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).