IB 110 Race and Environmental Biology
The Complete Exam Bible · Fall 2026IB 110 Overview
- 3 credit hours
- Fall 2026
- Gen Ed Life Sciences
- US Minority Cultures
- In person
What the course is about
IB 110 Race and Environmental Biology asks whether environments are the same for all people, and answers with biology and history together.
- Assessed by Weekly lecture and discussion work, three in-class unit exams and a final group project.
- The skill being tested Explaining how a social system produces a difference in environment and health, with the biology and evidence named.
- Hardest step Keeping race, ethnicity and ancestry apart, and not reading a racial disparity as a biological cause.
- Where to confirm Exam dates, deadlines and any changes are posted on the course Canvas page.
How IB 110 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture Readings and Questions | 25% | Weekly reading before the first lecture of the week, and in-lecture questions submitted once a week; 80% completion counts for full credit |
| Discussion Readings and Activities | 25% | Weekly reading before section and an activity in section; attendance taken; 80% completion counts for full credit |
| 3 Exams | 30% | In-class assessment at the end of each unit, 10% each; mostly written, may include multiple choice; an optional fourth can replace one |
| Final Project | 20% | Small-group project of 3 to 5 students, built in pieces during discussion |
The syllabus grading table lists these four components with 250, 250, 300 and 200 points, totalling 1000 points and 100%; the first lecture shows the same split, labelling the exam row Assessments. Lecture questions and discussion activities need 80% completion for full credit. Lecture attendance is an 80% attendance requirement documented through on-time lecture question submission, and discussion attendance is taken weekly; the syllabus does not describe either as a separate pass condition. Late reading and discussion work loses 10% per day for up to one week, and lecture questions are not accepted late unless arranged in advance. Confirm dates and current arrangements on Canvas.
Assessment structure
Segment widths reproduce the published weights and total 100%.
Current IB 110 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2026 | Unit 1 exam | Shown as Monday, September 28 on a third-lecture slide; confirm on Canvas. |
| 26 October 2026 | Unit 2 exam | Shown as Monday, October 26 on the same slide. |
| 18 November 2026 | Unit 3 exam | Shown as Wednesday, November 18 on the same slide. |
Dates are taken from the exam dates slide in the third Fall 2026 lecture. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What IB 110 covers
Ten chapters follow the opening weeks and the first unit: race, identity and law, genetic variation, judging sources and reading research, the biology of stress, and access, bias and trust in health care.
Race, Identity and Perspective
race as a social grouping · identity and its aspects · intersectionality · perspective from learned information and lived experience · systems, not peopleTwo words in the course title
The first lecture starts by taking the course name apart. Race is presented as a way of grouping people by surface features such as skin colour, a grouping that biology does not back up.
- What race means in this course
- Biology and environment defined
- The many aspects of identity
- Intersectionality and combined disadvantage
- How perspective forms
- Speaking from a partial perspective
How US Law Constructed Whiteness
Census definition of White · Naturalization Act of 1790 · Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 · court cases on who counted as white · social constructsA category with no single physical basis
The second lecture begins with the US Census definition of White: anyone whose origins trace back to peoples native to Europe, the Middle East or North Africa.
- The Census definition of White
- Where the term white came from
- Irish, Italian and Slavic immigrants
- The Naturalization Act of 1790
- Exclusion of Asian immigrants
- Court cases over who was white
Genetic Variation, Ancestry and Ethnicity
essentialist versus population concepts · variation within and between groups · the EDAR V370A case · ethnicity and Hispanic origin · linked ancestry and disease riskTwo concepts of race
The second lecture sets an essentialist concept of race against a population concept. In the essentialist picture, each race is a fixed type whose members share an inner essence.
- Essentialist and population concepts
- Genome size and individual variation
- Why skin tone misleads
- The EDAR V370A variant
- Ethnicity and Hispanic origin
- Ancestry mixes within one label
Evaluating Sources with the CRAAP Test
primary, secondary and tertiary sources · what to cite · currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose · scoring from 0 to 3 · full citationsWhy source evaluation comes first
The first discussion section of the semester is about where information comes from, and the third lecture repeats that finding and judging high-quality resources is critical for the class.
- Why the course starts with sources
- Primary, secondary and tertiary sources
- What you must cite
- What you should cite
- The parts of a full citation
- The five CRAAP criteria
Reading Research Papers and the Scientific Method
the scientific method as an ongoing cycle · testable predictions · introduction, methods, results and discussion · reading order · researcher identityThe scientific method as a loop
The fourth lecture describes science as an ongoing process.
- Observation and questions
- Hypotheses and predictions
- Gathering data and replication
- Refining toward general theory
- Where researcher identity enters
- Why papers feel dense
Homeostasis and the Biology of Stress
receptor, control center and effector · stress as disrupted balance · the stress response and its hormones · effects of stress · unequal exposureBalance inside the body
The second discussion section introduces homeostasis as the body's internal balance, the process of keeping a stable internal environment. The slides break it into three components.
