Organismic Biology
Bio 207
How do organisms survive and thrive in their environment
,Week Topics
1 Introduction to course goals and organization; overview of topics; staff; resources; the organism in the
environment: temperature-oxygen-water; abiotic and biotic factors; evolution; internal vs. external environm
2 Water and solute transport; barriers to water and solute movements; organisms in the aquatic
environment
3 Water and solute balance in aquatic environments: osmoconformers, osmoregulators; water and solute
balance in terrestrial environments; marine and fresh water organisms
4 Internal communication: neurons, resting membrane potentials in excitable tissues, action potentials; volta
gated channels
5 Midterm 1: covers weeks 1-4 (incl Labs 1-2 and Workshops 1-2). In person
6 The synapse; neurotransmitters; G-protein coupled receptors and 2nd messenger systems; EPSPs, NMJ
7 Muscle and movement; sliding filaments; E-C coupling; length-tension relationships; biomechanics
8 Water and solute balance in terrestrial environments: Kidneys; humans and kangaroo rats in moderate and
extreme environments
9 Energy acquisition and use, metabolism, and cellular respiration
10 Midterm 2: covers weeks 6-9 (incl Labs 3-5 and Workshops 3-4) In person
11 Energy balance and temperature regulation
12 Gases, ventilation in water and air: oxygen for metabolism, gas transfer organs and processes, transportin
gases to and from the body tissues
13 O2 and CO2 transport
14 Circulatory systems; flow dynamics, flow regulation in response to environmental and internal conditions (c
review)
, Today’s Agenda
• Announcements/Questions
• The internal and the external environment
• Homeostasis or what?
• Intro to the aquatic environment
• Membranes and diffusion
, Using Benchmarks
• Benchmarks are not potential exam questions. You will rarely if ever have an exam question that is phra
in the same way. They are not meant to be sample questions. Rather they are meant to guide you into the
topics that are considered essential and may be covered in an exam.
• Using a benchmark as a study guide, you will need to refer to the lecture slides, the relevant sections of
textbook, and aspects of your labs and workshops. By doing that you will have a sense of what level of
detail is sufficient. The text is often more detailed than these other sources, and when you are not sure ab
what you need to know, use the lecture slides as a guide. For the most part, the level of detail in them is
good guide to what you should know.
• There could be a number of exam questions related to a single benchmark, and there could be no exam
questions related to a given benchmark. In some ways exams are surveys of what you have mastered and
not comprehensive and touching all areas.
• One of the best ways to use benchmarks for study is to start with a blank sheet of paper for each one, a
write out and/or diagram a response, putting in all the details you can (essential facts, relationships,
mechanisms). Then compare what you have on paper with the lecture slides and the appropriate text sec
to see what is missing or shaky. Then go on to another benchmark and later redo it to be sure you have
everything together that you need. If you are satisfied that you have responded to it fully, you are most
likely very well prepared for any questions in that topic area.
Bio 207
How do organisms survive and thrive in their environment
,Week Topics
1 Introduction to course goals and organization; overview of topics; staff; resources; the organism in the
environment: temperature-oxygen-water; abiotic and biotic factors; evolution; internal vs. external environm
2 Water and solute transport; barriers to water and solute movements; organisms in the aquatic
environment
3 Water and solute balance in aquatic environments: osmoconformers, osmoregulators; water and solute
balance in terrestrial environments; marine and fresh water organisms
4 Internal communication: neurons, resting membrane potentials in excitable tissues, action potentials; volta
gated channels
5 Midterm 1: covers weeks 1-4 (incl Labs 1-2 and Workshops 1-2). In person
6 The synapse; neurotransmitters; G-protein coupled receptors and 2nd messenger systems; EPSPs, NMJ
7 Muscle and movement; sliding filaments; E-C coupling; length-tension relationships; biomechanics
8 Water and solute balance in terrestrial environments: Kidneys; humans and kangaroo rats in moderate and
extreme environments
9 Energy acquisition and use, metabolism, and cellular respiration
10 Midterm 2: covers weeks 6-9 (incl Labs 3-5 and Workshops 3-4) In person
11 Energy balance and temperature regulation
12 Gases, ventilation in water and air: oxygen for metabolism, gas transfer organs and processes, transportin
gases to and from the body tissues
13 O2 and CO2 transport
14 Circulatory systems; flow dynamics, flow regulation in response to environmental and internal conditions (c
review)
, Today’s Agenda
• Announcements/Questions
• The internal and the external environment
• Homeostasis or what?
• Intro to the aquatic environment
• Membranes and diffusion
, Using Benchmarks
• Benchmarks are not potential exam questions. You will rarely if ever have an exam question that is phra
in the same way. They are not meant to be sample questions. Rather they are meant to guide you into the
topics that are considered essential and may be covered in an exam.
• Using a benchmark as a study guide, you will need to refer to the lecture slides, the relevant sections of
textbook, and aspects of your labs and workshops. By doing that you will have a sense of what level of
detail is sufficient. The text is often more detailed than these other sources, and when you are not sure ab
what you need to know, use the lecture slides as a guide. For the most part, the level of detail in them is
good guide to what you should know.
• There could be a number of exam questions related to a single benchmark, and there could be no exam
questions related to a given benchmark. In some ways exams are surveys of what you have mastered and
not comprehensive and touching all areas.
• One of the best ways to use benchmarks for study is to start with a blank sheet of paper for each one, a
write out and/or diagram a response, putting in all the details you can (essential facts, relationships,
mechanisms). Then compare what you have on paper with the lecture slides and the appropriate text sec
to see what is missing or shaky. Then go on to another benchmark and later redo it to be sure you have
everything together that you need. If you are satisfied that you have responded to it fully, you are most
likely very well prepared for any questions in that topic area.
