Organismal Biology 1

Goals for the course is to provide an overview of the origin, systematics and evolution of living organisms and their viruses on earth. The students will be presented for central phyla through active learning, including lab courses. Classical dissection and microscopy techniques will be used to demonstrate the morphological structures and biosystematiske details of selected plants and animals. Cultivation and microscopy will be used to show morphology and occurrence of different microorganisms.

The course includes extensive laboratory courses.

Upon completion of the course, students should have the following learning outcomes defined in knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge:

• Should be familiar with the different main groups of prokaryotic organisms, protists, viruses, fungi, plants, and animals, and what defines them.
• Should be familiar with key concepts used in the study of phylogeny, taxonomy, and biological diversity.
• Can explain how the different groups of organisms have evolved.
• Should be familiar with the biology and anatomy of the different groups of organisms to understand their biosystematic placement, evolutionary history, and relationships.

Skills:

• Can use basic laboratory techniques to study, identify, and classify key groups of organisms.
• Can present their own results from laboratory work in the form of drawings, tables, and figures according to relevant parts of the IMRaD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion) format, with the main focus on R (Results).

General Competence:

• Can collaborate with fellow students on active learning in teaching and laboratory exercises.
• Can reflect on and demonstrate critical thinking regarding their own results and findings.
• Can act responsibly in accordance with rules and guidelines for work in the laboratory.
• Can classify organisms based on specific characteristics.

Spring.

The course has a limited number of places and is part of the teaching admission at the MN faculty. Students who have the course as a compulsory subject in their degree have first priority for the course. The deadline to register for the course is Wednesday in week 2. You will receive a response on whether you have been allocated a place in the course on Studentweb no later than Monday in week 3.

Attendance at the first lecture/orientation meeting is mandatory, and you risk losing your place if you do not attend. If you are unable to attend the first lecture/orientation meeting, you must contact the study section by email: studie.bio@uib.no. The time for the first lecture/orientation meeting can be found in the schedule under "Resources" at the top right or on Mitt UiB.