BZ 220 1st Edition Lecture 1Outline of Current Lecture II. SyllabusA. Course ObjectivesB. GradingC. Homework ExpectationsD. Exam formatIII.What is evolution?A.DefinitionsB.Misnomers C.Effects IV. Why do we study evolution?A. What does evolution explainB. Applications of the study of evolutionV. Science vs. ReligionA. What’s science?B. Creation-evolution continuum C. MisconceptionsCurrent LectureThe course objectives of BZ220 are to understand descent with modification and the mechanisms that allow lineages to change as well as gaining the ability to create and accurately test an evolutionary hypothesis.The grade for this course will be the student’s scores on exams and homework assignments as well as in-class participation points via I-Clickers. There are 280 points possible for this course with 100 of those points coming from the midterms and 80 points coming from the final exam. The other 100 points are split between homework and participation points with 80 points available by homework and the last 20 by I-Clicker questions. Each I-Clicker question isworth a half of a point where ¼ of the point will be awarded for participating and the other ¼ for correctly answering. Fifty I-Clicker questions will be given throughout the semester allowing students to be able to miss 10 questions without penalty. Nine homework assignments will be given in the semester, but only 8 assignments will be for credit meaning the lowest homework score at the end of the semester will be dropped. These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Each homework assignment will be posted on RamCT 1 week prior to the due date and the homework will be due at the beginning of the class period correlating to the due date. Homework will be a mixture of short answer and quantitative problems and must be typed, double spaced, and not go above 1 page. If math is necessary for a particular problem, it does not need to be typed out. There will be 2 midterm exams and one final cumulative exam. All exams will be in multiple choice format only covering information covered in lectures not the book. The book is to add to a student’s understanding of the material, but a student will not be tested on any material solely represented in the book. Make-up exams are only available if an emergency comes up and must have proof of the reason as to why you are missing the exam. All make-up exams will NOT be multiple choice but rather short answer and essay style. Evolution has many working definitions, but three of them will be covered in this class. Darwin’s definition of evolution is descent with modification. The textbook’s definition is inherited changes in populations of organisms over time, leading to differences among them. The genetic definition is the change in allele frequency in a population from 1 generation to the next. Evolution can be broken down into the terms microevolution and macroevolution; however it is important to realize these are not 2 separate processes but are on a continuum of evolution itself. Microevolution is small scale changes within a population over time while macroevolution is large scale changes leading to speciation and or diversification. Evolution, although sometimes thought to be, is not the change of a specific individual intheir lifetime (this is called development) nor is it the change of genetically identical individuals in different environments (known as phenotypic plasticity or the “nurture” aspect of nature versus nurture).Visible effects of evolution are all around us including a persistence of a new mutation (pesticide resistance in insects), changes in the frequencies of genes, origins or losses of structures (the loss of functional eyes in cave fish), and the origin or extinction of species.We study evolution because it is the unifying theme of biology which is very important since almost everything else in biology is very diverse and full of exceptions. Evolution also allows scientists to broadly attempt to explain everything that goes on in the living world. Evolution explains the diversity and history of life, similarities and differences among organisms (convergence and divergence respectively), and shows adaptive and nonadaptive traits. Evolutionary theory can be applied to various biological fields including but not limited to agriculture, conservation, and disease control and prevention. More over evolution can help humans understand our own history and why we are the way we are.In order for something to fall within the scientific realm, hypothesis and theories must be guided and explained by natural law (i.e. not a supernatural being or miracles), be able to be tested in the observable world, and can be falsifiable. Also conclusions that are made in science are very tentative to the information known at the time and are not the final answer. Religion since it doesn’t follow the above requirements is not science. Religion has a supernatural element, provides a moral code, faith is passed on in an unchanged form, and requires the acceptance and exclusion of varying ideas. Just because science and religion are not the same doesn’t mean that they must conflict or a person must just believe in religion or evolution. There are those who are very extreme at both ends of the spectrum but not all are that way. On the creation-evolution continuum, people known as flat earthers, reject the idea of a spherical earth whereas geocentrists still believe the earth to be the center of the universe instead of the sun. Young earth creationists believe the earth is young in age while old earth creationists still don’t believe the earth is over 4 billion years but do believe it is on the older side. Subclasses of old earth creationists include gap creationism where the bible omitted facts due to sheer availability and accessibility to readers, day-age creationism where the 6 days in the bible that it took to create life were not ordinary 24 hour days, progressive creationism who believe God created the new stepping stones of life, and finally intelligent design creationism where most of evolution theory is generally accepted. After old earth creationists and its corresponding subclasses, Evolutionary creationists accept evolution and biology but believe it was originally created by God. Theistic evolutionists completely except evolution but