The Associate of Science degree in Biology is intended to provide breadth in the aspects of biology that investigate the living world including cellular physiology, genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology. Majors in Biology prepare for a wide variety of occupations in education, government, medicine, research, and biotechnology. This degree prepares students to transfer to four-year universities to pursue a Bachelor's degree. At the four-year institutions, students may choose to specialize in one particular field of Biology.
To graduate with the A.S degree in Biology, students must complete the following required courses plus the general breadth requirements for the Associate's Degree (minimum total = 60 units).
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses: | ||
| BIOL 205 | Cell and Molecular Biology | 4 |
| BIOL 206 | Organismal Biology | 4 |
| BIOL 207 | Evolutionary Ecology | 4 |
| CHEM 150 | General Chemistry I | 5 |
| CHEM 151 | General Chemistry II | 5 |
| MATH C2210 | Calculus I: Early Transcendentals | 4 |
| MATH C2220 | Calculus II: Early Transcendentals | 4 |
| Total Units | 30 | |
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended Courses: | ||
| CHEM 212 | Organic Chemistry I | 5 |
| CHEM 213 | Organic Chemistry II | 5 |
| PHYSIC 151 & PHYSIC 152 | General Physics for the Life Sciences I and General Physics for the Life Sciences II | 8 |
| PHYSIC 202 & PHYSIC 203 | Physics I and Physics II | 8 |
To earn an SBVC Associate Degree students must complete one of the following General Education (GE) patterns:
Program Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Evaluate biological systems across molecular, cellular, organismal, population, and ecological scales, integrating evolutionary principles as the unifying framework.
- Design and conduct independent semester-long biological investigations in laboratory and field settings, formulating hypotheses, collecting data, performing statistical analyses, and communicating findings through written reports, oral presentations, and visual data representation.
- Evaluate biological information for scientific validity, distinguishing evidence-based claims from pseudoscience and misinformation.
- Apply subdisciplinary techniques and instrumentation including microscopy, molecular methods, physiological measurement, and ecological sampling to analyze organisms across biological scales from molecular to ecosystem.
- Examine biological issues through interdisciplinary lenses, including ethical, environmental, and social equity perspectives relevant to local, regional, and global communities.