Course Search Results

One or more sections may be assigned to a TILE classroom.

The human brain is one of the most complex and amazing things in the world, and is responsible for all that we see, hear, feel, believe, think, and do. An explosion of recent research is leading us to an unprecedented understanding of the mysteries of mind. This non-major course will take a fun and fascinating tour through the nervous system, exploring its structure and function. Topics include: role of genes vs. environment; brain disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases; smart drugs; brain-machine interfaces; memory; psychotropic drugs; brain imaging; brain development; autism; and many more.

This course satisfies the General Education requirement in the Natural Sciences and is directed to students who are not science majors. The course assumes no prior knowledge of biology or math other than a standard high school education. First-year students should feel free to enroll in the course. Grading is on the standard CLAS curve for an introductory course, and will include multiple-choice quizzes and tests, an essay-type test based on a sci-fi novel the students will read, and an “out-of-class” component in which students get credit for either participating as a research subject in a cognitive neuroscience study, attending a seminar by a neuroscientist on campus, or discussing a neuroscience-related news article.

The required textbook for the course is Robert J. Sawyer's Mindscan published by Tor Books. Any edition of the book - eBook, trade paperback, hardcover, mass market paperback - will suffice, as assignments will be by chapter.

What's the world made of?  How do we know? This course demystifies the world around you with a step-by-step introduction to chemistry to help you analyze the choices that you make in your daily living.  We address topics such as: perfecting the art of brewing coffee, the difference between local food and food trucked in from far away, what makes Tylenol different from aspirin, the role and consequences of using fuels to generate energy, sustainability of resources as the world’s population is changing, and climate change from a technical perspective.  Calculations and mathematical manipulations are minimal, and no college-level science preparation is required.  Topics will be explored through demonstrations and hands-on activities.

Humans have a long and rich history of plant and fungi use for food and beverages, spices and herbs, medicinals, psychoactive drugs, toxins, textiles, shelter, aesthetics, and symbolism. We cover a number of these stories through time and place to the present, with emphasis on exploring the biology of both plants and humans. Woven into these stories are any number of wide-reaching issues, from domestication, plant exploration, trade, and colonialism, to contemporary concerns such as land use, biodiversity, food resources, water use, dietary supplements, and genetically modified organisms. The course is not built on caveats, but the goal is to have students better informed and engaged with respect to these issues.

Basic format is lecture, but questions and discussion are encouraged and are par for the course. Course fee goes towards purchase of various plant and fungal-based foods to be sampled throughout the semester. Grading is based on attendance, an essay, and three in-class exams.

The required textbook is available as an e-text through ICON Direct. Those who prefer a physical copy of the this textbook are able to purchase it at the Iowa Hawk Shop.

With human population growth and resource consumption growing exponentially, the impact of human interaction with the rest of our environment is increasingly relevant in many fields of study. Environmental Science is the interdisciplinary study of how Earth's natural systems interact, how these systems affect society, and how they respond to human activity. Environmental Science has the applied goal of solving environmental problems, drawing upon knowledge in disciplines as diverse as ecology, anthropology, economics, and political science. The specific student learning outcomes for the overall course are:

• Ability to critically evaluate popular media articles related to Environmental Science;
• Ability to locate and interpret data relevant to Environmental Science and interpret it;
• Understanding the relationship between their day-to-day life and Environmental Science, particularly in the context of sustainability;
• Recognize the multi-faceted nature of Environmental Science.

This course is taught in a blended environment, including traditional lectures, discussion periods in TILE classrooms, online learning, and both individual and group projects.

This course details the physiology and biochemistry of human nutrition, and the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of diets with regard to appropriate food choices. The course requires simple arithmetic operations. Grades are based on four exams, two computer-based diet assignments, quizzes, and participation activities.

Human evolutionary history began 5-7 million years ago in Africa and continues today around the world.  What were the lives of our earliest ancestors like?  What were the processes that led to modern human diversity?  How accurate are media depictions of human evolution?  What is the place of humans in the natural world?  How does the behavior of other primates inform us about ourselves?  Who were the Neanderthals and what is our relationship to them?  These are among the topics that we will survey from the perspectives of evolutionary theory, comparative anatomy, genetics, and the fossil record.  The course incorporates information and current interpretations gleaned from the most recent fossil discoveries.

The course format includes two lectures per week and one discussion section.  In discussion sections, students learn the methods of biological anthropology through a variety of activities including hands-on study of cast fossil material and artifacts.  Assessments include 2 midterm exams, 1 final exam, and discussion section quizzes, assignments, and 1 paper.

How old is the universe? What is the biochemical nature of life? How old is our planet? What has shaped Earth's history? How has life evolved on planet Earth? These fundamental questions revolve around understanding origins from different perspectives: astronomy, geoscience, biology, and chemistry. In this course, students will work together with faculty from these departments to investigate these questions. We will use inquiry-based activities to build success in critical thinking, teamwork, and effective written and oral communication. Course grade will be based on in-class activities and participation, weekly reading quizzes, writing assignments, in-class exams and a final exam. This course is designed for first and second year students. A second and recommended course offered in the spring semester, entitled, "Big Ideas: Evolution of Life and Search for Life in the Universe" (ASTR/BIOL/EES/ANTH 1061) continues with these themes and includes a laboratory for interested students who want to continue their study of this topic.

Organization and inheritance of human genes and genomes; genetic basis of simple and complex traits; genetic aspects of cancer; paleogenomics and tracing human migrations with DNA.

