Typically, four different sections of Bio-150 are offered each semester.

Biological Responses to Stress (Professor Gregg-Jolly)
In this course, we will investigate ways that biologists seek to understand how organisms can interact with their environment and change in response to varying environmental conditions. Since microbes are excellent model systems for biological inquiry, their response to stressful environments will be emphasized. Students will formulate hypotheses regarding stress responses, design and conduct experiments to test their hypotheses, and communicate the results of their experiments.

Building an Animal (Professor Sullivan)
In this course students will begin a study of how a fertilized egg turns into an animal with many highly differentiated cell types. Students will begin learning how to use the scientific literature to study the cellular and molecular events underlying development. Students will learn to work with sea urchins to study fertilization and early invertebrate development and then will work with chicken embryos to study the appearance of different cells, tissues and organs in later vertebrate development. The emphasis of the course will be on asking questions, designing experiments to answer those questions, and communicating results of the experiments in a variety of formats.

Cell Fate: Calvin or Hobbes? (Professor Praitis)
During the development of an embryo, how is the fate of a cell determined? How does a cell 'know' it is supposed to become a nerve cell? Or part of the gut? How does it know its location within the embryo? To address these questions, we will examine the fate of cells during embryonic development, focusing primarily on the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. We will critically evaluate the primary literature, formulate hypotheses, carry out independent research projects using a variety of analytical tools, and report experimental results in scientific papers, posters, and oral presentations.

The Effects of Climate Change on Organisms (Professor Jacobson)
We will examine the effects of predicted changes in temperature, moisture and carbon dioxide levels on organismal and ecosystem function through experimental investigation. We will focus on the effects of such changes on the physiology and metabolic functioning of soil and aquatic organisms, as well as on biogeochemical processes of ecosystems, including respiration, decomposition and nutrient-cycling. Class time will be devoted primarily to discussions and lab work examining theoretical aspects of organismal and ecosystem functioning, design and implementation of lab-based experiments, and the interpretation of our results in the context of extensive ongoing climate change research.

Emerging and Re-emerging Pathogens (Professor Voyles)
Students will consider questions such as: (1) why and how do organisms cause disease, (2) how does the body fight off a pathogen, (3) how do infectious diseases spread, (4) how does a new infectious disease arise, (5) how do antibiotics work and how do resistant organisms arise. In lab students will isolate and characterize antibiotic-resistant bacteria from local water sources and then conduct research projects on those organisms.

How Can Insects Tell Time? (Professor Cabeza)
Insects must time their development and metamorphosis based on teh world around them because the timing of critical life events is imperative. So how is it that they tell time and carefully synchronize their metamorphic changes? In this course we will investigate a little understood aspect of teh Tobacco Hornworm moth's development, the wandering stage of the caterpillar. Students will learn about the insect's life cycle, physiology, and endocrinology of metamorphosis, based on a critical reading of the literature, so that they can ask important questions about the wandering state and design experiments to test their ideas. Students will present their findings in both an oral scientific presentation and in the form of a manuscript and poster. Participants with substantial research from their projects will be invited to publish their results in Pioneering Neuroscience: The Grinnell Journal of Neurophysiology.

The Language of Neurons (Professor Lindgren)
In this course students will actively learn how biologists study the nervous system. Specifically, students will work as neuroscientists for a semester and will attempt to learn something novel about how nerve cells communicate with one another at chemical synapses. Students will present their findings at the end of the semester via both oral and written presentations. Papers resulting from a substantial independent project will be published in the class journal, Pioneering Neuroscience: The Grinnell Journal of Neurophysiology. Students with a strong background in high school physics will benefit most from this section of Biological Inquiry.

The Many Lives of Viruses (Professor Sparks-Thissen)
The course will focus on the ways that viruses use their host to replicate and spread. We will address questions relating to the host response to infection and how viruses subvert the host response in order to replicate. Students will design and carry our experiments to explore the molecular and cellular mechnaisms contribuint to infection. These results will be critically evaluated in the context of primary literature. The results will then be presented in written, poster and oral formats.

