{"id":122,"date":"2016-06-07T14:56:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T14:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/?page_id=122"},"modified":"2016-06-07T17:34:36","modified_gmt":"2016-06-07T17:34:36","slug":"biol120-microbiology-unseen-life","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/teaching\/biol120-microbiology-unseen-life\/","title":{"rendered":"BIOL120 Microbiology &#8211; Unseen Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Microorganisms (or microbes) are organisms that can not be seen with the naked eye, and are frequently single-celled.\u00a0 They are the most numerous, most diverse and most important organisms on earth.\u00a0 Species of bacteria have been found that can live at temperatures above the boiling point and below the freezing point.\u00a0 As a group, microbes can metabolize almost any compound.\u00a0 The can be friend or foe:\u00a0 microbes are essential to the biogeochemical cycling of elements on our earth, and yet a single microorganism can kill a human.\u00a0 The mechanisms by which microbes perform all these and many other unique functions are biologically interesting, and their impact on our world is unsurpassed by any other group of organisms.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The overall goals of this course include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>To introduce students\u00a0to the unique aspects of biology of microbes.<\/strong> In one semester we cannot even begin to scratch the surface of the entire field of Microbiology.\u00a0 Thus, we choose representative topics on which to focus our attentions as we explore a wide range of questions related to microbiology.\u00a0 These include:\u00a0\u00a0 Who are the microbes and how are they classified?\u00a0 How do microbes grow?\u00a0 How can we control microbial growth?\u00a0 How can we harness the power of microbial genetics?\u00a0 How do microbes help in food production?\u00a0 What roles do microbes play in the biosphere?\u00a0 How do microbes and the human body interact?\u00a0 Additionally, you will have the opportunity to explore topics that you are interested thought a variety of open ended course assignments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To explore the role microbes play in our world.<\/strong> The contributions of microbes to the world, both positive and negative, will be highlighted through out the course.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To help students\u00a0understand the process of scientific endeavor.<\/strong> Science is a process which seeks to construct a non-arbitrary, truthful representation of the world.\u00a0 The process of science may take many forms.\u00a0 We will use microbiology as a paradigm to explore the nature of science, what scientists do, and how science impacts our society.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To convince you that, in their unique way, microbes rule the earth!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/files\/2016\/06\/05BIOL106SYLLABUS.pdf\">05BIOL106SYLLABUS<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/files\/2016\/06\/05BIOL106-lecture-schedule-V8.pdf\">05BIOL106 lecture schedule V8<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/files\/2016\/06\/Agar-Art-Show.pdf\">Agar Art Show<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microorganisms (or microbes) are organisms that can not be seen with the naked eye, and are frequently single-celled.\u00a0 They are the most numerous, most diverse and most important organisms on earth.\u00a0 Species of bacteria have been found that can live &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/teaching\/biol120-microbiology-unseen-life\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1960,"featured_media":0,"parent":36,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-122","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/122\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/rj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}