Introductory biology

Lectures: 3 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Recitations: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

There are no formal prerequisites for this course, but we do presuppose high school-level biology and chemistry (especially familiarity with the fundamental aspects of chemical structure).

The required textbook is: Campbell, N. A., J. B. Reece, et al. Campbell Biology. 9th ed. Benjamin Cummings, 2010. ISBN: 9780321558237.

Regular weekly attendance is expected. Each recitation section meets twice per week for 50 minutes. Recitation problems and solutions are available in the recitations section.

Tutors are available at no charge for all MIT students who wish to have extra help with the course material, either on a one-time or on a regular basis.

There will be 7 graded problem sets, but only your best 6 problem set scores will be used in determining your grade. Although you may engage in general discussions of problems, sharing of answers is a violation of the trust placed in all students in the class, each of whom is entrusted with producing her/his own set of answers. Students who copy problem set answers or allow their problem sets to be copied may receive a 0 for all the problem sets (and thus lose approximately 16.5% of the grade).

There will be three exams worth 100 points each given during the term and a comprehensive final worth 200 points given during finals week. The Final Exam will be a 3-hour, cumulative exam, covering the entire course.

Your overall course grade will depend on the following components:

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