Course Descriptions & Syllabi

Description:  An examination of biological molecules, cell structure and fundamental cellular processes, bioenergetics, genetics, evolution, and animal and plant physiology.

Note: Biology 30 and Chemistry 30 are strongly recommended as background prepration. This course is designed for biology majors, pre-professional students, secondary education science students, and those wanting two semesters of biology. Students seeking a single semester introductory course are advised to take BIOL 140 or 150.

Syllabus: Fall 2024 (MWF); Fall 2023 (Luther College); Fall 2023 (Sat & Great Plains College); Fall 2024 Lab.

Offered: Fall term and most Spring terms.

Description: A survey of the kingdoms containing the bacteria, protistans, fungi, and plants and including the basic structure, diversity, physiology, ecology, and other characteristics of these organisms.

Note 1: One of BIOL 100, or Biology 30 and Chemistry 30, are strongly recommended as background preparation.

Note 2: This course is designed for biology majors, pre-professional students, secondary education science students, and those wanting two semesters of biology. Students seeking a single semester introductory course are advised to take BIOL 140 or 150.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: every Winter term.

Description: An introduction to the anatomy and normal functioning of the human body. The course takes a holistic approach to understanding and integrating anatomy and physiology.

Prerequisites: None. 

Note: Restricted to Nursing students.

Syllabus: Fall 2023.

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: A continuation of BIOL 110. Further study of the anatomy and normal functioning of the human body, integrating anatomy and physiology.

Prerequisites: BIOL 110.

Note: Restricted to Nursing students.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: every Winter semester.

Description: An introductory level course covering the principles of biology with examples taken from humans.

Prerequisites: None.

Note: Biology majors cannot take this course for credit. Students cannot receive credit for both BIOL 140 and 150. Students who have credit for either BIOL 100 or BIOL 101 cannot subsequently receive credit for either of BIOL 140 or BIOL 150.

Syllabus: Fall 2024, Winter 2024 (online version) 

Offered: Fall and Winter terms; sometimes in Spring/Summer; there is also an online version of this course. Course is delivered via Luther College.

Description: A survey of basic modern biological principles. Topics will include: origin of life, basic cell structure and function, evolution, an outline of organism diversity, ecological principles, and selected functions of multicellular organisms.

Prerequisites: None.

Note: Designed for students who do not intend to be biology majors and who are not in pre-professional programs. Students cannot receive credit for both BIOL 140 and 150. Students who have credit for BIOL 100 or BIOL 101 cannot subsequently receive credit for either of BIOL 140 or BIOL 150.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Description: This course covers chromosome theory of inheritance/eukaryotic transmission genetics. Topics will include: nature of genetic material, DNA replication, mechanism of mutation, natural recombination, artificial recombination, recombinant DNA technology/genetic engineering, and population genetics.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and 101, CHEM 104. (CHEM 104 can be taken concurrently).

Syllabus: Winter 2023.

Offered: every Winter term.

Description: An introduction to fundamental concepts in microbiology. This course covers bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotes, with emphasis on clinically relevant pathogens as well as the beneficial microbial communities that support human health.

Prerequisites: None.

Note: Restricted to Nursing students. Further information about microbiology for pre-professional students is available on the Pre-professional advising page.

Syllabus: Fall 2023.

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: Microbes play a critically important role in the environment and human society. Microbiology will be used to introduce students to relevant environmental issues. Students will develop critical thinking skills for evaluating these environmental issues.

Prerequisites: Completion of 24 credit hours.

Note: This course is not open to students that have completed BIOL 220.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: The intent of this course is to provide a basic introduction to pathogens and the concept of diseases. This course covers bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes, with emphasis on emergent diseases and urgent challenges for public health. The associated laboratory exercises enable students with an opportunity to apply select concepts and to examine them in more detail.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and BIOL 101.

Note: This course is not open to students who have completed BIOL 220.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Usually offered: many Winter terms.

