GEOL 1031
Dinosaur Earth
3.0 Credits
Description
This course is about dinosaurs and how they were able to dominate terrestrial habitats for about 160 million years during the Mesozoic era. We will start by examining global plate tectonics and climate with specific reference to the Mesozoic. We will look at the evolution of the dinosaurs from the early land-dwelling vertebrates, their diversification, and their extinction 65 million years ago. We will also examine the manner in which the ancestors of modern animals filled the habitats previously occupied by dinosaurs.
This course is intended to meet the science requirements of non-science programs and will also be of interest to those who have taken other courses in Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Delivery Method
This is an Online, Paced, Cohort course.
Prerequisites
None
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to do the following:
- Explain geological time and understand its extent and describe the relatively short time of the dinosaurs within it.
- Acquire a general understanding of the history of life on earth.
- Explain the interactions amongst the lithosphere, hydrosphere atmosphere and biosphere and how they control our climate.
- Describe the composition, structure and dynamics of the earth's interior, and the processes of plate tectonics and the motions of continents.
- Discover the origins of the kingdom Plantae, how plants adapted to life on land during the Silurian and how they evolved during the Mesozoic.
- Describe the evolution of vertebrates from fish to reptiles and the diversification of reptiles in the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic and describe the evolutionary relationships amongst the land vertebrates.
- Explain the evolution of mammals from the synapsid amniotes, and describe their place during the Mesozoic.
- Differentiate the morphology between dinosaurs and their reptile ancestors and between the Ornithischian and Saurischian dinosaurs. Describe the lifestyles of various different dinosaurs.
- Describe the important extinctions of the Phanerozoic eon, and use this knowledge to reconstruct their causes.
- Describe the events of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction, and provide evidence to explain the proposed mechanism plus which types of organisms became extinct and which survived.
- Discover how mammals and birds adapted to changing climate conditions over the past 65 million years.
- Research and document a fossil discovery.
- Demonstrate an ability to work collaboratively.
- Gain experience in constructive criticism.
- Actively participate and contribute in online learning environment.
Course Outline
- Introduction and Geological Time
- Plate Tectonics: The continental dance
- Climate and environmental change
- Food for the Beast: The Evolving Flora
- The Dinosaur ancestry
- The Dinosaurs
- Mass Extinctions
- The Cenozoic and the rise of mammals
- Finding and describing fossils
Maximum Completion
16 weeks
Required Text and Materials
Students will receive all course materials including the textbook in their course package.
Wicander, R., and Monroe.
Historical Geology. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2010.
Type: Textbook, ISBN: 978-0-495-56007-4
Open Learning Faculty Member Information
An Open Learning Faculty Member is available to assist students. Primary communication is through Blackboard's "Mail" tool or by phone. You will receive the necessary contact information when you start your course.
Assessment
In order to successfully complete this course, students must obtain at least 50% on the final mandatory examination and 50% overall. It is strongly recommended that students complete all assignments in order to achieve the learning objectives of the course. The total mark will be determined on the following basis:
| Discussion and Wiki Activities |
10% |
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