BIOL 3164 Function & Design in Biology 3
Course Description
This course offers a fresh approach to the study of the structure and function of living things. It does not follow the traditional approach based on phylogeny, processes, or organ systems, but looks at how organisms are designed to best make use of the physical characteristics of the environment in which they live. The course goes further than presentation of didactic lectures. For example, students are asked to critique the commonly held belief that cells are the building blocks of living things, and instead consider that cells are incomplete subunits of the organism, so that morphology is not related to anatomy. In the same vein, the concept of Bernoulli’s Principle is shown to be inadequate to explain flight. Analogies are used wherever possible to explain concepts, such as comparing the anatomy of stems and bones to beams and girders, using the Forth Rail Bridge as an engineered analogue of stems. Lectures, tutorials, and practicals are designed to encourage thinking about concepts rather than remembering details.
Assessment
