About the Course
This class invites students to interpret the geologic record of life through the study of occurrence of fossil and the products of their existence (such as oxygen). The students will be challenged to think about significant events in the evolutionary history of life and how changes in climate and animal and plant interactions brought Earth to its present state. The record of life and the development of the biosphere is preserved directly and indirectly as fossils, so students will learn about fossils and how to use them to reconstruct ancient Earth environments. This class is open to science majors, but is especially intended for nonscience majors, and will be taught with the latter in mind.
Student Assignments and Grades
Students are expected to attend class and do assigned reading. Missing classes in a short course means less opportunity for the student to meet the mission goals of the course and do well on tests. Your final grade will be based on a "midterm" test, a "final" exam, a writing assignment, and class questions.
Midterm (40%)
The midterm test will be a take-home test and, as such, will be used as part of the learning process. I do not think of take-homes as simpler for the student, but a way of exploring questions with a specific purpose.
Final (40%)
The final test will be an open-book and open-note test and will include material from the midterm.
Essay Assignment (10%)
Each student will write pro and con arguments concerning human involvement in large-mammal Pleistocene extinctions. The student will use two or more sources of information for their arguments that they find on their own (through use of a library or online). Each reference should be fully cited, including Web page. Use only authoritative, data-based sources.
Appropriate citation formats include:
Journal article: Author, year, Title: Journal title, volume number, issue number, pages.
Book: Author, year, Title: City of publication, Publisher, number of pages.
Book section: Author, year Title, Editor(s), Title of book: City of publication, Publisher, pages of article in book.
Web article: Author, year, Title: URL address (only articles published on Web are exceptable.
In-Class Questions (10%)
A question will be asked in class on five of the nine class days. Each question is worth 2 points. The question will be derived from the lecture of the day. Students will write their answers to the question and turn them in during class.
Course Materials
Reading material will be primarily from a required paperback textbook. The assigned book by Gould (ed.) includes considerable reading material for a short course. Attending class with help refine and limit the topics directly relevant to the class and your reading, but I hope you will find the book engaging enough to give it a good read.
Other course readings will be on reserve in the F.D. Holland, Jr., Library in Leonard Hall (third floor).