- 3-credits
- Semester I
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- BIOL2401
Advanced: Level II Courses
The following courses are available as of 2011/12 academic year:
AGSL2401 - SOIL AND WATER MANAGEMENT
The course is designed to provide a foundation in the management of soil structure and properties to achieve enhanced plant growth.The course will cover the basics of soil properties and the effects of land management on these properties. Soil management to improve water properties, soil fertility, overall soil quality and to mitigate against soil erosion will be covered.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- describe basic types of soils and their physical, chemical and biological features,
- describe the main features of successful irrigation of soils,
- explain methods of effectively managing soils to improve and maintain its desirable properties,
- explain the relationship between microbial activity and soil fertility,
- explain the issues of soil erosion in Jamaica.
BIOL2401 - RESEARCH SKILLS AND PRACTICES IN BIOLOGY
- 3-credits
- Semester I
- Level II
- Duration: 12 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- Together with BIOL2403, this course is core to ALL new Life Sciences Programmes, Majors and Minors.
The course is designed to introduce students to 10 major topics related to Biological and Ethical skills that will equip them with a variety of practical and transferable skills in areas such as team/group work, scientific report writing, oral presentations, study skills, basic laboratory skills, experimental design, data handling, display and interpretation, and basic statistical analysis.
It is geared towards students who may not have had a firm background in practical biology with the skills, methods and principles that will allow them to be successful and functional biologists.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- outline the major transferrable skills,
- find, evaluate and properly cite published information without plagiarising,
- communicate their research orally or in writing,
- demonstrate basic laboratory and field research skills,
- review the major ethical principles as they relate to appropriate scientific conduct.
BIOL2402 - FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOMETRY
- 3-credits
- Semester I
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- BIOL2401
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- explain basic statistical concepts,
- based on specified criteria, identify appropriate statistical tests for one and two variables,
- summarise quantitative biological data using methods of descriptive statistics,
- apply statistical test procedures and interpret the results
- describe relationships among multiple independent variables.
BIOL2403 - PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY
- 3-credits
- Semester II
- Level II
- Duration: 12 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- Together with BIOL2401, this course is core to ALL new Life Sciences Programmes, Majors and Minors.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- explain population distributions and the abiotic and biotic factors which influence them,
- identify species interactions and evaluate the interdependence of species,
- describe concepts of community productivity, succession, cycling and transformation.
BIOL2404 - GENETICS
- 3-credits
- Semester II
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
The course is intended to provide a comprehensive and balanced account of genetics and genomics by integrating the subfields of classical genetics, molecular genetics and population genetics.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- explain the biological processes including expression, regulation, mutation, transmission, recombination, mapping, cloning of genes and analysis genomes in individuals and populations of living organisms,
- describe the experimental methods used by geneticists to solve biological problems,
- display critical thinking skills that will be useful in the genetic analysis of living organisms.
BIOL2406 - EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY
- 3-credits
- Semester II
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- BIOL2401
The course is designed to expose students to the nature and properties of eukaryotic microorganisms, their effects on humans and the environment, and how they may be exploited to provide useful products.
Students will be required to effectively communicate their experimental findings and evaluate results from simulations during class presentations.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- describe the range in morphology and structure of eukaryotic microorganisms and be able to distinguish them from prokaryotes,
- classify eukaryotic microorganisms,
- discuss the evolutionary relationships between the groups of eukaryotic microorganisms, to other eukaryotes as well as to the prokaryotes,
- describe growth and metabolism in eukaryotic microbes,
- outline the importance of eukaryotic microorganisms in the environment,
- outline the utilisation of eukaryotic microorganisms in biotechnology,
- identify and explain strategies for the management of eukaryotic microorganisms in the environment,
- isolate and aseptically culture selected microorganisms,
- critically evaluate experimental data gleaned from actual experiments.
BOTN2401 - PLANT FORM AND SYSTEMATICS
- 3-credits
- Semester I
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- BOTN2402
This course is designed to provide a foundation in the diversity of, and the evolutionary relationships between the major groups of plants. It introduces students to the organization of tissues, the gross structure of plants and how these mediate the interaction of sporiferous and seed-bearing plants with their environment, evolutionary relationships, classification of the major groups and the rules of nomenclature in botany.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- compare the range in morphology and anatomy of sporiferous and seed-bearing plants,
- utilise taxonomic data to classify plant specimenss,
- discuss the evolutionary relationships between the different groups of plants,
- infer the evolution of important vegetative and reproductive features that has led to the dominance and success of extinct and extant groups of plants.
BOTN2402 - PHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS
- 3-credits
- Semester I
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- BOTN2401
This course is designed to provide a foundation in the fundamental concepts of plant physiology, introducing students to experimental plant science using methods that illustrate the basic principles. The course deals with plant functions from the level of cells, tissues, organs to the whole plant, covering carbon fixation, growth and development, soil-plant relations, transport of substances within the plants and the production of secondary metabolites.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- identify the main processes and controls of plant cell growth and differentiation,
- describe developmental stages from seedling to senescence or dormancy, and how they are regulated and affected by plant hormones and other biotic and abiotic factors,
- describe the pathways and processes of water, mineral nutrient and photosynthate transport in plants,
- explain differences between the main pathways of carbon fixation and assimilation and identify their benefits under various environmental conditions,
- undertake, interpret and report basic plant physiological experiments in the laboratory and greenhouse.
ZOOL2401 - ANIMAL FORM
- 3-credits
- Semester II
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- ZOOL2402
An understanding of animal structure affects the comprehension of most other major fields of zoology, including ecology, physiology and evolutionary biology. This course is designed as a core course for zoological sciences and will be essential for persons wishing to major in Zoology.
It serves as an introduction to the gross structure and cellular organization of animals with emphasis on systems in animals. In all topics, examples are drawn from both vertebrate and invertebrate phyla.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- identify the relationship between structure of important components and their normal functioning in animals,
- evaluate and compare selected systems commonly found in animals,
- evaluate and compare cell types commonly found in the selected systems studied,
- describe the evolution of selected systems through the range of animal phyla.
ZOOL2402 - ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY
- 3-credits
- Semester II
- Level II
- Duration: 6 weeks
- BIOL1017 + BIOL1018 + BIOL1262 + BIOL1263 or equivalent,
- plus a minimum of 24 credits from Level 1, 18 of which must be FPAS courses.
- ZOOL2401
An understanding of animal structure affects the comprehension of most other major fields of zoology, including ecology, physiology and evolutionary biology. This course is designed as a core course for zoological sciences and will be essential for persons wishing to major in Zoology.
The course serves as an introduction to the functioning of selected physiological systems in a range of animals. In all topics covered, examples are drawn from both vertebrate and invertebrate phyla.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
- evaluate standard physiological concepts such as Bohr shift, countercurrent systems, active transport and negative feedback control,
- describe the structure of important components involved in the normal functioning of animals,
- explain the functioning of several major physiological systems found in animals,
- conduct, analyse and report on the results of simple physiological laboratory experiments conducted on animals.
Getting More Information
For more information about the courses offered by the Department, please visit the Courses page or additionally, you may download the Handbook in PDF.*
*Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader
