Whatcom Community College
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Biology Pathway
This pathway assumes:
- You will be a full-time student.
- You will start in the fall.
- You are ready to take 100- and 200-level classes.
If not, you can still complete the pathway! You will just need to make adjustments. Talk with your advisor to customize your plan.
BIOLOGY, ASSOCIATE IN SCIENCE-TRANSFER (AS-T) (90 CREDITS)
Follow this recommended pathway to earn the Associate in Science-Transfer degree and prepare for a university major in biology. You can customize it even more for a specialization such as marine biology.
Talk with your advisor about adapting this pathway for your individual goals. Click here for a fillable, printable planning worksheet.
Scroll to the end for course suggestions.
Quarter 1
ENGL& 101 English Composition I (5 credits)
| Description | This course helps students become more effective writers in academic and professional settings. Students learn to enter ongoing academic conversations, analyze and use secondary sources to formulate, develop, revise, and communicate ideas in writing, and shape their message to different purposes, audiences, and media. (CC) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of ENGL 95 or placement in ENGL& 101. |
| Course Attributes |
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MATH& 141 Precalculus I (5 credits)
| Description | The basic properties and graphs of functions and inverses of functions, operations on functions, compositions; various specific functions and their properties including polynomial, absolute value, rational, exponential and logarithmic functions; applications of various functions; conics. A graphing calculator is required. (QSR,MS) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH 099 or MATH 132 with a minimum grade of C. |
| Course Attributes |
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ELECTIVE from suggested list below (5 credits)
Total credits this quarter: 15
Career exploration: Find your people! Attend area-of-study activities and connect with clubs related to your career goals.
Action item: Meet with your advisor to build your degree plan.
Action item: Have your transfer-in credits officially evaluated.
Quarter 2
CHEM& 161 General Chemistry With Lab I (5 credits)
| Description | First of a three-course sequence designed for science, engineering, and other majors needing a full year general chemistry sequence. Covers basic principles of modern chemistry, structure of atoms, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, bonding, and molecular geometry. Lab work included. Recommended preparation CHEM& 121 or one year of High School Chemistry. (MSl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH& 141 with minimum grade of C |
| Course Attributes |
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MATH& 142 Precalculus II (5 credits)
| Description | Second in a two-course sequence designed to prepare students for the study of Calculus. Intended for students planning to major in math and/or science. Course to include right triangle trigonometry; trigonometric functions and their graphs; trigonometric identities and formulae;applications of trigonometry; parametric equations; and polar coordinates. A graphing calculator is required. A graphing calculator is required. (QSR,MS) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH& 141 with a minimum grade of C. |
| Course Attributes |
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HUMANITIES from suggested list below or click for complete list (5 credits)
Total credits this quarter: 15
Career exploration: Compare the different biology majors and combined majors at universities you're interested in.
Quarter 3
CHEM& 162 General Chemistry With Lab II (5 credits)
| Description | Second of a three-course sequence designed for science, engineering, and other majors needing a full year general chemistry sequence. Covers gases, thermochemistry, states of matter, solution chemistry, kinetics, and chemical equilibrium. Lab work included. (MSl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of CHEM& 161 with minimum grade of C |
| Course Attributes |
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MATH& 151 Calculus I (5 credits)
| Description | This course looks at the study of functions, limits, continuity, limits at infinity, differentiation of algebraic, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions and their inverses, and applications. Graphing calculator required. (QSR,MS) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH 133 or MATH& 142 with a minimum grade of C. |
| Course Attributes |
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BIOL 159 Marine Biology (5 credits)
| Description | Studies basic biological principles applied to the marine environment. Topics include: organic molecules, the behavior of water, cellular functions, the diversity in structure, function and ecology of marine organisms, and human impact on the oceans. Lab work and local field trips included. (MS sl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Placement in ENGL& 101 |
| Course Attributes |
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or other ELECTIVE from suggested list below (5 credits)
Total credits this quarter: 15
Career exploration: Look for a summer job or internship related to your career goals.
Action item: Check the GPA and other entry requirements for your future major. Are you on track?
Quarter 4
BIOL& 221 Majors Ecology/Evolution (5 credits)
| Description | This course is designed to prepare the student for further studies inthe field of biology or related fields. Basic information about evolution, genetics, biodiversity of life forms, and ecology will be taught and assessed. This is the first in a three-quarter sequence for biology majors. (MSwl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Prior or concurrent enrollment in CHEM& 161 and placement in ENGL& 101 |
| Course Attributes |
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CHEM& 163 General Chemistry With Lab III (5 credits)
| Description | Third of a three-course sequence designed for science, engineering, and other majors needing a full-year general chemistry sequence. Coversacids, bases, acid-base equilibria, solubility and complex-ion equilibria, thermodynamics and equilibrium, electrochemistry, and special topics. Lab work included. (MSl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of CHEM& 162 with minimum grade of C |
| Course Attributes |
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MATH& 152 Calculus II (5 credits)
| Description | The study of Riemann Sums, methods of integration, numerical methods, polar and rectangular forms, fundamental theorem of Calculus, areas of regions, volumes of solids, centroids, length of curves, surface area, and an introduction to differential equations. Graphing calculator required. (QSR,MS) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH& 151 with a minimum grade of C. |
| Course Attributes |
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Total credits this quarter: 15
Career exploration: Participate in original undergraduate research in CHEM& 163.
Action item: Meet with your advisor about applying to universities. Start your transfer applications.
Action item: Apply for next year's financial aid.
Quarter 5
BIOL& 222 Majors Cell Biology/Molecular (5 credits)
| Description | This course is designed to prepare the student for further studies inthe field of biology or related fields. It covers basic information about cell metabolism, biological molecules, structure and function of cells, gene regulation, and development in plants and animals. (MSwl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | BIOL& 222 |
| Course Attributes |
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MATH& 163 Calculus III (5 credits)
| Description | Multivariate integral and differential calculus. Geometry in R3 and in the plane. The study of vectors, acceleration, curvature; functions of several variables, partial derivatives; directional derivatives and gradients; extreme values; double and triple integrals; applications. Graphing calculator required. (QSR,MS) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH& 152 with a minimum grade of C. |
| Course Attributes |
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or MATH& 146 Introduction to Stats (5 credits )
| Description | Rigorous introduction to statistical methods and hypothesis testing. Includes descriptive and inferential statistics. Tabular and pictorialmethods for describing data; central tendencies; mean; modes; medians; variance; standard deviation; quartiles; regression; normal distribution; confidence intervals; hypothesis testing, one and two-tailed tests. Applications to business, social sciences, and sciences. (QSR,MS) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of MATH 088 or MATH 099 with a minimum grade of C. |
| Course Attributes |
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SOCIAL SCIENCE from suggested list below or click for complete list (5 credits)
or HUMANITIES from suggested list below or click for complete list (5 credits)
or HUMANITIES from suggested list below or click for complete list (5 credits)
Total credits this quarter: 15
Career exploration: Participate in original undergraduate research in BIOL& 222.
Action item: Apply to graduate by week 3 of this quarter.
Quarter 6
BIOL& 223 Majors Organismal Physiology (5 credits)
| Description | This course is designed to prepare the student for further studies in the field of biology or related fields. Basic information about the structure and functions of living organisms will be taught and assessed. This is the third in a three-quarter sequence for biology majors. (MSwl) |
| Enrollment Requirements | Completion of BIOL& 222 with minimum grade of B- |
| Course Attributes |
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SOCIAL SCIENCE from suggested list below or click for complete list (5 credits)
ELECTIVE from suggested list below (5 credits)
Total credits this quarter: 15
Action item: Attend the spring job fair.
Course suggestions
Note: BIOL& 160 is not recommended for biology majors.
Humanities or electives
- PHIL 132 Environmental ethics
Social Sciences or electives
- ANTH 150 Northwest coast ethnobotany (spring only)
- ANTH& 235 Cross cultural medicine
Recommended for students interested in a medical field - Geography (any course)
- IDS 170 Intro to sustainability
- PSYC& 100 General psychology
Recommended for students interested in a medical field
Electives
- BIOL 159 Marine biology
- BIOL 175 Human biology with lab
- BIOL& 260 Microbiology with lab (Quarter 6 elective; has BIOL and CHEM prereqs)
- Environmental science (any course)
- OCEA& 101 Intro to oceanography with lab
Recommended for students interested in ocean science or marine biology