GEOL 110    Age of Dinosaurs

Section 01  •  11:00 AM–12:15 PM Tuesday & Thursday  •  Hanna 308

 

Syllabus

I. Course Description

3 cr. A non-technical survey, especially designed for non-science majors, of dinosaurs and their world. The origin, evolution, ecology, physiology, and social behavior are reconstructed from bones, tracks, nests, and applied biology. Possible reasons for their extinction are considered. Emphasis is placed on viewing dinosaurs as superbly successful members of their ecosystem.

II. Rationale

Dinosaurs are one of the interesting aspects of science to both young and old. The fact that they are all extinct adds to their mystery. Dinosaurs have been the emphasis of a tremendous amount of scientific inquiry. Unfortunately, a tremendous amount of misinformation has developed about dinosaurs. This courses assists in separating scientific fact from conjecture on the dinosaurs. The basic foundation of this course lies in geologic and paleontologic principles. However, many of the other branches of science are utilized extensively such as biology, chemistry, and physics as well as mathematics.

III. Course Objectives and Outcomes

  1. To explain how fossils form and their importance in understanding the geologic history of the earth.
  2. To establish what is, and is not, a dinosaur.
  3. To recount a history of major dinosaur discoveries.
  4. To study the lineage and evolution of the dinosaurs.
  5. To survey the basic classification and array of dinosaur groups.
  6. To ascertain dinosaur physiology and behavior.
  7. To develop the paleoecology of the age of the dinosaurs.
  8. To learn how to separate dinosaur fact from fiction; the difference between rigorous data, scientifically founded speculation, and mere fanciful speculation.
  9. To learn methodologies of dinosaur reconstructions.

IV. Instructional Methods and Activities

Advance organizers, lecture/group discussion, demonstrations, small group activities and cooperative learning, hands-on/minds-on activities, discovery and inquiry learning, concept mapping, and problem solving. Course material includes a set of 400 35mm slides, several films, museum-quality replicas of dinosaur remains (teeth, claws, vertebrate, eggs, etc.), scale models of dinosaurs, and actual dinosaur remains (egg fragments, footprints, bones, etc.).

V. Evaluation and Grade Assignment

  1. Methods
    1. Four written examinations (this includes the final examination)
    2. Problem solving and laboratory activities (Earth & Environmental Science Computer Lab in Hanna 333 may be used), individual and/or group projects, and class participation (counts as one grade)
  2. Grading Scale:  90-100 = A; 80-89 = B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; Below 60 = F

VI. Textbook(s)

The textbook adopted for this course is The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul.

VII. Class Policies

  1. Attendance policies correspond to those of the university. It should be noted that class attendance is very important in order to facilitate learning. Many of the activities can not be completed as effectively on an individual basis.
  2. Assignments are due on or before the indicated date (5% penalty will be assessed for late assignments).
  3. Examinations are to be taken on the dates indicated on the schedule. Only excused absences will be accepted for missed examinations. Students may take a written or oral make-up examination at the instructor's discretion and earliest convenience, or the next examination may be counted as two grades.
  4. Discussion of safety issues, fire alarm, and evacuation procedures for ULM.

VIII. Course Schedule (order of topics and examinations)

  1. Discussion of syllabus and overview of course
  2. Course introduction
  3. Geologic time and the geologic time scale
  4. Fossils and fossilization
  5. Brief history of dinosaur discoveries: Early European discoveries, Cuvier, Buckland, Mantell, Owen, North American "bone hunters", Marsh, Cope, 1920's Asiatic expeditions, and dinosaur experts of today
  6. Dinosaur characteristics (What is, and is not, a dinosaur)
    1. Origin of tetrapods
    2. Reptiles defined
    3. Reptilian lineages
    4. Reptilian/dinosaurian skeletal morphology
    5. Animals that are not dinosaurs

EXAMINATION 1 (1-6)

  1. Dinosaur classification
  2. Dinosaur orders, hip structures, and archosaurs
  3. Transition to dinosaurs and dinosaur evolution
  4. Saurischians: Sauropods

EXAMINATION 2 (7-10)

  1. Saurischians: Theropods

EXAMINATION 3 (11)

  1. The ornithischians (bird-hipped dinosaurs)
  2. The ornithopods (hypsilophodonts, iguanodonts, and hadrosaurs), stegosaurs, ankylosaurs, pachychephalosurs, ceratopsians
  3. Dinosaur diets (handout)
  4. Mesozoic plants (flora)
  5. Social behavior
  6. Dinosaur eggs and nesting
  7. Warm-blooded/cold-blooded debate
  8. Dinosaur tracks/trackways (bipeds with pes; quadrapeds with manus and pes)(Tray 4, slides 49-80; Tray 5, slides 1-4)
  9. Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary and extinctions

FINAL EXAMINATION (14-20) Monday, December 8, 3:00 PM

 

 

 

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