Biological Sciences
This is an archived copy of the 2019-20 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://bulletin.ndsu.edu.
Major Requirements
Major: Biological Sciences - Standard
Degree Type: B.A. or B.S.
Minimum Degree Credits to Graduate: 120
University Degree Requirements
- Satisfactory completion of all requirements of the curriculum in which one is enrolled.
- Earn a minimum total of 120 credits in approved coursework. Some academic programs exceed this minimum.
- Satisfactory completion of the general education requirements as specified by the university.
- A minimum institutional GPA of 2.00 based on work taken at NDSU.
- At least 36 credits presented for graduation must be in courses number 300 or higher.
- Transfer Students: Must earn a minimum of 60 credits from a baccalaureate-degree granting or professional institituion.
- Of these 60, at least 36 must be NDSU residence credits as defined in #7.
- Within the 36 resident credits, a minimum of 15 must be in courses numbered 300 or higher and 15 credits in the major field of study.
- At least 36 credits must be NDSU resident credits. Residence credits include credits registered and paid for at NDSU.
For complete information, please refer to the Degree and Graduation Requirements section of this Bulletin.
University Degree Requirements
- Satisfactory completion of all requirements of the curriculum in which one is enrolled.
- Earn a minimum total of 120 credits in approved coursework. Some academic programs exceed this minimum.
- Satisfactory completion of the general education requirements as specified by the university.
- A minimum institutional GPA of 2.00 based on work taken at NDSU.
- At least 36 credits presented for graduation must be in courses number 300 or higher.
- Transfer Students: Must earn a minimum of 60 credits from a baccalaureate-degree granting or professional institituion.
- Of these 60, at least 36 must be NDSU residence credits as defined in #7.
- Within the 36 resident credits, a minimum of 15 must be in courses numbered 300 or higher and 15 credits in the major field of study.
- At least 36 credits must be NDSU resident credits. Residence credits include credits registered and paid for at NDSU.
For complete information, please refer to the Degree and Graduation Requirements section of this Bulletin.
University General Education Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Communication (C) | 12 | |
| College Composition I | ||
| College Composition II | ||
| Fundamentals of Public Speaking | ||
Upper Division Writing † | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning (R) † | 3 | |
| Science and Technology (S) † | 10 | |
| Humanities and Fine Arts (A) † | 6 | |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences (B) † | 6 | |
| Wellness (W) † | 2 | |
| Cultural Diversity (D) *† | ||
| Global Perspectives (G) *† | ||
| Total Credits | 39 | |
| * | May be satisfied by completing courses in another General Education category. |
| † | General education courses may be used to satisfy requirements for both general education and the major, minor, and program emphases, where applicable. Students should carefully review major requirements to determine if specific courses can also satisfy these general education categories. |
- A list of university approved general education courses and administrative policies are available here.
College Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree – An additional 12 credits Humanities and Social Sciences and proficiency at the second year level in a modern foreign language. * | 12 | |
| Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree – An additional 6 credits in Humanities or Social Sciences * | 6 | |
| * | Humanities and Social Sciences may be fulfilled by any course having the following prefix: ADHM, ANTH, ARCH, ART, CJ, CLAS, COMM, ECON, ENGL, FREN, GEOG, GERM, HDFS, HIST, LA, LANG, MUSC, PHIL, POLS, PSYC, RELS, SOC, SPAN, THEA, WGS, or any course from the approved list of general education courses in humanities and social sciences (general education categories A and B). These credits must come from outside the department of the student’s major. |
Major Requirements
Except for courses offered only as pass/fail grading, no course may be taken Pass/Fail
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Sciences Core Requirements - Standard Option | ||
| BIOL 150 & 150L | General Biology I and General Biology I Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 151 & 151L | General Biology II and General Biology II Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 189 | 1 | 1 |
| BIOL 252 | Plant and Animal Diversity | 3 |
| BIOL 270 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Antibiotic Drug Discovery | 3 |
| or BIOL 271 | Wildlife Ecology and Conservation: An undergraduate research course | |
| or BIOL 272 | Research Experience: Learning in Biology | |
| BIOL 315 & 315L | Genetics and Genetics Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 359 | Evolution | 3 |
| BIOL/ZOO 364 | General Ecology | 3 |
| or ZOO 370 | Cell Biology | |
| BIOL 491 | Seminar | 2 |
| Electives: Select 15 credits of any 300 or 400 level courses offered in the department: | 15 | |
| Plant Systematics | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Biomedical Genetics and Genomics | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Wetland Science | ||
| Cellular Mechanisms of Diseases | ||
| Principles of Plant Physiology | ||
| Comparative Chordate Morphology | ||
| Vertebrate Histology | ||
| Invertebrate Zoology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ornithology | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Physiological Ecology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Endocrinology | ||
| Hormones and Behavior | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Wildlife Ecology and Management | ||
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management Techniques | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| Related Required Courses | ||
| MATH 146 | Applied Calculus I (May satisfy general education category R) | 4 |
| or MATH 165 | Calculus I | |
| CHEM 121 & 121L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory (May satisfy general education category s) | 4 |
| CHEM 122 & 122L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory (May satisfy general education category S) | 4 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Survey of Organic Chemistry | ||
| Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory and Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry II Laboratory | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Fundamentals of Physics (May satisfy general education category S) | ||
| College Physics I and College Physics I Laboratory and College Physics II and College Physics II Laboratory (May satisfy general education category S) | ||
| Total Credits | 60-70 | |
| 1 | BIOL 189 is only required for first-time, first-year students--A first-time, first-year student is defined as a student who has not yet completed a college course as a college student. Students that are not first-time, first-year students that either transfer into the university or change their major are not required to take BIOL 189. |
Department NOTES
- Students may not minor in biology with this major
Link to view program description and 4-year Plan of Study
Major Requirements
Major: Biological Sciences - Environmental Science Option
Degree Type: B.A. or B.S.