- Homeostasis defined
- Receptor, control center and effector
- Stress as disrupted balance
- The fight-or-flight response
- Adrenaline and cortisol
- Effects of stress on the body
Social Determinants of Health and Access
health as a resource for living · social determinants and health inequity · poverty and root causes · the 2021 national access study · within-group and between-group tablesThe unit's opening question
The first unit, titled air pollution and health access, sets three learning objectives: to see how a person's identity can shape their health and their access to care, to analyse how identity builds the environments that do this, and to judge whether today's policies and procedures feed social inequity in health.
- Unit 1 learning objectives
- Health as a resource for living
- Social determinants and health inequity
- Relative and absolute poverty
- Race versus racism
- The 2021 national access study
Racial Bias in Diagnosis and Treatment
bias in training, implicit bias and biased research · diagnosis on darker skin · late Lyme disease diagnosis · cultural sensitivity · the vitamin D caseThree sources of bias
The fourth lecture names three sources of bias in healthcare: bias in how doctors are trained, implicit bias, and bias in research studies.
- Three sources of healthcare bias
- Training gaps on darker skin
- Late Lyme disease diagnosis
- Implicit bias defined
- What the 2015 review found
- Cultural sensitivity and seeking care
Medical Mistrust and Research Participation
family stories and trust · eugenics and forced sterilization · barriers to research participation · what helps communities take partStories that shape behaviour
The fourth lecture turns to mistrust of medical professionals and reluctance to take part in studies.
- Family and community stories
- Histories of medical experimentation
- Eugenics as law and policy
- Three periods of forced sterilization
- How history affects health outcomes
- Barriers to research participation
Should Medicine Stop Using Race?
why removing race is not simple · colorblindness · disaggregating Asian American data · race versus racism in headlines · framing without blameThe question the course keeps asking
If race is a social construct, why not remove it from medicine altogether?
- What is lost by ignoring race
- Why history cannot be deleted
- Colorblindness and structural racism
- When ethnicity and ancestry help
- The case for using predictive information
- Disaggregating Asian American data
The course description sets out to look at how race, a social construct, can mould the environment a person lives in, how vulnerable they are to change, and the biology involved, using case studies on climate change, pollution, habitat degradation and disease as they affect US minority communities.
It meets both the Gen Ed Life Sciences requirement and the US Minority Cultures requirement, has no prerequisites and carries three credit hours.
How the semester is organised
The syllabus lists an introduction in Week 1, air pollution in Weeks 2 to 6, climate change in Weeks 7 to 10 and water pollution in Weeks 11 to 15. Each week carries four assignments: a lecture reading before the first class of the week, lecture questions answered in class and submitted once, a discussion reading before your section, and a discussion activity.
Lectures meet twice a week and discussion sections once, all in person, and the required text is a course booklet from the bookstore alongside online readings and videos.
What this guide covers
The ten chapters follow the teaching of the opening weeks and the start of the first unit, titled air pollution and health access.
The first three build the vocabulary of race: what the course means by race and identity, how US law defined whiteness, and what genetic variation does and does not show. Two method chapters come from the discussion sections: scoring a source with the CRAAP test and reading a research paper by its anatomy.
The last five move into the body and the clinic: homeostasis and the stress response, social determinants of health and the national data on access to care, racial bias in diagnosis, the history behind medical mistrust, and the debate over whether medicine should stop using race.
These are the ideas the later units on climate change and water pollution apply to new cases.
How the grade is built
The course is graded out of 1000 points. Lecture readings and questions carry 25%, discussion readings and activities another 25%, three exams 30% and a final group project 20%.
The exams are in-class assessments at the end of each unit, each worth 10%, mostly written and possibly including multiple choice, with an optional fourth assessment that can replace one grade.
Weekly activities and questions need only 80% completion for full credit, and the syllabus treats lecture attendance as an 80% attendance requirement, documented by on-time lecture question submissions; it does not describe this as a separate pass condition beyond the grade itself.
Discussion attendance is taken every week.
The habits the course rewards
The first lecture is direct about its philosophy: information is everywhere, memorisation is worth little, and the synthesis of ideas is what matters. Written answers score well when they name the system behind a difference, the biology it acts on, the evidence for the link and the limit of that evidence.
The syllabus also asks students to support anything stated as fact with a credible source and treats broad generalisations about racial groups as divisive, so careful, cited language is part of doing the work well.
Worked example · free
Separate a biological claim from a social one
- 2Identify the error in the inference.
- 2Name plausible environmental and social pathways.
- 2State what evidence would test the claim.
Key terms
- Race
- A way of grouping people by surface physical features; the course holds that biology does not support racial designations.
- Social Construct
- Something that exists through human perception and agreement rather than in objective reality, as money and national borders do.
- Ethnicity
- A shared identity based on ancestry, language or culture, which can carry more specific meaning than race.
- Intersectionality
- The way overlapping categories such as race, class and gender combine into interdependent systems of disadvantage.
- Homeostasis
- The way the body holds its internal conditions steady, through a receptor, a control center and an effector.
