Setting the Stage

This first section of the course should give you a good background to prepare you for the rest of the class. Chapter 1 shares two examples of how we use an evolutionary approach to understand the changes over time that have taken place in two very different lineages…whales and viruses.  It illustrates how we use an evolutionary approach to help us ask and answer questions about the world. Chapter 2 describes what we understood about the world before Darwin, how different individual’s ideas may have “set the stage” for Darwin and what Darwin’s unique contributions were. Chapter 3 reviews the history of life on earth and introduces the three great branchings or Domains of life. We will focus on parts of Chapter 14 which continues that theme by examining the great extinction and diversification events that occurred as species filled the planet over time. Finally, Chapter 4 introduces the basics of what we call phylogenetic or evolutionary trees. Get ready, get set, go!

  • FRI- First Day of Class! Introduction and a bit of CH 1 maybe?

Week of Feb. 9th (Lab Bacteria Plating, Samaras-Data Collection, Dandelion Planting)

  • MON- CH 1  Whale and Virus  (Reading Guide for CH 1 due before class-see Google Classroom-find the link to our Google Classroom site in my email.)
  • WED- CH 2  History of Evolutionary Ideas… peek at this article  Nee Great Chain  (Reading Guide CH 2 due before class-see Google Classroom). Also a nice resource- History of Evolutionary Thought-Berkeley
  • FRI- Maybe Start CH 3 History of Life and part of CH14 (start at 14.6),  Watch this 5 min video at some point this week First Life. The Reading Guide is not due until MON but the reading is longer.

Week of Feb. 16th (Lab Library Session, Bacteria-Transfer 1, Samaras-Data Visualization)

  • MON – Keep reading CH 3  History of Life and part of CH 14 Macroevolution (start at 14.6) cont.., Check out for fun T-Rex Speed, Watch…Hist Life Football Field and Longer History Of Life (Focus on the parts where he starts going over the major periods we cover in class..Paleo, Meso and Cenozoic. This guy talks way to fast!) (Reading Guide for Ch 3+Part of Ch 14 Due-See Google Classroom)

–>>FOR LAB ON TUESDAY<<––   Zotero installation instructions! Please complete before lab.

  • WED- Watch this Endosymbiosis  and Yay stromatolites in the Carleton Arb!  Bring your Tape and Scissors to class today. Lots of super cute Synapsids and Therapsids at about the 6 minute mark in THIS Video.
  • FRI- Start CH 4 The Tree of Life (Reading Guide for Ch 4 Due-See Google Classroom)

Week of Feb 23th (Bacteria-Transfer 2, Samaras-Read Morse and Schmidt, First Lab Report-Prep)

  • MON – Browse this Tree Reading Misunderstandings and Consider looking over this-its the handout I distributed at the end of class on Friday (Elf Phylogeny)
  • WED- Wrap up CH 4 –Please also complete the  “Pre-Exam Assignment” (Posted in Google Classroom).
  • FRI- EXAM (check out the link to the video of my daughters dog, Poppy, using her carnassials at the very bottom of this page)
  • Here is the Google Slide Show to Ask any Questions about the first exam!  I will check it regularly as well as the night before the exam at about dinner time for the last time.

Ppts from class will go here….

Remember you have/will have these resources..

Way cool links to phylogenetic trees of the coronavirus! What do they show? (these are extra-just for fun)

Other resources….(these might simply help you review and remember)

Understanding phylogenies