FOUNDATION: LIFE SCIENCES BIODIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Starting in the Fall of 2013, three new courses make up the Life Sciences Foundation requirement. These courses encompass the study of life, ground students in the place in which they are learning, and this local environment into a broader evolutionary context. Students must take all three of these courses as part of their Foundation program.
Biodiversity of British Columbia (LIF 2210) The natural world is a complex and captivating place. From the ocean to the alpine, the forest to the this course introduces students to the organisms and ecosystems that surround us. While accessing the wide variety of habitats found near Squamish, we explore the causes and consequences of biological diversity, by documenting patterns in the and linking them to underlying processes. We immerse ourselves in the empirical and theoretical science that strives to make sense of this ecological complexity. Students are challenged to collect and analyze data, and to engage their curiosity and creativity to test hypotheses about natural phenomena across organismal, population, community, and ecosystem scales. We practice the method, write and communicate science, read and critique literature, and conduct studies.
Students who have completed some but not all of the previous Life Sciences Foundation requirements can use the following equivalencies to determine which of the new offerings will satisfy their Foundation program requirements. • Any Molecular Biology course (Molecular Biology, Genes to Proteins, or Genetics & Society) counts as credit for Evolution. • Any Neurosciences course (Neurobiology or Neuropsychology) counts as credit for What is Life? • Ecology counts as credit for Biodiversity of British Columbia.
WHAT IS LIFE? What is Life? (LIF 2310) Biology is the study of life, but what is life? What are its origins? How does life persist and perpetuate itself, and what is the future of life? These deceptively simple questions underpin the Life Sciences, and provide us with an opportunity to investigate both historic milestones and cutting edge innovations across all scales of inquiry, from molecules to biomes. To examine how living things work, we consider the key processes of birth, metabolism, reproduction, and death, and the physiological and behavioral mechanisms by which they are achieved. Students practice the method, write and communicate science, read and critique literature, and conduct and laboratory studies.
EVOLUTION Evolution (LIF 2110) How does evolution happen and how do we know? What and how can we learn about events that happened millions of years ago? How is evolution relevant to climate change, disease transfer, and antibiotic resistance? Students answer these questions and many others by studying the major lines of evidence for evolution, including the fossil record, natural selection, DNA replication and cell division, gene expression, mutation, heredity, and the formation of new species. Emphasis is split between learning core concepts and applying those concepts to real-world examples. Students practice the method, write and communicate science, read and critique literature, and conduct laboratory studies.
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