24/12/21, 8:09 π.μ. Syllabus and Course Policies | Course Information | Pre-7.

01 Courseware | MIT Open Learning Library

Syllabus and Course Policies

Pre-7.01: Getting up to Speed in Biology

INTRODUCTION
This course was originally designed to help prepare incoming MIT students for their first
Introductory Biology Course (known at MIT as 7.01). It will also be useful for anyone preparing to
take an equivalent college-level introductory biology class elsehere.

This course is free to use, just like all MIT OpenCourseWare sites. If you enrolled in the course as
an anonymous user, all of the content is available to you, but your progress will not be tracked. If
you want to track your progress, you must create an account and enroll as a known user.

COURSE FACULTY AND STAFF

Prof. Hazel Sive, Professor of Biology, MIT
Until June 2020, Hazel Sive was a Professor of Biology at MIT where she taught introductory
biology to first year students and developmental biology to graduate students. In June 2020,
Professor Sive moved to become Dean of Science and Professor of Biology at Northeastern
University.

Dr. Diviya Ray, Technical Instructor, Department of Biology, MIT

Dr. Diviya Ray built this course with Professor Sive. She is a Technical Instructor who works with
department faculty to teach and provide instructional support for Biology undergraduate lecture and
lab courses. In Fall 2020, Dr. Ray will start as an Assistant teaching Professor in The department of
Biology at Northeastern University Campus in Boston, MA.

Assistance was also provided by Rachel Lily Terry, Lindsey Wattley, and Dr. Mary Ellen Wiltrout in
the Department of Biology.

MIT Alumni Funds Grant provided some financial support for this course.

COURSE TOPICS
Lecture 1: Molecules of Life

Lecture 2: The Cell and How it Works

Lecture 3: Information Transfer in Biology

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24/12/21, 8:09 π.μ. Syllabus and Course Policies | Course Information | Pre-7.01 Courseware | MIT Open Learning Library

Lecture 4: Inheritance and Genetics

Lecture 5: Building with DNA

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course duration:
     The course is self-paced; finish it in a day or two weeks (timing is up to you)!

Credits:
     None

Estimated effort:
     4-6 hours/week for 2.5 weeks

Recommended textbook:
       Sadava, D. E., D. M. Hillis, et al. Life: The Science of Biology. 11th ed. W. H.
Freeman, 2016. ISBN: 9781319145446.

COURSE CONTENT

Online lecture videos

Interactive exercises

Two problem sets

One exam

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