- Stress Response
- The body's reaction to a threat to balance, releasing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol; the course also calls it allostasis.
- Social Determinants
- Conditions linked to opportunity and resources that protect or harm health, such as income, education and housing.
- Health Inequity
- A health disparity that stems from unfair or unjust systems, policies and practices.
- Implicit Bias
- A stereotype or prejudice about a group, held without awareness, that can shape judgement, including clinical decisions.
- CRAAP Test
- A five-part check of a source's currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose, each scored from 0 to 3.
IB 110 FAQ
How is IB 110 graded?
Out of 1000 points: lecture readings and questions 250 points (25%), discussion readings and activities 250 points (25%), three exams 300 points (30%) and a final group project 200 points (20%). Letter grades follow a percentage scale from A/A+ at 97% down to F below 60%.
What are the IB 110 unit exams like?
There are three, one at the end of each unit, each worth 10% and given in class. The syllabus says they are mostly written and may include multiple choice, and that some materials may be provided beforehand. An optional fourth assessment can replace one grade.
Is there an attendance requirement, and does it affect passing?
Lecture attendance is an 80% attendance requirement documented through timely lecture question submissions, and discussion attendance is taken weekly, with activities that cannot be made up without documentation. The syllabus does not state a separate pass condition tied to attendance; missed work lowers the relevant 25% component. Confirm current rules on Canvas.
What happens if I submit work late?
Late reading and discussion assignments lose 10% per day and are accepted for up to one week. Lecture questions are not accepted late unless you arrange it with the instructor in advance, so submit them on time each week.
Does the course say race is biological?
No. It defines race as a socially constructed grouping based on superficial traits and shows that individuals differ genetically more than populations do. It also argues that race still matters, because racism and its history shape real environments and health.
How do I judge whether a source is good enough to use?
Use the CRAAP test from the first discussion: score currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose from 0 to 3 each, and look for another source if any criterion scores 0. Prefer peer-reviewed studies and government or international agencies.
Why do health outcomes differ by race if race is not genetic?
The course traces the differences through social determinants of health, unequal access to care, bias in diagnosis and research, and the history behind medical mistrust. Where a biological factor such as vitamin D is involved, it follows a measurable trait, not the racial label.
Questions students ask in each IB 110 chapter
- Why does a biology course start with definitions of race and identity?
- Because the course studies how social categories shape the environment a person experiences. Without clear definitions, a student can slip into treating race as a biological type, which the course rejects from the first lecture. Chapter 01 · Race, Identity and Perspective
- Why does a biology course teach immigration law?
- Because law decided who could become a citizen, own land and work, and those decisions shaped where families lived and what environments they faced. The history explains patterns the course later studies in health and pollution. Chapter 02 · How US Law Constructed Whiteness
- Are there genetic differences between races?
- There are differences in the average frequency of some variants between populations, but the lecture stresses that two individuals differ more than populations do, so a racial label is a poor guide to any one person's genes. Chapter 03 · Genetic Variation, Ancestry and Ethnicity
- What does CRAAP stand for?
- Currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose. The discussion rubric scores each criterion from 0 to 3, and a zero on any of them is a signal to find a better source. Chapter 04 · Evaluating Sources with the CRAAP Test
- Do I have to read a research paper from beginning to end?
- No. The discussion recommends reading the title, abstract, figures and results or discussion first, to decide whether the paper is useful, and only then working through the methods and introduction. Chapter 05 · Reading Research Papers and the Scientific Method
- What are the three parts of homeostasis?
- A receptor that detects a change, a control center that receives the information and signals, and an effector that produces the change bringing the variable back into range. Chapter 06 · Homeostasis and the Biology of Stress
- What is the difference between a health disparity and a health inequity?
- A disparity is any difference in health between groups. The course, following the CDC, calls it an inequity when it stems from systems, policies and practices that are unjust and that limit access to what people need to be healthy. Chapter 07 · Social Determinants of Health and Access
- In what ways does racial bias in medicine harm health?
- Through training that shows disease mainly on light skin, implicit bias in clinical judgement and research built on narrow samples. Each can delay diagnosis or change treatment, as in the later Lyme disease diagnoses among Black patients. Chapter 08 · Racial Bias in Diagnosis and Treatment
- Why do some communities mistrust medical research?
- Because of documented abuses, including forced sterilization under eugenics laws that continued in some form into the 2000s and a history of experimentation on Black Americans. Stories of these events are passed down in families. Chapter 09 · Medical Mistrust and Research Participation
- Should doctors stop using race in medicine?
- The lecture argues against simply removing it. Race records experiences of racism and culture that affect health, and dropping the label would not remove racism. It should never be treated as a biological cause, and it should be broken into subgroups where they differ. Chapter 10 · Should Medicine Stop Using Race?
How to study for the exam
Keep one running document of your lecture-question answers, as the course asks, and turn it into a study sheet at the end of each unit. For every topic, write four lines: the system that produces a difference, the biology it acts on, the evidence you would cite and the limit of that evidence. Practise on the chapter items without notes a week after first reading them.
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