BI302 – Evolution
Fall 2015
Instructor:
Office:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Office Hours:
Dr. S. M. Ramsay
N3022C
884-0710 x2406
[email protected]
M 14:00 – 16:00
W 11:00 – 13:00
Lectures:
Tutorials:
3 hours
1.5 hour
T.A.: Mr. David Filice
T.A.: Mr. Daniel Marshall
MWF 8:30 – 9:20, BA202
T1: T 2:30 – 3:50, BA305
T2: T 4:00 – 5:20, BA305
T3: T 5:30 – 6:50, N1059
T4: T 7:00 – 8:20, N1059
Prerequisites: BI226 – Genetics
Course Description
From the Course Calendar: “A comprehensive and integrative course on evolution by natural selection as
the underlying principle of modern biology. Topics include the mechanisms of selection; the concepts of
adaptation, fitness and species; the evolution of sex; co-evolution; and the origin of life.”
From The Origin of Species: “It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with plants of
many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms
crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from
each other and dependent on each other in so complex a manner have all been produced by laws acting
around us….and, that whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so
simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
In this course you will learn about the processes (Darwin’s “laws acting around us”) involved in the
evolution of populations of organisms. In addition to learning concepts you will also develop your critical
thinking skills, and your verbal and quantitative reasoning; you will work at thinking like a scientist.
Textbooks
Required
Zimmer C and Emlen DJ, 2015. Evolution: Making Sense of Life, Second Edition. Roberts and Company.
Perkins AEH. 2015. Study Guide to Accompany Evolution: Making Sense of Life, Second Edition.
Roberts and Company. (Available for download on MyLS)
Pechenik JA. 2015. A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 9th Edition. Pearson-Longman Publishers
Recommended Supplemental Texts
Darwin, C. 1859. The Origin of Species, Second Edition. Available online at http://darwin-online.org.uk
Additional readings
As assigned.
Evaluation
Thought problems (best 4 out of 5)
Quizzes (4, during tutorial)
Participation
Midterm Exam (Saturday 24 Oct, 9:00 am, 1E1)
Final Exam (final exam period in December)
Percentage
Letter Grade
90-100
A+
85-89
A
80-84
A-
77-79
B+
73-76
B
70-72
B-
67-69
C+
63-66
C
60-62
C-
57-59
D+
53-56
D
50-52
D-
0-49
F
20%
20%
10%
15%
35%
Grade Definition
Excellent
Good
Adequate
Marginal
Inadequate
Strong evidence of original thinking; good organization; capacity
to analyze and synthesize; superior grasp of subject matter with
sound critical evaluations; evidence of extensive knowledge
base.
Evidence of grasp of subject matter, some evidence of critical
capacity and analytic ability; reasonable understanding of
relevant issues; evidence of familiarity with literature.
Student who is profiting from his/her university experience;
understanding of the subject matter; ability to develop solutions
to simple problems in the material.
Some evidence of familiarity with subject matter and some
evidence that critical and analytic skills have been developed.
Little evidence of even superficial understanding of subject
matter; weakness in critical and analytic skills;
with limited or irrelevant use of literature.
Information Technology and Electronic Devices
You and I will be making extensive use of the resources on MyLearningSpace. Important dates for the
course, including assignment deadlines, are listed on the calendar. I will post documents and links on the
content page. The discussion forums are available to ask and answer questions, and share information
with everyone in the class. You will submit all of your assignments through the dropbox. Your grades
will be regularly updated and visible so you can track your performance. If there are other ways we can
make good use of MyLS, I am always happy to hear about them.
During class time, we will use titanpad to build course notes. I will provide you with links for documents
as we create them, and you can add material that enhances the notes. Some of the notes will come from
group discussions that we will regularly have in class. I have chosen titanpad because it works across a
wide variety of platforms, and so should be accessible to everyone. It also allows simultaneous editing by
multiple users, giving us a dynamic platform for content creation. Once the documents for individual
sections are closed, I will post them on MyLearningSpace.
The use of information technology, and electronic devices in the classroom are governed by University
policies outlined in the academic calendar: http://www.wlu.ca/calendars/section.php?
cal=1&s=568&ss=2429&y=57. I expect you to use technology and devices for productive purposes. Any
use that is disruptive to the academic environment of the classroom is prohibited. I will ask offenders to
leave the class, and I will report offenses to the Dean of Science.
Lectures
The lectures in this course (3 hours per week) are intended to help you work through the material in the
textbook. Evolution (both the topic and this course) is one of the most conceptual subdisciplines in
biology; this is not a course where you can expect to be successful by cramming. As such, it is crucial
that you keep up with the readings from the textbook. In addition, as we move through the material, there
may be occasions where sections of the text are assigned for you to read through on your own. Each of the
chapters builds heavily on the previous ones, so retention of concepts is essential and falling behind
early in the course will have exaggerated effects later on. In addition to the readings, you should work
through the questions at the end of each chapter, and the exercises in the accompanying study guide.
Tentative Lecture Schedule
Week
1
(7 – 11 Sept.)
Monday
Labour Day
No Class
Wednesday
Orientation
No Class
2
(14 – 18 Sept.)
Ch. 1 & Ch. 2
(Introduction to
Evolutionary Biology)
Ch. 6
(Drift and Selection)
Ch. 6 & Ch. 7
(Population & Quantitative
Genetics)
Ch. 7
(Phenotypic Evolution)
Ch. 4
(Phylogenetics & Tree
Thinking)
Ch. 6
(Drift & Selection)
Ch. 7
(Quantitative Genetics)
Ch. 6
(Population Genetics)
Ch. 7
(Phenotypic Evolution)
Ch. 8
(Natural Selection in
Action)
No Class
Ch. 8
(Natural Selection in
Action)
No Class
Ch. 9
(Coalescence & Molecular
Phylogenetics)
Ch. 10
(Adaptation)
Ch. 11
(Sex & Sexual Selection)
Ch. 12
(Life History Evolution)
Ch. 16
(Behavioural Evolution)
Ch. 13
(Speciation)
Ch. 15
(Coevolution)
Ch. 9 & Ch. 10
(Genomic Evolution &
Adaptation)
Ch. 11
(Sex & Sexual Selection)
Ch. 12
(Life History Evolution)
Ch. 16
(Behavioural Evolution)
Ch. 13
(Speciation)
Ch. 15
(Coevolution)
Ch. 14
(Macroevolution)
Conclusion
Study Day
No Class
3
(21 – 25 Sept.)
4
(28 Sept. – 2 Oct.)
5
(5 – 9 Oct.)
Fall Reading Week
(12 – 16 Oct.)
6
(19 – 23 Oct.)
7
(26 – 30 Oct.)
8
(2 – 6 Nov.)
9
(9 – 13 Nov.)
10
(16 – 20 Nov.)
11
(23 – 27 Nov.)
12
(30 Nov. – 4 Dec.)
Thanksgiving
No Class
Ch. 9
(Coalescence & Molecular
Phylogenetics)
Ch. 10
(Adaptation)
Ch. 11
(Sex & Sexual Selection)
Ch. 12
(Life History Evolution)
Ch. 16
(Behavioural Evolution)
Ch. 13
(Speciation)
Ch. 15
(Coevolution)
13
(7 – 11 Dec.)
Ch. 14
(Macroevolution)
Friday
Ch. 1 & 2
(Introduction to
Evolutionary Biology)
Ch. 5
(Heritable Variation)
Tutorials
There will be one-and-a-half-hour tutorials weekly on Tuesday afternoons. These sessions are intended to
supplement the lecture material and will involve two different types of exercises: thought problems, and
problem solving. Thought problems will involve discussion of selected readings with questions that will
be assigned one week before the tutorial. There are five of these sessions scheduled; for each of these you
will write a short (2 page) answer to the thought problem. The thought problems will help you to enhance
your skills of reading and analysing scientific papers, and making clear, logical arguments in support of a
position.
The problem solving tutorials are designed to help you work through some of the quantitative and
analytical aspects of evolutionary biology. There are six of these scheduled; the goal for each is to develop
your quantitative reasoning skills, and to give you practice with problems specific to evolutionary biology.
Four of the problem solving sessions will include quizzes, that will test the skills you have developed and
give you some additional preparation for the midterm and the final exam. You should have begun working
on some of the end-of-chapter and study-guide problems prior to the tutorial and come to class with
questions.
Tutorial Schedule
Week
2
(15 Sept.)
3
(22 Sept.)
4
(29 Sept.)
5
(6 Oct.)
6
(20 Oct.)
7
(27 Oct.)
8
(3 Nov.)
9
(10 Nov.)
10
(17 Nov.)
11
(24 Nov.)
12
(1 Dec.)
13
(8 Dec.)
Exercise
Intro to your TA
Problem Solving, Quiz
Tentative Topic
Effective Writing for Thought Problems;
Chapter 2 & 8 Review
Conceptions and Misconceptions of
Evolution
Phylogenetic Trees & Population Genetics
Problem Solving
Quantitative Genetics/Phenotypic Evolution
Problem Solving, Quiz
Natural Selection
Thought Problem 2
Neutral vs Adaptive Evolution
Problem Solving, Quiz
Adaptation and Complex Traits
Thought Problem 3
Sexual Selection
Problem Solving, Quiz
Thought Problem 4
Life History Variation/Components of
Fitness
Behavioural Evolution
Thought Problem 5
Speciation
Problem Solving
Review
Thought Problem 1
Participation
Everyone is expected to participate in the tutorial activities. Most of the work will be group work, and the
TAs will be monitoring your involvement as you do your work. When it comes time to speak up,
everyone is expected to take a turn, and again the TAs will be making note of your contributions.
BI302 Evolution Learning Objectives
On completion of this course, students will be able to
1. demonstrate an in-depth understanding of how the scientific method, and the central organizing
paradigms, concepts, and processes, contribute to knowledge about evolutionary biology (Biology
Program-level Learning Outcome 1);
2. articulate an understanding of how evolutionary biology integrates with concepts and procedures from
across the natural sciences, to contribute to the development of new understanding of life processes
(Biology Program-level Learning Outcome 2);
3. select and apply concepts, theories, and established methodologies currently used in evolutionary
biology for the identification, investigation, and analysis of complex problems (Biology Program-level
Learning Outcome 3);
4. propose and test concepts, hypotheses and predictions about evolution using critical thinking and
analytical skills at all steps in the process (Biology Program-level Learning Outcome 6);
5. communicate information about evolutionary biology, from a variety of sources, in a variety of forms,
including informal and formal reports, to a range of audiences (Biology Program-level Learning Outcome
7);
6. evaluate current evolution research in the context of the needs of society in areas such as conservation,
environmental quality and health, and the ethical issues that may be involved (Biology Program-level
Learning Outcome 9)