Biology 4801: Evolutionary Biology
Fall 2004
Instructor:
Virginia Borden (vborden@d.umn.edu)
Office:
LSci 321, 726-8200
Office
Hours:
Required
Text: Freeman, Scott and Jon C. Herron, 2004. Evolutionary
Analysis, 3rd Edition. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River,
NJ.
A
small amount of additional reading may be assigned
Course
Objectives:
Students will understand:
· the
origin, history, opposition to, and evidence supporting evolutionary ideas
· the
mechanisms of evolutionary change, including natural selection
· the
genetic consequences of natural selection
· the
process of speciation and how it is described by modern phylogenies
· current
ideas about the origin and evolution of life and living systems
Students will learn:
· how
to critically examine hypotheses about evolutionary change
· how
to use the tools of population genetics to test evolutionary hypotheses and
protect endangered species
· methods
of determining phylogenetic relationships among species
Grading
Exam
I 50
points
Exam
II 50
points
Exam
III 50
points
Exam
IV 50
points
I will be assuming that you have read the assigned chapter for the day
(and other assigned readings) before you come to class. You may find
lecture more difficult to follow if you have not read the relevant material.
Mid-term exams will be multiple choice
and short answer/essay.
Evolution
is a deceptively difficult subject, and I freely admit that my exams are
challenging. Although there will be a
certain number of questions that ask you to simply recall information, many of
the questions will test your conceptual understanding of the ideas presented in
the book and lecture (for example: “A scientist performed (X) experiment. The table below presents the experimental
results. From this, the scientist could
conclude what?” or “Research indicates that peppered moths do not rest on the
trunks of trees during the day. What is a reasonable hypothesis that explains
why these moths evolve darker coloration in forests affected by
pollution?”).
I
will regularly model in class the kinds of reasoning that I am expecting you to
do on exams. The questions in the back
of each chapter in the text are also a good source for practice – answers to
these questions are available on the book’s website:
And, of course, you may feel free
to ask questions in lecture or visit me during my office hours.
Letter grades in Biology 4801 are
generally based on the following scale:
% of points earned letter
grade range
>=
90% of top score A
80 –
89% B
70 –
79% C
60 –
69% D
<
60% F