Miracle Drugs and Wonder Bugs (Professor Marks)
In this course we will explore the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and the medical and soceital consequences of that resistance. We will learn about the biology of bacteria, develop an understanding of how antibiotics work, and how evolution of resistance to these drugs occurs. We will also have a chance to discuss environmental and medical issuses associated with human use and mis-use of antibiotics. During the course students will ask questions, formulate hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, and communicate their results both written and orally.

Plant Genetics and the Environment (Professor DeRidder)
The physical and behavioral characteristics of living organisms are largely determined by their genetic makeup and their environment. This course is designed to allow us to ask questions about the relationship between genetics and the environment and to explore the mechanisms plants use to acclimate and adapt to changes in their environment. Using the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we will examine the influence of different environmental factors on the growth and development of 'wild-type' and mutant individuals Students will design and perform experiments to address questions about the effect of genetic mutation on plant responses to the environment. After careful analysis of experimental results, students will communicate their findings in various scientific forms.

Prairie Restoration (Professor Brown)
As a way to explore how biologists ask questions and develop answers to them, this class will focus on the biological problems involved in the restoration of tallgrass prairies. It will be taught in "workshop" format at Grinnell College's Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), where we will use the college's prairie and savanna restorations as our laboratory. Students will be required to formulate research questions based on readings of the scientific literature, design experimental or observational studies to test these hypotheses, and communicate the results of these studies after the conventions of professional biologists. Papers resulting from a substantial independent project will be published in the class journal, Tillers.

The Sex Life of Plants (Professor Eckhart)
This course will explore the evolution and ecology of reproduction in flowering plants to develop your understanding of how and why plants reproduce as they do. You'll experience biology as it is practiced, as you learn principles of adaptation, practice the scientific method, and communicate your research findings in the style of professional biologists. Activities will include reading and discussing classic and contemporary scientific literature, completing exercises on the structure and function of plant reproductive features, and conducting and reporting on research projects done in the lab, the greenhouse, and the field.

Survivor (Professor Hinsa-Leasure)
In this course we will investigate strategies organisms use for survival in different environments. We will focus on microorganisms and humans as model systems. Topics addressed will include the biology of bacteria, factors important for biofilm formation, how microorganisms become resistant to antibiotics, and how we protect ourselves from microorganisms. Students will isolate and characterize microorganisms attached to vegetables by using standard microbial and basic molecular biology techniques. Based on critical reading of the literature, students will design and carry out independent projects, analyze and report the results in scientific papers, posters and oral presentations.

What Does It Mean to Be a Plant? (Professor Robertson)
Many people regard plants simply as 'green animals'. While there are many important similarities between plants and animals at the cellular and sub-cellular levels, there are profound differences as well, differences shaped by the migration of plants from the oceans onto dry land. This migration required a variety of evolutionary adaptations, anatomical, physiological and developmental, in order to survive in this new, harsher environment. Students will explore these adaptations by asking questions about the structures, physiological functions and developmental strategies plants have evolved to meet this challenge. They will design experiments, analyze data and communicate their results in the form of scientific papers, posters and oral presentations as they endeavor to understand what it means to be a plant.

What Makes a Pathogen Pathogenic? (Professor Humphreys)
This course will focus on pathogenic bacteria and how they cause disease. Some bacteria are more effective than others at causing disease. We will investigate factors contributing to virulence in pathogenic bacteria at the genetic level using basic molecular biology techniques. Students will learn principles of pathogenic microbiology, including where disease-causing organisms come from, how they are transmitted to a host, what factors they use to cause damage to the host and perpetuate their own survival, how the disease is treated, and how transmission can be prevented. Students will design their own experiments based on reading of the primary literature, perform experiments, and present their findings both in writing and in oral presentations.