Description: This course covers the functioning of plants and their interaction with the environment. Topics will include: photosynthesis, water relations, transport processes, mineral nutrition and assimilation, hormones, and development.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and 101, CHEM 104. (CHEM 104 can be taken concurrently).

Syllabus: Fall 2024, Fall 2024 (lab).

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: This is an introductory course that covers plant, animal, and microbial ecology. Field work will be required.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and 101, CHEM 104. (CHEM 104 can be taken concurrently).

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: This course discusses the biological basis for environmental change and its impacts on human society and will review the patterns, causes and consequences of human-induced and natural environmental change. Topics will include: global warming, acid rain, ozone depletion, fisheries collapse, sustainable forestry, agriculture, biodiversity, and conservation.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and BIOL 101, or BIOL 150 and ENST 200

Note: For Biology, Environmental Science and Environmental Studies Majors.

Syllabus: Fall 2023.

Usually offered: every Fall term.

Description: This is an introductory course in cell biology covering the structure and function of cells and their organelles.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and 101, CHEM 104. (CHEM 104 can be taken concurrently).

Syllabus: Winter 2024, Winter 2024 (lab)

Description: Students will be introduced to the importance of microbes in foods. Topics will include: microbial ecology in food environments, survey of microbes important in food spoilage and food borne illness, food fermentations, and control and detection of detrimental microbes with special emphasis on novel or emerging techniques.

Prerequisites: Prerequisite BIOL 310.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: irregularly, in Fall terms.

Description: Aetiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of infectious diseases of humans, caused by bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic organisms.

Prerequisites: BIOL 224 and BIOL 288.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: some Winter terms.

Description: This course covers the evolution of concepts of the gene. Topics will include: bacterial and viral genetics, genetic code and translation, transcription, processing of RNA and protein molecules, structural organization of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes, and regulation of gene expression.

Prerequisites: BIOL 205 and CHEM 140, and one of BIOL 288 or BIOC 220.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: Students will be introduced to the tremendous diversity in microbial cell structure, function, and the environments they influence. Specific topics include: Microbial physiology, microbial symbionts, extremophiles, microbial cell sensing and adaptive responses, and viral diversity. 

Prerequisites: BIOL 288 or BIOC 220.

Note: Credit cannot be received for both BIOL 220 and BIOL 310.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Offered: every Fall term.

Description: This course will examine processes that affect biodiversity. The goal of the course is to apply principles of ecology and evolution to understand the importance of biodiversity and the significance of recent human-induced changes.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and 101, BIOL 275, STAT 100.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Usually offered: every 2nd Winter term.

Description: Physical and chemical characteristics of lakes and streams. Nutrient cycling. Ecology of aquatic organisms. Food-web interactions in lakes. Human impact on freshwater ecosystems. History of lakes. Includes field work.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275 or BIOL 276.

Syllabus: Fall 2023.

Offered: most Fall terms.

Description: Long-term ecosystem structure and dynamics provide the context for present day global change. This course examines ecosystem dynamics in the last 10,000 years, focusing on the last few centuries. Paleoecological methods and results of reconstructing such phenomena as acid rain, range changes, island biogeographies, and fire histories will be studied.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275.

Note: Students will not be able to hold credit for both BIOL 356 and BIOL 476.

Syllabus: Winter 2023.

Offered: most Fall terms.

Description: Morphology and reproduction of vascular plants with particular reference to the interrelationships and evolutionary history of the major groups.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275.

Offered: irregularly.

Description: This course covers plant classification and nomenclature with special emphasis on flowering plants. Techniques of identification and diagnostic features of selected groups of plants will be described.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275.

Syllabus: Winter 2022.

Offered: irregularly.

Description: An ecosystem approach to energy flow and nutrient cycling in Saskatchewan prairies, forests and lakes.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275 and STAT 160 or STAT 200.

Offered: irregularly.

