Life’s funny, isn’t it? That’s one thing people say. Or amazing. Or chaotic, beautiful, unfair, and too short. But a biologist says that life is discoverable. And as a teacher of biology, you are— quite literally—teaching future generations about life. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, environmental service, molecular genetics, virology, botany, ecology, marine biology, microbiology, physiology, zoology—our program is the first step toward all of these specialties and more. Whether your interest is micro or macro, we’ll turn you into an expert-level life scientist and teacher.
Overview of Courses
The courses listed below represent the curriculum offered within the biological sciences discipline. The additional teacher’s certification requires 30 credit hours of supplemental teaching curriculum, after which students will be prepared to teach secondary education (grades 6-12). Click here to view the Major Sheet and DPCL Forms.
Here’s a sample of what you can expect to learn and do:
- Conservation Biology
The study of the conservation of biodiversity based in the principles of ecology, evolution, and genetics. The primary goal of this course is to understand natural ecological systems in the context of a human dominated world to learn to best maintain biological diversity in concert with an exploding human population. This is accomplished through lecture, Socratic discussion, and videos.
- Developmental Biology
The study of animal development from fertilization through organogenesis. Major developmental events, embryo anatomy, the origin of major cell types, cell-cell interactions as well as the molecular mechanisms guiding development are explored.
- Parasitology
This course is designed to actively engage students in the study of parasitology. The course emphasizes parasites of public health concern reviewing recent studies using current technologies. Major conceptual themes include evolutionary relationships, virulence, origins of a parasitic life, life histories, manipulation of hosts, host immune responses, and consequences for hosts.
Teacher Education
Students seeking teacher preparation in Biology follow a plan very similar to the B.S. in Biological Sciences that includes the focus-area courses for teacher education. See the degree plan here, and the list of teacher-education course descriptions here.
See below for an example of a Teacher Education course.
- Secondary School Methods I
This course investigates various methods of teaching secondary school students. It encompasses planning, organization and teaching strategies. Field experiences are included. This course is taken concurrently with Teaching Residency I where students spend a minimum of 60% of the instructional day in their assigned school working under the direction of a mentor teacher.