Principles of Paleobiology ZOO 4114, Paleobiology GLY 4650

Fall 2010, MWF 11:00-11:50, PC 442

Dr. Laurel Collins, Department of Earth & Environment, Department of Biological Sciences

(Syllabus with latest updates at http://www.fiu.edu/~collinsl/Paleobiologysyllabus.htm)

Description - introduction to concepts in paleobiology, including the nature of fossils, adaptation, systematics, evolutionary trends, global origination and extinction, paleoecology and biogeography. 

Objectives - to integrate knowledge of organismal biology and geology, to test hypotheses and to apply quantitative approaches to understanding how life evolved into what it is today. 

Learning Outcomes - an understanding of how life has changed through time and its major events, and how paleobiology is studied in the field and laboratory. 

Prerequisites - either BSC 1010, GLY 1010, GLY 1100, or permission of instructor.

COURSE OUTLINE

Pop Quiz Questions for Review

Instructor:  Dr. Laurel Collins, Department of Earth and Environment, and Department of Biological Sciences. Email (prefered): collinsl@fiu.edu, telephone (305) 348-1732.  Office hours are MW 1:30-3 in room PC 435. If you need to see me outside regular office hours, please email or call to make an appointment.

Textbook:  Principles of Paleontology, 2007, Michael Foote and Arnold Miller, 3rd ed., W.H. Freeman and Co., 354pp., ISBN 9780716706137. Prices: FIU Bookstore $120 (new) and $90 (used), WH Freeman $109. OLD EDITIONS cannot be used.

Course Policies:  You are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty. A student found in violation of these standards will earn an F and be reported to the Deans Office, no exceptions made. In accordance with FIU's policy on academic honesty as set forth in Section 2.44 of the Academic Affairs Policies and Procedures Manual (http://academic.fiu.edu/polman/sec2web.htm#two-forty-four), students in this class can neither submit the academic work of another as their own, nor provide work they have done for another student to be submitted as that other student's work.

Content and Grading:  The lecture slides are posted online. Activities days emphasize more informal, active learning such as work with specimens, discussions, written exercises and reviews for exams. Grades are based on a total of 400 possible points: three exams are worth 100 points each and Activities Days exercises are worth 10 points each, exam reviews excluded. Pop quizzes for extra credit total 20 possible points over the semester. All grades are posted in the online syllabus by the last 4 digits of the panther ID#. Makeup exams and Activities Days exercises will be given only in extreme circumstances and if you have valid, documentable proof justifying your absence, such as a doctor’s note for illness or a police report for a car accident. The format of makeup exams is short essay.

Final grades are based on the following total points: A (93-100%) = 368-400 points, A- (90-92%) = 360-367 points, B+ (87-89%) = 348-359 points, B (83-86%) = 328-347 points, B- (80-82%) = 320-327 points, C+ (77-79%) = 308-319 points, C (73-76%) = 288-307 points, C- (70-72%) = 280-287 points, D+ (67-69%) = 272-279 points, D (63-66%) = 248-271 points, D- (60-62%) = 240-247 points F (0-59%) = 0-239 points.