TENTATIVE SYLLABUS FOR BIOLOGY 213 (EVOLUTION)  4 Units

Winter 2001   CRN 11505

CLASS MEETS 2:00 PM - 3:40 PM MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS IN 8-4

 

WEEK AND DATE        LECTURE TOPIC                                               CD & Read Chapters in Ridley

01  M  01 Jan    ===== H O L I D A Y=========     

      W  03 Jan    Intro, epistemology, history, time scales                                                1 and 19                                       

 

02  M  08 Jan    Fossils, Dating and evidence                                                                                    3

      W  10 Jan    Human Evolution (lecture, slides, start video)

 

03  M 15 Jan    ===== H O L I D A Y=========     

      W 17 Jan    Human Evolution (finish video)

 

04  M 22 Jan      genetics review                                                                                                       2 

      W 24 Jan     TEST 1 – 1/3 of  GRADE             

 

05  M 29 Jan     Variation, Natural  Selection                                           4, 5, 6, + skim & read summary of 7

      W 31 Jan     Evolutionary Genetics                                           

 

06  M 05 Feb    Quantitative traits, heritability, genome evolution                                                   9, 10     

      W 07 Feb    Analysis of Adaptation, units of selection                                                              11, 12

  

07  M 12 Feb    Adaptive Explanation                                                                                               13

      W 14 Feb    Species and speciation, Review                                                                            15, 16

 

08  M 19 Feb    TEST 2 – 1/3 of Grade

      W 21 Feb    Classification, Evolution, Cladograms                                                                      14

 

09  M 26 Feb    Evolutionary biogeography                                                                                       18

      W 28 Feb   Rates of evolution; macroevolution                                                                        20, 21    

 

10  M  05 Mar   Coevolution and species selection                                                                             22     

      W  07 Mar   Extinction and mass extinction                                                                                 23

 

11  M  12 Mar  FINAL EXAM -- 1:40 PM - 3:40 PM --  1/3 OF GRADE

 

 

 

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TENTATIVE   SYLLABUS FOR BIO 213 Winter 2001   ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

 

OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this course is to give you a solid understanding of the modern study of evolution in living organisms.  In addition, the course will introduce you to the fundamentals of evolutionary genetics, adaptation and natural selection, classification and phylogenetics, paleobiology and macroevolution.  Although non-majors may take the course, this is the evolution course for students majoring in biology, zoology and botany.

 

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Stephen H. Bryant  Bldg. 94 - Room 321  Phone: 869-4094.  Office hours: after class, or by appointment: for appointment , call 869-3567.  Email address is shbryant@csupomona.edu.  I prefer email to voice mail, and  you'll get a faster response therefrom. 

 

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

     TEXT: Ridley, Mark.  1997 (the book says 1996, but it wasn't really published until 1997).  Evolution, 2nd ed.  Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications.  This is the second edition of a fairly new comprehensive text on evolution.  Ridley's book is well-illustrated, straightforward to read, and gives a good general overview of the types of evolutionary research being conducted at this time (along with the standard classical examples).  It is important that you read the whole book, as assigned, for I will lecture mainly on the topics that Ridley covers less thoroughly.  Tests, however, will cover BOTH the reading and lecture material.  (If you have the CD for the book, and wish to look at it, it will enhance your experience.  Especially look at the videos.)

     CALCULATOR: Bring a calculator with you to tests; any calculator with a square root key will do; you can use as fancy a calculator as you want.  If your calculator has a memory, you must clear the memory before starting the test.

 

PREREQUISITES: Introductory college biology.  Your introductory biology course should have given you the fundamentals of genetics, evolution, ecology and classification necessary for this course.  In addition, I assume you have had the equivalent of intermediate algebra (which is a prerequisite for admission to Cal Poly) and can solve simple algebraic equations and work with graphs of various sorts. 

 

EXAMS: Two midterm exams and a final will be given; each counts 1/3 of your grade.  Exams will be closed book, and consist of a mix of question types, and may include objective, short answer, problems, essay etc.  About a third to a half of the points on each exam will be over material covered by the assigned reading which is NOT covered in lecture.  Bring your student ID to each test; instructor may check IDs.  Students not having proper ID may have their tests invalidated.     WARNING: You MAY NOT take the final exam at any time other than the scheduled time (even if it is the middle final of the day for you).

 

GRADING: Grading will be done more or less on a curve.  Instructor will post on the web a histogram of test scores and the grading scale for each exam.  The grading will be no more stringent than 90% = A; 80% = B; 70% = C, 60% = D.  Thus, it is possible for every student to earn an "A".    

 

WEB MATERIALS:  Lecture notes, previous test keys, and other materials are available from my web site, which contains previous tests and more information on evolution, including a copy of this syllabus.  The URL for the class web site is http://www.csupomona.edu/~shbryant/213.htm.  Download and install  the Adobe Acrobat viewer as instructed to view the documents.

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: See the statement on academic integrity in the 1999-2001 Cal Poly Catalog on page 49. (Also available at http://www.csupomona.edu/~academic/catalog99-01/05_Admissions.pdf — Acrobat page 31, catalog page 49)  I will follow University Policy and "... report each instance of academic dishonesty to the Director of Judicial Affairs and Student Development."

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