Discover your inner Neanderthal. Learn how DNA sequences can be used to look into the past to analyze human patterns of migration. For anyone that takes this class, you will probably have your genome sequenced in the relatively near future. Why? Because your genes affect virtually every aspect of your life, and certainly will be relevant to future health care decisions. This course is designed to acquaint you with your genome, and provide you with the basic information necessary to understand the flood of genetic information that is currently inundating society. This course is designed for students who do not intend to make a career in the sciences but are curious about themselves and the explosion of genetic information that began in the end of the 20th century, and continues to accelerate in the 21st century. No prior science or math skills beyond those required for admission to the University are required, but it is assumed that students have a basic grasp of algebra, and have been exposed to biology or chemistry.

This course is not intended for students following the pre-medical, pre-physical therapy, pre-dental, or pre-veterinary curricula.  This course deals with elementary organic chemistry and biochemistry.  There are three lectures a week by a professor and one weekly discussion led by a TA.

The course is designed to give students a qualitative understanding of what we now know about the birth of our universe, how we got from there to today, and the fundamental laws of physics governing everything today. Students learn how scientific paradigms were developed and tested with observations, how research fueled improvement in technology, which in turn made us take giant leaps in our capabilities, and thus extend our boundaries of knowledge. The connection between the largest cosmological scales and very small subatomic scales is explored. The course focuses on concepts, with very little mathematics required. Course grades are based on class participation, quizzes, homework, midterms and a final exam.

Anatomy is the science of understanding the structure of the human body. This course provides an introduction to the major systems of the body and how they interact with each other. The fact that function is often said to follow structure means that functional elements are a meaningful part of the course. We will emphasize how things look, how they are put together, how their structures relate to function, and how structures adapt to change.

Students taking this course are broadly exposed to a substantial amount of anatomical factual knowledge and are required to precisely identify numerous anatomical structures. While viewing anatomical depictions, students are encouraged to use their observational skills to logically deduce functions based on the structure and potential problems if the structure develops incorrectly. Additionally, through observation, students gain an appreciation for conventional naming and the logic used in naming structures. Based on this logic, students will be able to deduce anatomical facts based simply on names. In this process, students essentially learn a new language which allows them to objectively interpret statements they read or hear related to the human body. Current issues are periodically discussed to provide students an opportunity to apply their acquired skills to everyday life, contributing to an improved understanding of the human body.

This course is a survey of the solar system: physical properties of the planets, comets, and asteroids; origin of the solar system; search for extrasolar planetary systems; search for life in the universe; current results of recent planetary space missions; night sky observation.  High school algebra and geometry are used, but this is not a mathematically intensive course.

Our DNA is made up of 3 billion pairs of building blocks called nucleotides. How is it that alteration of one single pair can cause a devastating genetic disorder like spina bifida?  This introductory course, taught by a faculty member who studies human genetic disorders, will demystify the genetic pathways behind such disorders in easy-to-understand language, in the context of celebrities affected by them including Michael J. Fox, Peyton Manning, and Selena Gomez. For example, what is it about the genetic alteration carried by Michael J. Fox that led to Parkinson’s Disease, and what is it like to live with this disorder?  We’ll also explore how we might be able to cure genetic disorders.

All course materials will be available through ICON.

This course introduces selected topics in physics covering mechanics, fluids, heat, electrical circuits, and modern physics. It does not meet the requirements for the pre-medical and pre-dental majors, but is commonly taken by students to meet preprofessional requirements in pharmacy, medical technology, nursing, and speech pathology.  Most of the necessary math is developed in this course.  Exams, homework, and quizzes are used (along with lab work for the 4 s.h. option) in determining grades.  TA's conduct the on campus three hour lab session each week (4 s.h. option).  NO LABS DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES. 

Evolution is a central component of every field of modern biology, and provides a foundation for much of medicine, psychology, ecology, neurobiology, and genetics. Despite this, evolution remains one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized scientific theories. Students will study a variety of topics, including what evolution is, how natural selection works, and how new species arise. One or more sections may be assigned to a TILE classroom.

Food, medicine, energy, materials, agriculture, and more are all part of a chemical industry that is responsible for nearly $4 trillion dollars of materials manufactured and transported worldwide each year. The chemical industry employs nearly 800,000 people within the U.S. and every one job in the chemistry industry generates 7.6 jobs elsewhere, totaling almost 6 million jobs for the U.S. economy. The business of chemistry is essential to the economy and health of every industrialized nation and developing countries. In this course we will cover the principles of chemistry and how the basic concepts and reactions of chemistry impact the business world and the global economy.

This course is designed for those who need a general education course and have not taken a chemistry course since high school. I will assume a basic working knowledge of beginning algebra and an ability to use a calculator. I will assume that everyone knows that there is a periodic table of the elements and that we are made of atoms, the rest we will explore together. What I expect out of students is willingness and eagerness to learn about something that may be out of their area of expertise, but that will apply to many different parts of their lives. I am constantly amazed at the beauty of chemistry, and I hope you will be too. You will be given homework – it is important to complete this homework to help you learn the material – and you will have exams to test your knowledge. You will also have a chance to discuss current events that underscore the relevance of the topics discussed in lectures.

We currently need 1.6 earths to sustain our use of natural resources.  Where we live, what we eat, and our day-to-day activities modify the local environment. In turn, we are intricately connected to one another and to the environment on which our livelihoods depend. Understanding the global environment and the role people play within the earth system is essential to understanding current debates, policies, and their potential ramifications.  This course introduces students to the natural processes, ranging from microscopic to global, and explores how the science of the global environment helps us understand the connections between people and environment.  Students will learn how the earth's systems interact and the importance of these systems to people.  The processes of observation, analysis, and inference underlying the science will be discussed throughout.  This course provides an important foundation for future study of topics such as environmental studies, business, public health, journalism, and many other fields.