Description: Explores the major processes governing population dynamics, species interactions, and community structure. Emphasizes a quantitative framework for understanding populations and communities using mathematical models and graphical analysis.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275, CS 110, and one of Math 111 or Math 112.

Note: This course can be included as part of the Environmental Biology BSc program, but this is not yet noted in the university calendar.  Please e-mail Science Academic Hub if you plan on using this course for the Environ Biol program. They will place a note in your file.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: most Winter terms.

Description: This course covers the general principles of animal physiology and includes discussion of the major physiological systems, including nervous, sensory, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and reproductive systems.

Prerequisites: BIOL 288 or BIOC 220.

Note: Credit cannot be held for both BIOL 265 and BIOL 378.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: every Winter term.

Description: An evolutionary approach to the study of the behaviour and ecology of individual animals. Compulsory field work for one week before lectures begin.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275 and one of STAT 200, STAT 201 or higher or BIOL 341.

Fourth year students are eligible to take BIOL 380, even though the BIOL 380 laboratory is scheduled for Friday afternoons (and thus conflicts with BIOL 488 - "Seminars in Biology"). Most of the BIOL 380 lab work is done during the pre-semester field trip to the Cypress Hills; only the occasional Friday afternoon lab will actually be held. Thus, fourth year BIOL 380 students will miss only a handful of Friday afternoon seminars; this will not affect completion of the BSc.

Syllabus: Fall 2023.

Offered: most Fall terms.

Description: The anatomy, evolution, taxonomy, distribution, phylogeny and fossil history of vertebrate animals. Laboratories will involve dissections to illustrate diversity of body form and function.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275.

Syllabus: Winter 2024, Winter 2024 (lab).

Description: Principles and concepts in vertebrate and invertebrate control systems including the principal actions of hormones, neurohormones, hormone interactions and the evolution of hormones and their action.

Prerequisites: Biol 288.

Syllabus: Winter 2022.

Offered: semi-regularly.

Description: Will provide an overview of the major cellular and molecular events during early embryonic development in animals. Following discussions from fertilization to an outline of the body plan, the development of selected organ systems will be studied in greater depth. The role of gene activity in development will be considered.

Prerequisites: BIOL 288.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: semi-regularly.

Description: This course is intended as an introduction to independent research. Under the direct supervision of a Biology faculty member, students will undertake a well-defined research project suitable for completion in one semester. A written report with structure similar to a journal article within the discipline will be produced.

Prerequisites: 60 credit hours and permission of course instructor.

Note: The written report cannot incorporate material or data derived from paid employment.

Offered: every term.

Description: An introduction to insects. The course will introduce several topics in Entomology, including the evolutionary origins and relationships of the insects and their relatives, morphology, life history strategies, and an introduction to insect diversity, taxonomy and ecology.

Prerequisites: One of BIOL 275, BIOL 276 or permission of the department head.

This course may be used as part of the Environmental Biology BSc and as part of the Ecology and Environmental Biology (EEB) Area of Concentration. If you plan to take this course as part of either of these programs, please e-mail to the Science Academic Hub at Science@uregina.ca so that they can place a note to that effect in your file.

Syllabus: Fall 2019.

Offered: irregularly.

Description: Environmental, physiological and biochemical regulation of photosynthesis and respiration, energetic implications of acclimation to abiotic stress, interactions between photosynthesis and stress.

Prerequisites: BIOL 266 and one of BIOL 288 or BIOC 221.

Note: Students may only receive credit for one of BIOL 399AD and BIOL 366.

Syllabus: Winter 2022.

Description: This course explores the immune system, its components, and its role in defending the body against pathogens and diseases. It will introduce the fundamental principles of immunology, including the roles of innate and the adaptive immunity, their components, communication, and contributions to the body's natural defense response.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and BIOL 101.

Syllabus: Winter 2024

Offered: some Winter terms.

