EDS 1022 General Biological Science

Course Summary: What is life? The answer seems simple: If it breathes, its alive.
But a truly brief definition eludes us. As we explore our world, we are uncovering
remarkable systems and scientific rules that govern the nature of life. There are
deep ocean ecosystems that have no reliance on the sun for photosynthesis.
Organisms have been found living in boiling water; others find oxygen itself to be
poisonous. This course will pull back the curtain on the inner complexities of life on
earth, possible origins, and how it is constantly changing.
Course Description: Introduces the concepts and applications of the biological
sciences for non-science majors. Includes cell structure, function and reproduction,
genetics and genetic engineering, evolution and the environment.
VIDEO CONCEPT: Biologists are explorers, and we explore life on many levels but
always from our perspective. However, biology is smaller than us and bigger than
us it begins with chemical processes and also includes ecosystems and global
issues. This course encompasses it all. The video, then, is meant to give them a look
at the vastness of what we call biology. We start inside the brain looking at a piece
of DNA and then see it in the context of a cell, in the context of the brain, and then
of the biologist who is exploring the same. But that scientist is in the context of a
larger ecosystem and, finally, a part of the planet we call earth. (Note: the course
also covers global warming.) The music for this video would be somewhat otherworldly and mysterious. I like the idea of having no other narration and allowing the
pictures to tell the story, with the dramatic conclusion, Biology: The Science of
Life. But Ive included a possible narration (based on ideas shared by Tealia) that
we could include if other team members prefer that approach.
1

Image: Thinkstock 450853983 (or use

animated version we already have on
file)
Animation:. Start with close-up shot
and pan out (or use the fly-out affect
that Joel suggested, with the animation
inside a frame that starts at the camera
and shrinks into the background
something dark and starry-like).
Visual Script: None
Audio: Appropriate music [Possible
script: Life.
It begins infinitely small with chemical

processes and structures that hold

every piece of information that
determines life. ]
2

Image: Thinkstock 117233961

Animation: Fade or dissolve to this
picture, starting with a close-up of the
center cell and then pulling back to
reveal more of the picture. Create little
light bursts at various spots to give the
illusion of brain synapses firing.
Visual Script: None
Audio: Appropriate music [Possible
script: Our DNA tells each cell how to
specialize, and soon the synapses in our
brains are firing and governing every
system in our bodies, every process that
sustains life. ]

Image: Thinkstock 160382211

Animation: Fade or dissolve to this
picture, starting with a tight close-up in
the brain and then pulling out to see the
entire brain in the skull.
Visual Script: None
Audio: continue music [Possible script:
Ah, the human brain. It regulates, but it
also thinks and dreams and is inspired
to learn and to understand.]

Image: Thinkstock 164793448

Animation: Fade or dissolve to this
picture, starting with a tight close-up of
the womans head in roughly the same
position as the preceding brain. Pull
back slowly to reveal the scene.
Visual Script: None
Audio: continue music [Possible script:
So, here we are. Explorers of life. But
not just of our own. We are
interconnected with, and affected by,
every other living thing.]

Image: Thinkstock 141215924 [add a

building in the background that could
conceivably be a science lab]
Animation: Fade or dissolve to this
picture, starting with a tight close-up of
the building and pulling back to slowly
reveal the entire scene.
Visual Script: None
Audio: continue music [We are
surrounded by life. Plants, animals, and
other organisms too small to see with
the human eye.]

Image: Thinkstock 455634237 [Id like

this image to have more green in it to
match the green in the preceding
picture]
Animation: Fade or dissolve to this
picture, starting with a tight close-up of
a patch of green and then panning out
to reveal the entire globe. Text
animation: Biology enters one letter at
a time (type-writer style). Dramatic
pause, then The Science of Life fades
in underneath.
Visual Script:
[At end of audio script, if used.] Biology:
The Science of Life
Audio: Comes to climax and ends
[Possible script before end of music:
Together we share this planet called
earth. Teeming with life. Interdependent
creatures in a perfectly balanced
environment. THIS is our laboratory.]

Possible script if we decide to narrate:

Life.
It begins infinitely small with chemical processes and structures that hold every
piece of information that determines life.
Our DNA tells each cell how to specialize, and soon the synapses in our brains are
firing and governing every system in our bodies, every process that sustains life.
Ah, the human brain. It regulates, but it also thinks and dreams and is inspired to
learn and to understand.
So, here we are. Explorers of life. But not just of our own. We are interconnected
with, and affected by, every other living thing.
We are surrounded by life. Plants, animals, and other organisms too small to see
with the human eye.

Together we share this planet called earth. Teeming with life. Interdependent
creatures in a perfectly balanced environment. THIS is our laboratory.
[VISUAL ONLY] Biology: the Science of Life