BI 102 - General Biology

In Credit Unit 2, you will explore several major cellular processes that occur in eukaryotic cells, the majority of which are heavily reliant on energy availability, production, and conservation. You will learn how plants make energy storing molecules, how both plants and animals harvest usable energy, and how certain structures and molecules in a cell minimize the amount of energy required to maintain life sustaining processes.

By the end of this Credit Unit you should be able to:

• Describe how biological molecules shape the structure and function of cells and organisms (gas exchange, recognition, movement, etc.).

• Explain in simple terms how and what chemical reactions consume or release energy.

• Explain in simple terms how cellular respiration captures the energy released by the oxidation of organic molecules, how photosynthesis can capture solar energy to build these molecules, the kind of organisms that can and cannot carry out these processes, and how these processes shape their structures and function.

Course Outcomes:

• Be able describe selected key cell processes.