Dr. Suzanne Koptur |
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OE 232, ph. 305-348-3103 |
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office hrs Wednesdays 9 am - noon (or by appt.) |
We will examine the adaptations organisms make to their environments (all levels, from the individual, through the population, to the community). Students will explore physiological and biological stresses and the subsequent adaptations of organisms under these forces. Life history strategies, breeding systems, and multitrophic interactions will be given special attention. A general background in ecology is assumed and knowledge of genetics will be reviewed (Prerequisite: PCB 3043, PCB 3063, or permission of instructor). Basic principles and foundations of the field will be considered as well as current research. Readings will come from a textbook (see syllabus that follows) and from books and articles from the older and current literature to expand the topics. Lectures will be interspersed with group and discussion activities to maximize student participation in the learning process.
Each student will write three (5-pg.) papers (library research, with original synthesis, on topics chosen by mutual consent of student and professor; one of these may be a review of a classic book) during the semester, and participate in one or more group projects. There will be three exams during the semester and a final exam. Grades will be determined as follows: first three exams 10% each (30%), final exam 20%, each paper 10% (30%), project 10%, and class participation (in-class work and participating in discussions) 10%.
All students are expected to do original work. Plagiarism of any type will not be tolerated and will be basis for failing the course. If you are unsure of what plagiarism is, and how to correctly use and cite reference materials, please check out the links on our library web page (my favorite is from Canada: http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/ ). We will be using the services of "TurnItIn" to check the proper use of materials in papers written for this course, as well as to provide feedback and peer review.
Day/ date / Wk |
Topic |
Chapters |
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M/ 23 Aug / 1st |
Introduction to course |
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W/25 Aug |
Where two fields meet - Lec 1 - Variation, Foundations of Evolution |
1 |
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F / 27 Aug |
Haplochromine fish group project |
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M / 30 Aug/ 2nd |
Evolutionary Cover Stories - |
2 |
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W / 1 Sep |
Lec 2 - Natural Selection |
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F / 3 Sep |
Virtual class – Origin of Species ch. 1 Discussion |
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M / 6 Sep/ 3rd |
Evolution Truths? |
3 |
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W/ 8 Sep |
[paper topics introduced] Lec 3 - Genes |
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F / 10 Sep |
Virtual class – Origin of Species ch. 2, also ectoparasite paper, Discussion |
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M / 13 Sep/ 4th |
Traits, invariants, and theories of everything - Lec 4 - Age and size at Maturity |
4 |
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W / 15 Sep |
Lec 5 - Senescence and Life Cycles | |
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F / 17 Sep |
Virtual class – Origin of Species ch. 3 discussion |
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M / 20 Sep/ 5th |
Exam 1 |
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W/ 22 Sep |
Sons, daughters, and distorters - Lec 6 - Sex, gender, sex ratios |
5 |
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F/ 24 Sep |
Virtual class - |
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M/27 Sep/ 6th |
Voyagers, residents, and sleepers - Lec 7 - Mating Systems and sexual selection |
6 |
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W/29 Sep |
[First Paper Due] - printed out and Turnitin.com - Lec 8 Migration |
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F/ 1 Oct |
Virtual class - |
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M / 4 Oct/ 7th |
Doing adaptive things - Lec 9 - Dispersal and Population Structure |
7 |
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W/ 6 Oct |
Lec 10 - Plasticity | |
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F/ 8 Oct |
Virtual class - |
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M / 11 Oct/ 8th |
Lec 11 - Cooperation and Altruism [Group Projects assigned] |
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W / 13 Oct |
Exam 2 |
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F / 15 Oct |
Virtual class - |
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M/18 Oct/ 9th |
Evolution and numbers -A world of specialists? - Lec 12 - Predator/Prey |
8, 9 |
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W/20 Oct |
Mutualism, Parasitism, etc - Lec 13 - Foraging |
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F/22 Oct |
No Virtual Class - Library Session today - for future papers and Group Project Work |
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M/ 25 Oct/ 10th |
The good, the bad, and the commensal - Lec 14 - Specialization/Generalization [Second Paper Due] |
10 |
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W/ 27 Oct |
Lec 15 - Competition |
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F/ 29 Oct |
NO VIRTUAL CLASS TODAY - group project work |
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M / 1 Nov/ 11th |
Evolving together - Lec 16 - Parasitism |
11 |
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W/ 3 Nov |
Lec 17 - Mutualism |
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F/ 5 Nov |
Virtual class - |
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M / 8 Nov/ 12th |
Birth of a species - Lec 18 - Herbivory |
12 |
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W/ 10 Nov |
Lec 19 - Speciation and Extinction | |
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F/ 12 Nov |
virtual class - |
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M / 15 Nov/ 13th |
Death of a species - Lec 20 - Inbreeding and Outbreeding |
13 |
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W/ 17 Nov |
Exam 3 |
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F/ 19 Nov |
virtual class | |
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M / 22 Nov/ 14th |
Big Evolution [Third Paper Due] - Lec 21 - Evolutionary Trees |
14 |
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W/ 24 Nov |
catch up day |
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F/ 26 Nov |
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY – no class meeting |
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M / 29 Nov/ 15th |
Big Ecology – combining in diversity - Lec 22 - Molecular Evolution |
15 & 16 |
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W/ 1 Dec |
Group project presentations [group papers due] | |
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F / 3 Dec |
Group project presentations | |
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M / 6 Dec or W 8 |
Final exam during this week |
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