We are part of a team that designed and taught a sequence of three integrated courses combining biology, mathematics, and statistics, at the freshman/sophomore level (SYMBIOSIS project, HHMI grant # 52005872). This presentation describes the statistical content of the integrated courses and the stand-alone introductory statistics course that emerged from it. The focus of the paper is on the questions that arose in the design of the courses and the way they were addressed when preparing the syllabus and the teaching material.