BCH 3033 - GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY


Course Description

BCH 3033 is a 3-credit course intended to introduce 3rd & 4th year students to the principles of enzymology, bioenergetics and cellular metabolism. The roles played by important biomolecules - proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids - in these  will be discussed over the course of the semester.  Generally the first part of the course is structural biochemistry with enzyme kinetics, protein function, biosignalling and thermodynamics. The second part of the course is mainly metabolism (the biochemical pathways of central metabolism and other important aspects of catabolism and anabolism).


Prerequisites

The prerequisites required to register for BCH 3033 include:

General Biology - BSC 1010 & BSC 1011 or equivalent + Grade of C or Better.
Organic Chemistry - CHM 2210 & CHM 2211 or equivalent + Grade of C or Better. 
Required Text

 Principles of Biochemistry, Lehninger, Fifth Edition (2009) -  Now Available in Three Different Formats:  Hardbound Text,  Loose-leaf Text (ISBN: 1-4292-2263-8), and e-book.  The latter two cost significantly less than the Hardbound Text.  The loose-leaf form was ordered for the Bookstore.  The e-book is at:  http://ebooks.bfwpub.com/lehninger5e

New and used copies of the textbook are available at the FIU Bookstore in the Graham Center.   The bookstore sells them at highest possible cost.  You can save by using the web:  new and used are discounted at half.com and abebooks.com.   International editions are at about half the price:  check out amazaon.co.uk and others.  The international editions are usually paper back, but otherwise are identical to the very costly book in the bookstore.  Be careful about ordering the text and not the study guide.

NOTE:  Answers to the Problems are in the Appendix, the Web Notes end with problems that you need to be able to solve.  This means exam questions come from problem sets because they develop thoughtful insight to biochemical processes.  

Course Policies
1. Exams

There will be several exams over the course of the semester - each worth 100 points (except the first = 50 points). The Final Exam (200 points) will be cumulative.  PLEASE PEPARE for EACH EXAM as a FINAL EXAM.  Prepare for the exams well before the exam, the questions are problem solving, conceptual and thought exercise questions.  Memory alone will not work but is ABSOLUTELY dependent to answer the questions.

The EXAMS ANSWERS requiring a written answer, chemical structures to construct or problems to solve.  There will be NO multilple choice questions.  There will be different FORMS of the Exam.  Each exam will contain a structures set of the common monomers (WITHOUT THEIR NAMES) relevant to that particular exam.

Previous exams are NOT HELPFUL.  We have found that students studying previous exams do poorly, the questions are not repeated.  The BEST STRATEGY for a GOOD GRADE is to know the material as if you were going to teach it.  PLEASE study so that you actually know all material covered in Lecture - all exam questions come directly from Lecture and Problem Sets.

Wearing brimed hats or baseball caps during exams is not permitted, classroom lighting does not require hats.

Make-Up Exams will be given only to students providing valid documentation of a medical or other serious problem.  Make-Up Exams are not multiple choice questions.

NO EXAM IS DROPPED.  All portions of the course are extremely IMPORTANT.

Answers to the exams will be posted on the course website in a timely fashion.
 
2. Final Grade

Your final course grade will be determined by your points attained on all exams and then converted to a letter grade based on a curve.  The curve will not make the lowest C (passing for majors) below 50% of the total.

3.  Missed Exams

If you miss an exam, please contact the instructor within 24 hours of the exam, if possible.  Missed exams may result in a score of zero if the instructor is not notified in a timely fashion.  Alternatives to a score of zero for the exam may be discussed with the instructor.

If you foresee that an unavoidable prior commitment will prevent you from attending an exam, contact the instructor at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled exam time to discuss alternative = taking a make up exam.

5. Cheating

CHEATING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!!
Students caught cheating during an examination will be ejected from the exam and given an "F" for the course.

6. Incompletes for the course

The FIU policy on incompletes is as follows: An incomplete grade is a temporary symbol given at the discretion of the instructor for work not completed because of serious interruption not caused by the student's own negligence. An incomplete must be made up as quickly as possible but no later than two semesters or it will automatically default to the grade that the student earned in the course. There is no extension to the two semester deadline. The student must not register again for the course to make up the incomplete.

Incompletes will require written documentation (doctor's note, accident report, etc) of the underlying condition that impedes student progress. A form will need to be signed by the student detailing the procedure and agenda for completing course-work.

Students who receive an incomplete grade and have applied for graduation at the end of that term, must complete the incomplete grade by the end of the fourth week of the following term. Failure to do so will result in a cancellation of graduation. The student will need to reapply for graduation.