Welcome to the Earth Sciences 261b resource page.  All Powerpoint presentations given by C. Tsujita are supplied below

Course Outline

Just in case you've lost the 2006 course outline, you can retrieve it here

Assignments

Outline for Assignment 1: Fasteners as Fossils: A Screwed Up Situation
(Word File) or (PDF File)
Due Friday, March 10, 2005 in drop box outside B&G Rm. 118.

Outline for Assignment 2 (Term Paper): Cryptozoology: A Fine Line Between Science or Pseudoscience
(Word File) or (PDF File)
Due Friday, March 31, 2005 in drop box outside B&G Rm. 118.


Powerpoint Lectures

Part 1: Basic Principles of Biotic-Geologic Interactions
 

Introduction

Stranger Then Fiction: Considerations on the quirks of living things
no textbook reading for this topic
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

The Earth System: the Geosphere, The Biosphere, the Hydrosphere, and the Atmosphere
(no textbook reading for this topic)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

The Earth System and Evolution of the Atmosphere: The Biological Connection
(read first part of Chapter 1 (p. 1-6) on planetary evolution)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Origin of Life

Origin of Life
(read rest of Chapter 1 (p. 6 onward) on Origin of Life)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Metabolism and Atmospheric Modification
(complete chapter 1 (Origin of Life) and start reading Chapter 2 (Earth's Earliest life)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Earth's Earliest  Life and the Geologic Record
(read Chapter 2 on Earth's Earliest life)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Earth's Oldest Life II: Rise of the Eukaryotes
(read Chapter 3 on Sex and Nuclei, and Chapter 4 on Evolution of Metazoans)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Basic Classification and Lifestyles of Living Things

The Metazoa: An Overview of Major Groups
(read Chapter 3 on Sex and Nuclei, and Chapter 4 on Evolution of Metazoans)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

The Metazoa II: Significance of the Cambrian Explosion
(read Chapter 5 on The Cambrian Explosion in 4th edition, or "Evolution of Skeletons" onward in Chapter 4 (Evolution of Animals) of 3rd edition)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)
 

NOTE: MIDTERM EXAM is scheduled for Wednesday, February 22, 2006 (regular classroom, regular class time)
1 hr short answer/essay.

Material Covered on Midterm Exam: Everything up to, and including, "The Metazoa: An Overview of Major Groups"

NOTE: OUTLINE FOR ASSIGNMENT 2 (TERM PAPER) now posted (see "Assignments" above, near top of page)
(Due in drop box by 4:00 pm, Friday, March 31, 2006)

Part 2: Substrata and Animals

Animal-Sediment Relationships and Feedback Loops

Basic Taphonomy and Fossil Preservation
(no reading for this lecture)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Substrates and Substrate Modification
(no reading for this lecture)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Complex Geological Problems: Integration of Physical, Chemical and Biological Factors
Reading: Chapter 16 (The End of the Dinosaurs) and Chapter 6 (Life in a Changing World)(optional).
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)
 

Part 3: Biotic Radiation, Mass Extinction and Recovery: Processes and Causes

Evolution, Revolution and Mass Extinctions (note: this section has been slightly modified to economize on time)

Marine Ecology, Evolution, and Revolution 1: Diversity Patterns in Space and Time
(in 3rd edition read Chapter 5 (Life in a Changing World) and Chapter 20 (Geography and Evolution)
(in 4th edition read Chapter 6 (Changing Life in a Changing World) and Chapter 18 (Geography and Evolution)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Marine Ecology, Evolution, and Revolution 2: Marine Revolutions
(in 3rd edition read Chapter 5 (Life in a Changing World) and Chapter 16 (Marine Reptiles)
(in 4th edition read Chapter 6 (Changing Life in a Changing World) and Chapter 14 (The Modernization of Land and Sea)
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Part 4: Best Friends and Worst Enemies: Symbiosis, Cooperation and Arms Races

Co-evolution: Examples From the Terrestrial Realm

Co-Evolution: Why Flowers are Beautiful
Read: "Why Flowers Are Beautiful" (Chapter 17 in 3rd edition) or p. 203-212 of "Modernization of Land and Sea" (Chapter 14 in 4th edition).
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)
 

A Symbiotic World

Chemosymbiosis, Algal Symbiosis, and Other Examples
Read about symbiosis and endosymbiosis in: "Sex and Nuclei" (Chapter 3 in 3rd and 4th editions)
 
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)

Part 5: Synthesis of Concepts

Biosphere Management: The Band-Aid Approach Versus Sustainable Change
Viewing the Earth as an Integrated Whole
(Powerpoint Presentation) or (PDF handout)


Note: Your papers are marked, and will be ready for pickup at Scott Parson's office on the following days and times:


9:30 am - 3:30 pm  Thursday, April 20, 2006, Scott's office (Rm. 17, B&G)
11:30 am- 3:30 pm   Monday, April 24, 2006, Scott's office (Rm. 17, B&G)
11:30 am- 3:30 pm   Tuesday, April 25, 2006, Scott's office (Rm. 17, B&G)



COMMENTS ON THE FINAL EXAM:

1. The final exam will be of similar format as the midterm, but will be twice as long (2 hours).
2. The exam will take place Monday April 24, 2006 (9:00 am, SSC 2028).
3. There will be some choice of questions for all three parts of the exam. 
4.  As with the midterm, emphasis will be made on the level of understanding of important concepts covered in the course (make sure you understand the basic concepts first, then make sure that you understand how the details fit into these concepts).  Yes, you are responsible for the details, but studying the details in context of the concepts will help you recall these more readily.
5. The bulk of the material you will be tested on in the final exam will be that covered after the midterm (but of course, there are some concepts covered in the first part of the course that were discussed in the context of topics covered after the midterm).
6. The exam can be written in point form.
7. Make sure you budget your time- if a question is worth 6 marks, it obviously requires a more lengthy discussion than a question worth 2 marks.  Write down what you know for each question, and THEN go back and fill in any additional material that you might remember later.  If you do this, you won't run out of time.

Lastly, if you have any pressing questions on the course material, please make sure you ask well ahead of the exam.  Cam will gladly answer questions prior to the exam (up until Friday, April 21).  Do not contact him the weekend before the exam (you will not receive a response).