Description: This course explores the evidence supporting evolution as a scientific theory, its role as the main unifying theory of biology, and how biologists use evolution to guide research. Topics covered include molecular evolution, phylogeny, the history of life, natural selection and adaptation, the evolution of life histories, speciation, and macroevolution.

Prerequisites: BIOL 205.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: every Winter term.

Description: Anatomy of the genome in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, evolution of genomes, molecular phylogenies, gene expression and its regulation in pro- and eukaryotes, recombination, and modern molecular methods.

Prerequisites: BIOL 305.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Offered: semi-regulary in the Winter semester.

Description: This course covers the fundamental theories and bioinformatic methodologies underlying comparative evolutionary and functional genomics with examples from bacteria, plants, animals and humans.

Prerequisites: CS110, BIOL305.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Note: Credit cannot be held from both Biol 406 and Biol 490BG.

Offered: most Winter terms.

Description: The focus of this course is the electrical and chemical properties of the nervous system (neural networks and neural development). We also cover the physiology and functional anatomy of sensory systems, memory, and movement.

Prerequisites: BIOL 288 or both PSYC 102 and 255.

Syllabus: Fall 2023.

Offered: most Fall terms.

Description: This course will examine bacterial and viral genetic systems to understand host-pathogen interactions, with a focus on:gene regulation, gene transfer, mutation, evolution of host-pathogen interactions, and epidemiology.

Prerequisites: BIOL 305.

Syllabus: Fall 2024.

Offered: semi-regularly in the Fall or Winter term.

Description: A guide to contemporary methods for fitting quantitative models to biological data. Emphasizes practical skills in using software for implementing models, testing hypotheses, and making predictions about biological and ecological systems.

Prerequisites: BIOL 100 and BIOL 101, STAT 100 and 200.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: most Winter terms.

Description: The course will present an in-depth examination of elemental cycles within the context of global change. Topics will include the biogeochemical properties of water, carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, and some contaminants and the ways in which anthropogenic activities have altered the behaviour and movement of these elements.

Prerequisites: CHEM 104 and BIOL 275.

Syllabus: Fall 2022.

Offered: most Winter terms.

Description: Course focuses on understanding the interactions of microorganisms with their environment. Topics include ecology, diversity, and biotechnological applications of microbial communities, including those from extreme and unusual environments. The use of molecular approaches to identify and characterize microbial communities will be emphasized.

Prerequisites: BIOL 275 and BIOL 288.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: some Winter terms.

Description: All majors and honours students in their fourth year must attend the departmental seminar series.

Syllabus: Winter 2024.

Offered: every Fall & Winter term.

Description: Courses used to offer topical material.

Note: Independent study.

Offered: as needed; available in every term.

Description: Individual student research conducted under the direction of a Biology faculty member. Students enrolling in BIOL 498 must also complete BIOL 499 which entails a continuation of the independent research, and the preparation and defence of a written thesis.

Prerequisites: Approval by Department Head.

Note: Honours Program Guide.

Offered: every term.

Description: Preparation and defence of a written thesis. The defence will consist of a student seminar and oral examination of the thesis by a faculty committee.

Prerequisites: Approval by Department Head.

Note: Honours Program Guide.

Offered: every term.

Description: Four-month co-op work terms approved by the department and arranged by the co-op coordinator. The Biology Co-op program has three work terms, with an optional fourth work term.

Offered: every term.

Description: This course is designed to help students learn skills (academic honesty, time management, etc.) useful for any student pursuing a degree in science, thereby positioning them to succeed in their undergraduate studies. The information in this course is applicable for all subject and research areas, and any level of study.

Note: This course must be completed during the first semester in which students register with the Faculty of Science (through Campion College, Luther College, the First Nations University of Canada, or the University of Regina). Students must register themselves into the class.

Note: This course is offered on a Pass/Fail basis.

Note: Students who fail, or do no attempt, this class will have a hold preventing further registration until such time a passing grade is earned.

Offered: every term.