Biochemistry I, BCH 4053.

0002, 3 credits, Spring 2015 Tuesday, Thursday: 7:30 8:50 AM (Location:

NSC 101)
Instructor: Dr. Eda Koculi, E-mail Eda.Koculi@ucf.edu. Phone: 407-823-5451, Office: PS 210.
Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday 9:00 am-10:30 am or by prior e-mail appointment.
Course description: Taken from UCF catalog. A consideration of proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids,
enzymes and their effect on biochemical systems, and inter-relationship of intermediary metabolism.
Course Goals: This course aims to teach a basic understanding of structures, functions and interactions of
four classes of biological molecules: carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. The last part of the
course Introduction to metabolism prepares the students for Biochemistry II course.
Grading: Letter grades ( A, B, C, D and F) will be based on cumulative scores of two midterm exams, and a
final exam. Three midterm exams (20% each, 60% total) and the final exam (40%). The scores for midterm
and final exams will be normalized to the best score in the class. The best score will be the new 100%. Any of
the material covered during lectures and the assigned reading materials may be on the exams.
As a guide for measuring your progress you may utilize the following grading scale: A: 90100%; B: 7590%;
C:60 75%; D:50 60%. F: Below 50%. However, this scale is only a guide and may vary during the term.
Scores and grades will be posted on my UCF grades. Questions regarding scores or grades will not be
answered via email or telephone due to FERPA laws.
Course prerequisites: Successful completion of General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry I and II, and College
Algebra.
Recommended prior knowledge: Students that enroll in this class are expected to be proficient with college
level mathematics and the materials from General and Organic chemistry.
Makeup exam policy: Makeup exams will be given only by university-approved excuses and by appointment.
There are no makeups for quizzes.
Required textbook: Fundamentals of Biochemistry, Voet D., Voet J.G., Pratt C.W, 4th edition
Calculators: Calculators with log and ln functions will be required during all the exams. Programmable and
graphing calculators will not be allowed.
Scantron Answer Sheets: Students are expected to bring a scantron answer sheet to every class.
Documentation of students academic activity: As of Fall 2014, all faculty members are required to
document students' academic activity at the beginning of each course. In order to document that you began
this course, please complete the Documentation of students activity Quiz posted on webcourses by the end of
the first week of classes, or as soon as possible after adding the course, but no later than August 28, 2015 .
Failure to do so will result in a delay in the disbursement of your financial aid.
Academic dishonesty: UCF policies regarding honesty will be strictly enforced on all exams.
Instructors discretion: The instructor of this course reserves the right to make changes on this syllabus
during the course progression.

Keys for Success in Biochemistry

Study Habits: Read the text before class and take notes in class. Make a habit of studying biochemistry on a
daily basis. Do not leave material studying until the last day before the exam. If you delay until the last minute,
it will be an overwhelming amount of material.
Reading: If you read the material that will be covered in the class ahead of the lecture, youll get more from the
lecture.
How to Study: First, read the whole chapter. Then read different sections while taking notes. If you do not
understand a concept, do not go forward, search for the particular information in general chemistry, organic
chemistry, math textbooks, come to my office hours. While you are reading different sections of the chapter, try
to solve the example problems in your book (called Sample Calculation) without checking the answers, after
that check the answers and how the problems were solved. If you are unable to solve a specific problem and
do not understand how the book solved it, read again the section in the book that discusses that specific topic
and come to my office hours. After you have understood all the chapter material and have solved all the
Sample Calculation problems, then tackle the end of the chapter problems.
Lectures: Take notes in class. Taking notes is an active form of learning. However, the lectures are not
designed to teach the material. Eighty percent of your learning will come from reading the textbook.
The lectures are designed to complement the textbook and intended to help you put the material in context,
they cannot be the only source of learning.
Lecture slides: The instructor will post the slides used for lecturing. The lecture slides are designed for the
instructor to lecture from and not designed for the students to study from. Eighty percent of the student
learning should come from reading the book.
Materials from previous courses: This course is set up with the assumption that students have mastery of
the material from the earlier classes and builds upon that knowledge from these classes.
Review the materials from General Chemistry: 1) Basic understanding of atoms, electrons, molecules,
molecular bonding. 2) Calculation of concentrations and unit conversions. 3) The rates and mechanism of
chemical reaction. 4) The chemistry of acids and bases. 5) Entropy, Enthalpy and Free Energy 6) The
chemistry of Oxidation-Reduction reactions.
Review the materials form Organic Chemistry: 1) Functional Groups 2) Stereochemistry and Chiral Molecules
3) Resonance 4) Nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions 5) Addition reactions 6) Hydrophobic and
hydrophilic effects 6) Hydrogen bond formation
Math skills: You will need to be proficient in these basic math skills: 1) Should be able to solve one equation
one unknown. 2) Should be able to solve two equations two unknowns. 3) Should understand log, ln, power
and exponential functions. 4) Know how to calculate the slope and the Y and X intercept of a straight line. Also,
be proficient with a calculator (non-graphing).
Exams: The questions on exams will test both the breadth and depth of your understanding of the material.
Below are some tips to do your best:
Whats on the exams? All material covered during lecture may be on an exam. Any material in the assigned
chapters will be fair game. Exceptions may be noted.
READ the questions well. Sometimes reading the question is the hardest part of the problem. Be sure that
you know what the question is telling you and what the question is asking for. Identify both important
information and irrelevant information.

Course Outline and Important Dates

Introduction to the Chemistry of Life (Ch 1, pp 1-21)
Water (Ch 2, pp 22-39)
Amino acids, peptides, proteins (Ch 4, 76-92)
Proteins: Primary Structure (Ch 5, 93-126)
Proteins: Three-Dimensional Structure (Ch 6, 127-173)
Midterm Exam I ( Thur, 9/17/15)
Protein Function (Ch 7, pp 176-216)
Enzymatic Catalysis (Ch 11, pp 315-354)
Enzyme Kinetics, Inhibition and Control (Ch 12, pp 355-395)
Midterm Exam II (Tue, 10/13/15)
Carbohydrates (Ch 8, pp 217-240)
Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (Ch 3, pp 40-75)
Nucleic Acid Structure (Ch 24, pp 849-866)
Lipids (Ch 9, pp 241-287)
Midterm Exam III (Tue, 11/10/15)
Membrane Transport (Ch 10, pp 288-314)
Biochemical Signaling (Ch 13, pp 396-435)
Bioenergetics/Intro to Metabolism (Ch 14, pp 436-471)
Comprehensive Final Exam (Tuesday, December 15, 2015 7:AM-9:50AM)
Midterm dates are tentative and may change if needed.
Important dates: Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26