to fulfill this course requirement.

  1. Become a peer leader for CHEM 2092, Fridays 3:30-4:30, with a short preparation meeting every Friday at 1:30.
  2. Tutor a CHEM 2092 student one hour a week for 9 weeks.
  3. Work in a group to develop a science (Biochemistry related) activity to elementary students.  You pick and organize the activity, we pay for the supplies.  You may use a previously published activitiy.  Dr. Stone has many resources.
  4. Select a topic, write a 4-5 page paper and  give a 15 minute presentation of your paper to the class. The topic must be approved by Dr. Stone.

After you have completed your service based learning activity, you will need to complete a written report. Please include the following:

  1. What activity did you select and why did you select it?
  2. Fully describe what you did.
  3. How did this activity enhance your understanding of chemistry?
  4. What advice do you have for future students that might select this activity?


Literature summaries For each of three writing assignments, select a paper that is published in one of the journals selected for this course (See list.) For the first 10 points, you need to select an article, and write a one paragraph summary.  Your article must have methods, data and results sections.  It is best to avoid papers with humans or extensive animal studies.  Those papers ususally involve a myriad of statistical methods that we will not be able to comprehend. 

 Then, for the first and final drafts, include the following in your written report: 

    1. Briefly explain the rationale and significance of the work in this paper. Why is this paper interesting?  What does this paper contribute to the understanding of the topic? Your audience is your classmates, you will need to define terms and explain concepts that have not been covered in General, Organic or this first semester of Biochemistry.  You will have to consult other books and journal articles to do this well.
    2. Briefly describe the techniques that were used.  What experiments were done?  Leave out the details (no volumes, temp or reaction times.)
    3.  Analyze the data and the results.  What do the results of the experiments mean?  Draw some conclusions from your analysis.
    4.  Compare your analysis of the results with the authors' conclusions.  Also, search the literature for similar studies and compare those results with the results in your paper.
    5. Be sure to cite all of your sources in a well documented bibliography that includes all authors, titles, pages and dates of publication.

These reports must be generated using a word processing computer program. No handwritten text, tables or graphics will be accepted. Please use double spacing and select a font that has 10-12 characters per inch. Both MacIntosh and IBM machines are available for your use in the computer labs in the Library building. If you are in need of assistance, it is your responsibility to schedule a computer lesson with me.

The objectives of this assignment are to strengthen your literature research and writing skills. This will also give you the opportunity to learn about biochemical topics in more detail. 

Papers are due at the beginning of class on the above due dates. Late papers will be penalized 10% per 24 hour period. They will be graded on content, thoroughness, correctness of information, clarity, organization, writing style, punctuation and grammar.  

Homework: Problems from the text will be assigned and some problems will be presented in class by students. Please consult the main page for this class.

Reading Schedule*
WeekChapter
1
1: Intro,Cells, Biomolecules
2
2: Water

3

3: Amino acids, peptides and proteins
4
4: 3D Protein structure
55: Protein function 
66:  Enzymes
76:  Enzymes
87: Carbohydrates and glycobiology
98:  Nucleotides and nucleic acids
109:  DNA based information technologies
1110: Lipids
1211: Biological membranes and transport

*Other supplemental reading material may be assigned

Note: This syllabus is intended to be used as a guide, it is not a legal contract. 

This syllabus may change, depending upon circumstances.

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