Students will be able to identify and describe the major principles of biology
In the biology program at Longwood University the incoming freshman start their 4 years with taking Biology 120- Integrative Biology. This class allowed for all students in the program to learn valuable skills that would be used throughout their 4 years of undergraduate. Even though I took biology in high school this course really filled in some gaps of knowledge that were missing and this course really catapulted me into what the next couple years would be like.
When I came to college I felt I had a solid starting ground of what biological principles were and I felt that I knew what I was going into with this program. I came to find out that I had more knowledge to gain and that I needed more skills than just the basics of what I learned in high school. As I went through BIOL 120 I gained more confidence in identifying the major principles that would be key in my later classes. Principles that are key in basic biology is knowing about the cell and cell theory. Also, knowing the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. A project that students were able to apply these principles was the first laboratory project that we completed. My group chose to study bacteria that was collected from the outside door handles from Chichester Science Center. My group was able to discover and characterize the various bacteria through morphological characteristics that we learned through the lecture material on cells, cell theory, and eukaryotic vs prokaryotic organisms.
The following semester I was able to take Biology 250-Intro to Genetics and Cell Biology. This class allowed me to expand on my knowledge from 120 and allowed me to gain better writing skills. In the course I was able to perform a semester long project that allowed me to learn more about cells and cell theory. This course and the project pushed me to learn more about the molecular world and it really fueled my love for molecular and cellular biology.
Biology 251- Introduction to Ecology and Evolution is the last class that prepared me to have a solid foundation for my future in biology. This class I was able to complete an experiment but I was able to complete a different kind of research, as well as apply a different set of biological principles. Specifically, in this class I was able to characterize and study the tunneling behavior of ants. I was not sure how ecological behavior and the ideas of natural selection would help further my career, but what I learned in this class and on this project prepared me for when I took an Animal Behavior course.
These are the courses that really built me a solid foundation of how to write and convey scientific information in a meaningful but concise way. This also helped prepare me for my upper level courses and because of them I feel like I have become a better writer.