Unit Synopsis
In this unit you will explore a range of fundamental principles and topics within the life sciences discipline. In Life Science Fundamentals you will study and develop an understanding of cell structure and function, genetics and inheritance, evolutionary processes, and the anatomy and function of common living organisms, including bacteria and viruses. This unit will prepare you for more specialised study and help you understand the important role that life science plays in the scientific study or management of organisms, ecosystems, and animal or plant production. This unit includes a practical component that develops the necessary skills required to study organisms and undertake scientific inquiry in a university context and beyond.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Anti-requisite BIOL11099 Living Systems Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 20% |
| 2. Presentation | 30% |
| 3. Laboratory/Practical | 30% |
| 4. Written Assessment | 20% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 71.43% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 8.86% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT - T1, 2024
Exceptional engaging subject and residential school.
Continue to develop residential school assessments/activities that are engaging and relevant to students.
Continue developing and refining residential school assessments/activities that are engaging and relevant. This is challenging as the unit has students spread across four different courses (CA42-11%, CC13-28%, CU18-28%, CV85-33%).
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT - T1, 2024
Lecture videos should have subtitles.
Ensure students are familiar with the captions and transcripts functionality in Echo.
The functionality of Echo and capacity to generate captions and transcripts was highlighted during the first lecture.
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT - T1, 2024
The size of the residential school attendance was to high, this impacted the ability to see demonstrations.
Residential schools require a higher staff-to-student ratio than is currently provided. Laboratories require more/better placement of audio-visual equipment.
One extra staff member was attendant at residential schools and assisted with student support.
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT - T1, 2024
The lecturers and technical staff are supportive and offered extra assistance when required.
Staff to continue providing extra support when required.
Staff continue to provide extra support when required and where possible.
Source: Personal reflection
Students are seeking more detailed feedback on assessments, understanding that this contributes significantly to future learning.
Increased marking capacity is needed if students are to receive useful feedback on written assessments.
The Unit Coordinator and Head of Course will continue to monitor marking capacity to ensure quality feedback is provided to students.
Source: Personal reflection
Increase the clarity of expectations regarding residential school assessments.
Develop more detailed rubrics for residential school assessments.
Detailed rubrics have been developed for each residential school assessment.
Source: 2025 SUTE Evaluations
Staff fostered an inclusive and interactive learning environment. Building on this, greater attention to the diversity of student backgrounds could further strengthen engagement.
Staff should continue to build on the inclusive environment established in this unit by more deliberately integrating diverse student perspectives and experiences into learning activities and resources.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Describe the principles of cell theory, energetics, and metabolism.
- Apply knowledge of genetics and inheritance to the evolution of populations, conservation, and captive breeding.
- Demonstrate understanding of evolution by natural selection and biological diversity.
- Describe the basic principles of plant and animal form and function.
- Safely and proficiently perform various laboratory activities and techniques, such as the use of microscopes, biological identification keys, thin layer chromatography, gel electrophoresis, and the dissection of plants and animals.
- Synthesise information from life science information sources and communicate scientific information to general audiences.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Laboratory/Practical | • | |||||
| 4 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | • | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |