Updated 01/19/2012

Spring 2012 - Environmental Evolution Video Schedule

Wednesdays 7:30 – 8:30 pm, Morrill III, Room 319

All videos are one hour long. Undergraduate students are required to watch and write a brief summary of at least 5 of the 12 shown. Honor undergraduates and graduate students summarize 8. (Students from Evolution BIO 280 are also invited to watch the videos, and the asterisked titles (*) are particularly recommended for their course.) At least one instructor comes to each video session. Feel free to make an appointment, ask for information on homework, assignments, presentations, make-ups, etc. just before or after the video showing.

Feb. 1            Gaia: Goddess of the Earth

                       (Lovelock's idea). BBC - John Groom.

Feb. 8            Is There Life on Mars? Nova PBS

Feb. 15          Natural Connections. The Nature of Things*

                       (Cosmic and cell evolution). CBC - David Suzuki.

Feb. 22           Burgess Shale of the Mid-Cambrian. The Nature of Things*

                       CBC - David Suzuki.

Feb. 29           The Mysterious Life of Caves

                        Microbes as agents of geological phenomena.  - NOVA

Mar. 7            The Ring of Truth: Clues

                       What happened to the Mediterranean Sea in the Miocene?

                       PBS - NOVA with Richard Yuretich, Ken Hsu and Philip Morrison.

Mar. 14           Home* Earth-life connections and human impact.

Mar. 21           No film – Spring Break

Mar. 28           Life in the Undergrowth. (Intimate Relations) BBC - David Attenborough

Apr. 4             The Queen of the Trees * (Ficus and its wasps) PBS Nature Library

Apr. 11           Animal Oddities: Termite Zone* -  Time/Life Video

Apr. 18           Secret Weapons* Time Life Video. Nature Video Library

Spring 2012 - Environmental Evolution Class Schedule

(Note – Assignments are due on date listed unless otherwise indicated)

WEEK / DATE           TOPIC  –  DIAL (Digital InterActive Lecture)  –  ASSIGNMENTS

1             Jan. 25        Gaia to Microcosm - introductory session – all assignments discussed.

                                    From Gaia to Microcosm.

2             Feb. 1          Gaia Theory I (Text Chapt. 1)

                                    GAIA READINGS in Rm 316 or online: The Living Earth, Is

                                    Nature Really Motherly?, GAIA: Goddess and Idea

                                    TIME ASSIGNMENT GIVEN

                                    VIDEOS BEGIN TONIGHT – GAIA VIDEO

3             Feb. 8          Gaia Theory II (Text Chapt. 2)

                                    Planetary Comparisons: Mars, Venus, Earth

                                    DIAL: Lovelock 1. A New View of the Atmosphere (1973)

                                    DIAL: Lovelock 2. Evolution of an Idea (2003)

4             Feb. 15         Gaia Theory III

                                    DIAL: Lovelock 3, 4, or 5. (Choose one)

                                    TIME ASSIGNMENT DUE

5             Feb. 22         The Hadean and Archean Eons (Text Chapt. 4)

                                    DIAL: (a) McElroy or (b) Holland and Irvine.

                                    DIAL SUMMARIES FOR WEEKS 2, 3 AND 4 DUE

                                    SIGN UP DUE FOR YOUR FIRST PRESENTATION

   

6             Feb. 29        Origins of Life, Early Life, Basic Metabolisms (Text Chapt. 5)

                                    DIAL: (a) Origins of Life: Historical Development of Recent Theories

                                    (Lazcano) or (b) Antiquity of Life (Barghoorn) or (c) Evidence of Earliest

                                    Life: Criteria for Biogenicity in the Ancient Fossil Record (Strother)

                                    GENETICS or GEOLOGY ASSIGNMENT GIVEN (BOTH FOR GRADS)

                                    GAIA PRESENTATIONS

7             Mar. 7           Archean and Modern Stromatolites (Text Chapt. 6 & 7)

                                    DIAL: (a) Stromatolites of Shark Bay or (b) Algal [microbial] Mats of the

                                    Persian Gulf (Golubic)

                                    FIELD TRIP ASSIGNMENT DISCUSSED IN CLASS

                                    Presentations on Gaia Theory begin:

                                    GAIA PRESENTATIONS

8            Mar. 14         The Proterozoic Eon – Origin of Eukayrotes (Text Chapt. 9)

                                    DIAL: (a) Life in the Proterozoic Eon (Knoll) or (b) The Garden of

                                    Ediacara  (McMenamin).

                                    DIAL: Genetic Mechanisms of Evolution (Margulis)

                                    GAIA PRESENTATIONS

                                    Mar. 21 No class – Spring Break

9            Mar. 28         Hands on Activities

                                    Living Sands: Mapping Time and Space with Forams

                                    Trash and Garbage: The Carbon Cycle

                                    SIGN UP DUE FOR YOUR SECOND PRESENTATION

10           Apr. 4           Evolution and Symbiogenesis (Text Chapt. 8)

                                    DIAL: (a) Symbiogenesis and evolutionary novelty (Margulis) or (b)

                                    Eukaryosis (undulipodia and the origin of nucleated cells) (Margulis)

                                    DIAL SUMMARIES FOR WEEKS 5, 6, 7 AND 8 DUE

                                    EARLY LIFE PRESENTATIONS

11         Apr. 11           Geophysical Processes and Evolution (Text Chapter 10)

                                    DIAL: for biology students: Towards a Theory of Plate Tectonics    

                                    (Siever);

                                    for geoscience students: 3 DIALS on cell motility (Tamm):

                                    (1) prokaryotic,

                                    (2) eukaryotic motility, and (3) “rubberneckia” (Caduceia versatilis)

                                    GENETICS or GEOLOGY ASSIGNMENT DUE – Graduates do both

                                    EARLY LIFE PRESENTATIONS

12         Apr. 18           Evolution Theory

                                    DIAL: (a) Plant Chemical Signals (Swain) or (b) Biomineralization

                                    (Lowenstam) and Hallucinogenic Plants of North and South America

                                    (Schultes)

                                    EARLY LIFE PRESENTATIONS

13         Apr. 25           Last class. All DIAL assignments and both presentations must be            

                                    completed by this date.

                                    DIAL SUMMARIES FOR WEEKS 9, 11 AND 12

                                    FIELD TRIP ASSIGNMENT DUE

                                    LAST VIDEO TONIGHT

                                    CHOICE DIAL – see pages 12 and 13, e.g. Hallucinogenic Plants of

                                    North and South America (Schultes), Earliest Life: The Rock Record

                                    (Walsh), etc.

14         May 7 & 9      Final oral exams. Graduate and honor students: Monday, May 7 @

                                    1:30, all students: Wednesday, Dec. 14 @ 1:30. These oral exams

                                    require attendance by all students, graduate, undergraduate and

                                    non-degree.  We will resolve schedule conflicts with your other

                                    professors. Please plan to stay until the exam is finished, which,

                                    depending on class size, may be after 3 PM on Monday and after

                                    5 PM on Wednesday. The graduate final exam on Monday, May 7,

                                    is the last date by which any late or rewritten assignments, or

                                    make-ups, will be accepted.