Title: Welcome!
Course: BIO-182 RTZ > Section: Introduction

Welcome to Bio 182 (Unity and Diversity of Life II: Multi-cellular Organisms)

The Unity and Diversity of Life II: Multi-cellular Organisms (BIO182) is the second semester of a one-year sequence, general studies, 4-credit majors course.  In this course, we build on the principles learned in Bio181 (cellular life) and examine multi-cellular life on Earth. We begin the semester by looking at the mechanisms by which the diversity of life emerged (evolution by natural selection). The mechanisms of evolution is followed by a brief look at the colonization of land by plants and animals. Finally, we end the semester by examining the interactions of living organisms within their environment.

COURSE STRUCTURE: This is an online course. Each week you can expect to do some reading, take a quiz, and complete some learning activities designed to augment your understanding of pertinent concepts. In addition, there will be an occasional lab to complete and a unit exam.

The course is divided into weekly modules:

- Each module begins with an overview of the topic to be covered that week. The overview includes a “To Do” list for the week, as well as a brief overview of the chapter, suggested chapter sections to focus your reading, goals and learning objectives for the chapter and supplemental material pertaining to the topic at hand.
- Following this document is a lecture in the form of a PowerPoint Presentation. In order to access the lecture notes, you MUST download the document. To download the document, select the “download” link found directly above the images on the screen and below the title of the presentation.  Once the download is complete, open the document and select the first slide. This will open the ‘notes’ page. The image is located above, the lecture notes below the image.

TO DO:

1. Read the course syllabus, available here or by selecting "SYLLABUS" from the menu on the left side of the screen.

2. After reading the syllabus, print a copy to keep at hand. Then, select the link to MacMillan Higher Education (left side of your screen) to register for LaunchPad. Be sure to purchase the LaunchPad access code first!

3. When you’ve completed these tasks, go to the first module (Week 1) and complete the requisite assignments before the assigned date. For a complete list of assignments and due dates, OR select "syllabus" on the menu to the left of your screen and scroll down.

4. Finally, INTRODUCE YOURSELF to me and your classmates through the Discussion Board BEFORE [Your selected date/time]. If you fail to check in by the assigned date, you WILL be dropped from the course.

QUESTIONS? PROBLEMS?

- If you have questions about the content or need to communicate with me about other course-related issues, email me through the [Your LMS] message system ("Inbox" on top right of screen). I will check messages most days of the week and will respond [Your response policy] unless it's a weekend or holiday.
- If you are having technical issues, please contact our [Your technical assistance contact information here] or LaunchPad technical support (look for link on LaunchPad).

Ready? Excellent!  I look forward to working with y'all this semester! :-) [Your name here]