Minimum Degree Credits to Graduate: 120
University General Education Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Communication (C) | 12 | |
| College Composition I | ||
| College Composition II | ||
| Fundamentals of Public Speaking | ||
Upper Division Writing † | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning (R) † | 3 | |
| Science and Technology (S) † | 10 | |
| Humanities and Fine Arts (A) † | 6 | |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences (B) † | 6 | |
| Wellness (W) † | 2 | |
| Cultural Diversity (D) *† | ||
| Global Perspectives (G) *† | ||
| Total Credits | 39 | |
| * | May be satisfied by completing courses in another General Education category. |
| † | General education courses may be used to satisfy requirements for both general education and the major, minor, and program emphases, where applicable. Students should carefully review major requirements to determine if specific courses can also satisfy these general education categories. |
- A list of university approved general education courses and administrative policies are available here.
College Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree – An additional 12 credits Humanities and Social Sciences and proficiency at the second year level in a modern foreign language. * | 12 | |
| Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree – An additional 6 credits in Humanities or Social Sciences * | 6 | |
| * | Humanities and Social Sciences may be fulfilled by any course having the following prefix: ADHM, ANTH, ARCH, ART, CJ, CLAS, COMM, ECON, ENGL, FREN, GEOG, GERM, HDFS, HIST, LA, LANG, MUSC, PHIL, POLS, PSYC, RELS, SOC, SPAN, THEA, WGS, or any course from the approved list of general education courses in humanities and social sciences (general education categories A and B). These credits must come from outside the department of the student’s major. |
Major Requirements
Except for courses offered only as pass/fail grading, no course may be taken Pass/Fail.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Sciences Core Requirements - Environmental Science Option | ||
| BIOL 150 & 150L | General Biology I and General Biology I Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 151 & 151L | General Biology II and General Biology II Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 189 | 1 | 1 |
| BIOL 359 | Evolution | 3 |
| BIOL 491 | Seminar | 2 |
| BIOL 315 & 315L | Genetics and Genetics Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 364 | General Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 480 | Ecotoxicology | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3-4 | |
| Plant Systematics | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Range Plants | ||
| Principles of Plant Physiology | ||
| Electives: Select 12 credits from the following: | 12 | |
| Undergraduate Research Experience: Antibiotic Drug Discovery | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Wetland Science | ||
| Range Plants | ||
| Principles of Plant Physiology | ||
| Cell Biology | ||
| Comparative Chordate Morphology | ||
| Vertebrate Histology | ||
| Invertebrate Zoology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ornithology | ||
| Mammalogy | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Physiological Ecology | ||
| Endocrinology | ||
| Hormones and Behavior | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Wildlife Ecology and Management | ||
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management Techniques | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| Related Required Courses | ||
| CHEM 121 & 121L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM 122 & 122L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| GEOL 105 & 105L | Physical Geology and Physical Geology Lab | 4 |
| GEOL 106 & 106L | The Earth Through Time and The Earth Through Time Lab | 4 |
| MATH 146 | Applied Calculus I | 4 |
| MATH 147 | Applied Calculus II | 4 |
| PHYS 211 & 211L | College Physics I and College Physics I Laboratory | 4 |
| PHYS 212 & 212L | College Physics II and College Physics II Laboratory | 4 |
| SOIL 217 | Introduction to Meteorology & Climatology | 3 |
| SOIL 410 | Soils and Land Use | 3 |
| STAT 330 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
| Select one from the following: | 3 or 4 | |
| Geochemistry | ||
| Analytical Chemistry I and Analytical Chemistry I Laboratory | ||
| Select one of the following: | 7 or 10 | |
| Survey of Organic Chemistry and Elements of Biochemistry | ||
| Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory and Organic Chemistry II and Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I | ||
| Total Credits | 90-95 | |
| 1 | BIOL 189 is only required for first-time, first-year students--A first-time, first-year student is defined as a student who has not yet completed a college course as a college student. Students that are not first-time, first-year students that either transfer into the university or change their major are not required to take BIOL 189. |
Department notes
- Students may not minor in biology with this major
Minor Requirements
Biological Sciences Minor
Minor Requirements
Required Credits: 17
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| BIOL 150 | General Biology I | 3 |
| BIOL 150L | General Biology I Laboratory | 1 |
| BIOL 151 | General Biology II | 3 |
| BIOL 151L | General Biology II Laboratory | 1 |
| Select one of the following: | 3-4 | |
| Plant Systematics | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Principles of Plant Physiology | ||
| Electives | Department approved 300-400 level courses | 6 |
| Total Credits | 17 | |
Minor Requirements and Notes
- A minimum of 8 credits must be taken at NDSU.
- Botany and Zoology majors may not minor in Biological Sciences.