Unit Synopsis
In Animal and Plant Physiology you will study the basic functioning of plants and animals. You will explore a number of major themes in biology including the integral relationship between structure and function, the maintenance of homeostasis and the principles of evolution and adaptation. You will examine major functions of living organisms such as locomotion, nutrition, respiration, circulation and reproduction. In the practical component you will gain hands-on experience of relevant laboratory and field procedures.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisite: BIOL11102 Life Science Laboratory 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
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. Written Assessment | 30% |
| 3. Practical Assessment | 0% |
| 4. Online Quiz(zes) | 50% |
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.
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: Staff reflections.
Review assessment rubrics to ensure they are fit for purpose.
All assessment rubrics should be reviewed before the next offering.
The assessment rubrics were reviewed and only required small changes.
Source: Informal feedback and staff reflections.
ALC sessions were well received and had a positive impact.
Continue embedded ALC involvement.
ALC was invited back to give a session on Assessment 2. Links to the Academic Learning Center were again embedded on the Moodle page.
Source: SUTE
Residential school was well received but improvements could be made to schedule and content.
Review residential school daily schedule and content of practical sessions.
The residential school schedule was maintained but more effort was made in ensuring activities proceeded as planned.
Source: SUTE
Assessment was quiz heavy.
Consider further creative assessment types.
The assessment types were not modified for the 2026 offering. Assessment types and weightings continue to be reviewed.
Source: SUTE
The time to complete the Assessment 4: End of Term Online Quiz is too short.
Increase assessment time to 120 minutes instead of 90 minutes.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
There needs to be an increase in the variety of assessment types.
Assessment types and weightings will be considered to address both student engagement and assessment security.
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator
The assessment security of Assessment 4: End of Term Online Quiz is too low for its weighting.
The weight of the End of Term Online Quiz will be reduced and be allocated to more secure assessment in the unit.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Describe the function of the major organ systems in plants and animals
- Discuss the relationship between the structure and function of living organisms
- Apply the concepts of homeostasis to various organ systems in plants and animals
- Discuss the evolution and adaptation of plant and animal function in relation to the environment
- Perform a range of practical procedures in the laboratory and the field relating to the physiology of plants and animals.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Practical Assessment | • | ||||
| 4 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |