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Fall 2001 Class Schedule MWF 1:00-1:50, or 2:00-2:50, K208. Dr. Bruce W. Grant and Dr. Robert W. Morris
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This course, the first in the core curriculum for majors in science and premedical students, will center on evolution as the organizing principle of living systems and will form the framework for the problems and processes considered in courses II and III that follow.
The course begins with Elements of Living Organisms, and will explore the biological, physical, and chemical principles that govern a living organism. The context in which these principles will be explored is the evolutionary origin of life on Earth. Students will learn in brief the cosmological origin of the Universe, our sun and solar system, and the chemical and astronomical processes leading to the conditions of the prebiotic Earth. Next, basic functions of living organisms will be explored as representing evolved solutions to the organizational challenges of defining organism boundaries, assembling an autocatalytic metabolism, and generating a mechanism of inheritance to pass favorable characteristics to progeny.
The second part, Biological Evolution, will continue this evolutionary theme and will detail genetic mechanisms of inheritance and the micro- and macroevolutionary processes that result. Students will learn (a) how genetic information is encoded, inherited, and affects organismal structure and function, (b) the evolutionary significance of genetic variation, and (c) how to model the biological processes that create, preserve, or destroy genetic variation and can lead to the origin of species. We will also explore applied topics in biotechnology (e.g., biomedical, agricultural, human eugenics) and the uses of evolutionary knowledge in society.
The third part, Ecological Systems of Life, will elucidate organizational principles by which groups of interacting individuals form populations, ecological communities, and ecosystems. Students will learn (a) how physical, biological, and evolutionary processes affect individual organisms and their populations and communities that in turn affect ecosystem structure and function, and (b) the vast interdependencies between our global society and the natural world. Contextual themes for this part of the course include the ecological significance of biodiversity, conservation ecology, and the global ecosystem consequences of our 6+ billion human population.
Notes:
| class # | date | topic (pages in Campbell) |
Elements of Living Organisms | ||
| #1 | Fri, Sept 7 | Introduction to Biology |
| #2 | Mon, Sept 10 | The Scientific Method (pp. 13-15 and CD-Activity 1.1) |
| #3 | Wed, Sept 12 | Earth's Early History |
| Wed, Sept 12 | 3:00 - Quiz 1 | |
| #4 | Fri, Sept 14 | Chemistry of Life (chapter "Key Concepts" only: p. 35, p. 46, p. 56, p. 81, p. 145) |
| #5 | Mon, Sept 17 | Origin of Life on Earth (pp. 490-501) |
| #6 | Wed, Sept 19 | Metabolism Without Oxygen (pp. 83-98, and "Key Concepts" of glycolysis in pp. 147-166) |
| Wed, Sept 19 | 3:00 - Quiz 2 | |
| #7 | Fri, Sept 21 | Natural Selection and the Origin of Evolution ("Key Concepts" p. 292 and pp. 316-317, pp. 440-441, pp. 502-510) |
| #8 | Mon, Sept 24 | Evolution of Photosynthesis (pp. 168-186, pp. 510-511) |
| #9 | Wed, Sept 26 | Metabolism With Oxygen ("Key Concepts" of aerobic respiration in pp. 147-166, pp. 511-518) |
| Wed, Sept 26 | 3:00 - Quiz 3 | |
| #10 | Fri, Sept 28 | Evolution of Compartmentalization (pp. 522-524, "Key Concepts" pp. 127-128) |
| #11 | Mon, Oct 1 | review for EXAM 1 |
| #12 | Wed, Oct 3 | EXAM 1, part 1 |
| Wed, Oct 3 | 3:00 - EXAM 1, part 2 | |
Biological Evolution | ||
| #13 | Fri, Oct 5 | Cellular Reproduction: Mitosis (pp. 206-216, and p. 222) |
| #14 | Mon, Oct 8 | Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles (pp. 227-237) |
| #15 | Wed, Oct 10 | Genetic Variation, Mendel and Probability (pp. 239-249) |
| Wed, Oct 10 | 3:00 - Quiz 4 | |
| #16 | Fri, Oct 12 | Non-Mendelian Genetics (pp. 247-258) |
| #17 | Mon, Oct 15 | Chromosomes and Linkage (pp. 261-268) |
| #18 | Wed, Oct 17 | History of Evolutionary Thought (pp. 414-421) |
| Fri, Oct 19 | *** fall break *** | |
| Mon, Oct 22 | *** fall break *** | |
| #19 | Wed, Oct 24 | Evidence for Evolution (pp. 421-427) |
| Wed, Oct 24 | 3:00 - Quiz 5 | |
| #20 | Fri, Oct 26 | Hardy-Weinberg and Microevolution (pp. 428-434) |
| #21 | Mon, Oct 29 | Natural Selection as Mechanism for Evolution (pp. 434-444) |
| #22 | Wed, Oct 31 | Species and Speciation (pp. 445-458) |
| Wed, Oct 31 | 3:00 - Quiz 6 | |
| #23 | Fri, Nov 2 | Fossils and Geologic Time (pp. 464-472) and Systematics (pp. 473-485) |
| #24 | Mon, Nov 5 | review for EXAM 2 |
| #25 | Wed, Nov 7 | EXAM 2, part 1 |
| Wed, Nov 7 | 3:00 - EXAM 2, part 2 | |
Ecological Systems of Life | ||
| #26 | Fri, Nov 9 | Introduction to Ecology (pp. 1026-1028) |
| #27 | Mon, Nov 12 | Patterns in Global Biodiversity (pp. 1028-1047, 1154-1167) |
| #28 | Wed, Nov 14 | Physiological Ecology (pp. 1043-1044, 1048-1050) |
| Wed, Nov 14 | 3:00 - Quiz 7 | |
| #29 | Fri, Nov 16 | Animal Behavior (ch. 51 "Key Concepts" pp. 1079-1080) |
| #30 | Mon, Nov 19 | Population Demography and Regulation (ch. 52 "Key Concepts" pp. 1104-1105) |
| #31 | Wed, Nov 21 | Competition (pp. 1107-1110, 1114-1119) |
| Fri, Nov 23 | *** Thanksgiving break *** | |
| #32 | Mon, Nov 26 | Predation, Parasitism, and Disease (pp. 1110-1114) |
| #33 | Wed, Nov 28 | AIDS (reading TBA) |
| Wed, Nov 28 | 3:00 - Quiz 8 | |
| #34 | Fri, Nov 30 | Mutualism and Coevolutionary Ecology (pp. 1119-1126) |
| #35 | Mon, Dec 3 | Ecological Disturbance (pp. 1121-1128) |
| #36 | Wed, Dec 5 | Global Ecosystems Ecology (pp. 1131-1151) |
| Wed, Dec 5 | 3:00 - Quiz 9 | |
| #37 | Fri, Dec 7 | Global Carbon Cycle, Climate Change |
| #38 | Mon, Dec 10 | Global Ecological Energetics: Feeding Six Billion |
| #39 | Wed, Dec 12 | Urban Ecosystems Ecology: Our Last Frontier (pp. 1167-1172) |
| Wed, Dec 12 | 3:00 - review session for EXAM 3 | |
| #40 | Fri, Dec 14 | review session for FINAL EXAM |
| TBA | EXAM3 and FINAL EXAM |
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Copyright - Bruce W. Grant and Robert W. Morris, 2001.