Unformatted text preview:

THE HISTORY OF LIFE GLY-1101, Summer B, 2011 06/28/2011 – 08/11/2011 Tu/Th 9:30-12:15, Ziff Education Building 110 SYLLABUS Course Objectives – This course provides an understanding of the interacting biological, geological, and environmental principles and processes that have shaped life. Course Description – We apply basic biological and geological principles of evolution, ecology, plate tectonics and stratigraphy; and review the evolutionary history of major groups of plants and invertebrate and vertebrate animals, and major events such as the origin of Earth and life, mass extinctions, and the Ice Age. The first part of the course covers general principles of geologic time, evolution and continental drift. In the second part, we focus on marine life, and the last part concerns the origin and history of life on land. Textbook – Ausich & Lane (1999), Life of the Past: Prentice Hall, 4th ed. Instructor – Dr. Anna Wachnicka, Department of Earth and Environment E-mail (preferred): [email protected] Phone: 305-348-1876 Office Hours: Friday 4PM – 6PM, OE 235 If you need help but a course or work conflict prevents this during the regular office hours, please email (preferable) or call to make an appointment. Course Policies – The course is based mainly on the lectures. The topics of the lectures follow the same order of topics covered in the textbook, although lectures include material not covered in the textbook, and the textbook includes material not covered in the lectures. If you rely on the textbook without attending lectures, you will not receive all of the information that is covered on the exams. You are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty. Any student found in violation of these standards will earn an automatic F and be reported to the Dean’s Office, no exceptions made. In accordance with FIU's policy on academic honesty, as set forth in Section 2.44 of the Academic Affairs Policies and Procedures Manual (http://academic.fiu.edu/polman/sec2web.htm#two-forty-four), it is expected that students in GLY 1101 will neither submit the academic work of another as their own, nor provide work they have done for another student to be submitted as that other student's work. Attendance – Your attendance at lectures is not required, but highly recommended. Best Way to Study – Your grade depends on how well you learn the material covered by the lectures, and this depends on how well you take notes and use the textbook for reference. Keep up your reading in the text book on the lecture subjects and highlight parts of the book that are the most relevant. Take the time to learn the concept first before you learn the details. The least effective way to study is to memorize your notes. Grades – Exams determine your final grade, based on a total of 400 points (100 point on each exam, so 4 Exams * 100 points = 400 points total) Exams - Exam times do not change unless university classes are cancelled. The format of the exams could be an essay, a short answer, a multiple choice test or combination of these three.Each exam contributes 100 points, for a total of 400 points for the term. Points for each exam will be shown in the Grades Table available on line (www.fiu.edu/~wachnick), listed by the last 4 digits of your Panthersoft ID#. The final exam covers the last chapter and previous chapters. Makeup Exams - Makeup exams will be given only in extreme circumstances and if you have valid, documentable proof justifying your absence e.g., a doctor’s note verifying an illness or a police report for a car accident. University-sponsored events away from campus and trips out of town do not qualify for makeup exams. You must contact the professor (me) as soon as possible after missing the exam to be able to take a makeup exam. The format of the makeup exams will be similar to the regular exam format. Quizzes - Extra credit points can be earned by answering questions correctly on pop quizzes given during the semester at irregular intervals. The questions may be based on the past or ongoing lectures. Participation in each quiz can earn you between 2 and 5 points. The number of points that you earned will be shown in the table available on www.fiu.edu/~wachnick website (look for the last four digits of your panther ID number to find out how many points did you earn). Pop quizzes are not returned. Final grades - Grades are based on standard percentages of correct answers and total points for the term: Grade % Correct Total Points (4 Exams) A 93–100 ≥372 A- 90–92 360-371 B+ 87–89 348-359 B 83–86 332-347 B- 80–82 320-331 C+ 77–79 308-319 C 73–76 292-307 C- 70–72 280-291 D+ 67–69 268-279 D 63–66 252-267 D- 60–62 240-251 F 0–59 <240COURSE SCHEDULE (There will be a 15-20 minutes break between the two lectures) Date Lectures Book Chapter Exams Tuesday, June 28 Lecture 1 Part 1: Introduction to the history of life Part 2: How to tell time Ch. 1 Thursday, June 30 Lecture 2 Part 1: Biodiversity and the organization of life Part 2: Fossilization of life Ch.2 & Ch. 3 Tuesday, July 5 Lecture 3 Part 1: Environments of the past Part 2: Review session (Lectures 1 – 3, Chapters 1 - 3) Ch. 3 Thursday, July 7 Lecture 4 Part 1: Exam (Lectures 1 - 3) Part 2: Origin of the Earth and its oceans, atmosphere and life Ch. 4 Exam 1 Tuesday, July 12 Lecture 5 Part 1: Evolution and Extinction Part 2: Plate tectonics Ch. 5 & Ch. 6 Thursday, July 14 Lecture 6 Part 1: Paleobiogeography Part 2: Precambrian life Ch. 7 & Ch. 8 Tuesday, July 19 Lecture 7 Part 1: The Cambrian explosion of life Part 2: Review session (Lectures 4 – 7) Ch. 9 Thursday, July 21 Lecture 8 Part 1: Exam (Lectures 4 – 7) Part 2: Ocean-bottom animals of the Phanerozoic Ch. 10 Exam 2 Tuesday, July 26 Lecture 9 Part 1: Plankton and nekton Part 2: Marine predators Ch. 11 & Ch. 12 Thursday, July 28 Lecture 10 Part 1: Leaving the water: land plants and animals Part 2: Evolution of reptiles and dinosaurs, including birds Ch. 13 & Ch. 15 Tuesday, August 2 Lecture 11 Part 1: The evolution of mammals Part 2: Review session (Lectures 8 –11) Ch. 16 Thursday, August 4 Lecture 12 Part 1: Exam (Lectures 8 – 11) Part 2: The evolution of primates Ch. 17 Exam 3 Tuesday, August 9 Lecture 13 Major events in the history of life, Semester review Thursday, August 11 FINAL EXAM (all lectures) FINAL


View Full Document

FIU GLY 1101 - Syllabus

Documents in this Course
Load more
Download Syllabus
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Syllabus and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Syllabus 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?