Biology Mid-Term Assignments

The format for your Biology Mid-Terms is as follows:

1. Choose an area of biology you wish to research
2. Agree your choice with Larry
3. Larry will arrange a date for your presentation to class
4. You will have up to half-an-hour of class time to present your topic, including discussion and questions/answers
5. Finally, submit a short written report on your presentation
   

And here is the schedule of presentations so far:

Jan 28 Emily Biology and Race

Feb 4 Bianca Medicine and Evolutionary Development

Feb 11 Chris The biology of belief and epigenetics

Feb 18

Feb 25 Rachel Sleep Biology

Mar 3 Michael Bio-energetics

Mar 10 Dawn Nutrition and the evolution of digestion

Mar 17 Katy Intelligent Design and Evolution

Mar 24 Brian Scientific Measurement of Emitted Qi

Assignments for Week Nine - Ecosystems and Deep Ecology

Blog assignments for this week:

• What do you think about the “eight-point Deep Ecology Platform”?
• Can you explain why “Ecosystems are both strong and fragile”?
• How would you assess the “end goals” of Social Ecology?
• Post a comment to a classmate's blog entry
  

Check out the following links:

http://www.bioregions.org/GYE.htm
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA

http://www.zulenet.com/see/newStuartHill.html
Social Ecology

http://uber.tv/g-one/archives/2005/03/005499.html
Making the Invisible Visible

Assignments for Week Eight - Cell Biology: HIV and AIDS

Blog assignments for this week:

• How do you feel about western approaches to HIV/AIDS?
• Can TCM strengthen our immune systems?
• What do you think of “the deal that saved the whale”?
• Post a comment to a classmate's blog entry
  

Check out the following links:

http://www.alternativemedicinechannel.com/hivaids/tcmtreatment.shtml
alternative medicine channel

http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC22/Zimmrman.htm
Introduction To Deep Ecology

http://www.ecospherics.net/pages/DrengEcophil.html
Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview

Assignments for Week Seven - Cell Biology and Cancer

Blog assignments for this week:

• How sophisticated is our understanding of cancer?
• How does a TCM approach to cancer differ?
• Are our genes still being shaped by natural selection?
• Post a comment to a classmate's blog entry
  

Check out the following links:

http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/biology/textbook/cancer/cancer_13.html
Rediscovering Biology

http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/biology/textbook/hiv/hiv_1.html
HIV and AIDS

http://www.stemworks.org/digests/EDO-SE-02-07.pdf
Teaching About the Life and Health of Cells

Assignments for Week Six - The Nature of Life

Blog assignments for this week:

• How do you distinguish between living and nonliving systems?
• What do you feel is the significance of the use of language and tools in chimps?
• "Chinese Medicine Gaining Respectability in West"?
• Post a response to a classmate's blog
  

Check out the following links:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/cell/
Plant Cell Anatomy

http://www.life.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/plantbio/cell/cell.cgi
Virtual Cell

http://www.mandalazone.com/essay-0507.html
Thinking Through: The Mind and the Mandala
by Peter Barreda

Assignments for Week Five - The Complexity of Life

Blog assignments for this week:

• Can diversification save species?
• Do you vote for the chicken or the egg?
• “I always eat my broccoli!”
• Respond to your classmate's blog entries

Check out the following links:

http://www.reed.edu/~mab/papers/4.puzzles.htm
Four Puzzles about Life

http://www.combusem.com/CAPRA2.HTM
The Web of Life
by Fritjof Capra

http://www.mooseworld.com/
Mooseworld

Assignments for Week Four - The Pattern of Life

Blog assignments for this week:

• Is there a drug around for just about everything?
• Can we raise our levels of dopamine ourselves?
• How do you think chimps and humans diverged as species?

Check out the following links:

http://www.resurgence.org/resurgence/articles/capra.htm
THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OUR SECOND BRAIN
FRITJOF CAPRA

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/playground/life.html
The Game of Life

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-36174
Philosophy of biology