GEOLOGY G180 DINOSAURS
LECTURE SCHEDULE - Spring 1998
Class Meets: 2:30 - 3:45 p.m., Tuesday & Thursday, in LE 103
| WEEK | TOPIC | CHAPTER | |
| Jan | 12 | Introduction to Dinosaurs | 1 & 2 |
| 14 | Geologic Time and the Fossil Record | 3 | |
| 19 | Vertebrate Fossils and Preservation | 3 | |
| 21 | Evolution & Classification | 2 | |
| 26 | Depositional Environments | 3 | |
| 28 | Field Excavations and Dinosaur Exploration | 3 | |
| Feb | 2 | Reconstructing a 70 million year old event An Edmontosaurus Bone Bed |
Internet Reading |
| 4 | Dinosaur Anatomy | 4 | |
| 9 | EXAM 1 | ||
| 11 | Origin of Dinosaurs | 5 | |
| 16 | Predatory Dinosaurs - Theropods | 6 | |
| 19 | Sauropodomorphs | 7 | |
| 23 | Sauropodomorphs | 7 | |
| 25 | Ornithopods | 8 | |
| Mar | 2 | Ornithopods Research Topics Due |
8 |
| 4 | Stegosaurs and Ankylosaurs | 9 | |
| 9 | Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs | 10 | |
| 12 | Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs | 10 | |
| 16 | SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS | ||
| 18 | SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS | ||
| 23 | EXAM 2 | ||
| 25 | The Dinosaurian World | 11 | |
| 30 | Dinosaur Biology and Behavior | 14 | |
| Apr | 1 | Dinosaur Biology and Behavior | 14 |
| 6 | Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs? | 15 | |
| 8 | Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs? RESEARCH PAPER DUE |
15 | |
| 13 | Dinosaur Trace Fossils | 13 | |
| 15 | Dinosaur Eggs and Nests | 13 | |
| 20 | Origin of Birds | 16 | |
| 22 | Origin of Birds | 16 | |
| 27 | Dinosaur Extinction | 17 | |
| 29 | Dinosaur Extinction | 17 | |
| May | 6 | EXAM 3 | 3:30-5:30 |
GRADING
PAPER
During the course of the semester, you will chose a topic of current interest on Dinosaurs and investigate the topic. You will write a 2-page paper summarizing the reason the topic is of current interest and the status of the discussion. You will use current literature sources. Newspapers, Time, Newsweek, Discover, Nature etc... are good sources to get started. You must use at least two literature sources. The Internet will also be useful.
PHYLOGENIES
The second portion of the course will examine the different dinosaur groups and their biology and behavior. In order to help you keep track of the different groups and avoid memorization of lots of material, you will prepare evolutionary trees for each of the dinosaur groups. These trees are roadmaps of the different groups and will elucidate relationships between groups. They will be very helpful to your overall understanding of dinosaur evolution
COURSE WEB PAGE
The course has a web page (www.geology.iupui.edu) that includes the lecture schedule and other hot links to dinosaur web sites of interest, including a resource section that will be useful to your paper research.
INTERNET READINGS
Periodically, there will be some Internet readings posted on the web accessed from the course web page. The readings can be accessed from any terminal on campus hooked up to the network or from home. The files can be printed out but some of the figures are photographs that may not look good.
VIDEO TAPES
Video tapes from the PBS series "The Dinosaurs" have been placed on reserve in SL070 (east end of the basement in the computer cluster). There are 4 tapes each 60 minutes in length. The tapes should be considered required viewing and will supplement the lecture portion of the course. Tapes must be viewed in SL070.
POLICY ON EXAMS
As a general rule, make -up tests are not given after the fact. If an emergency arises which causes you to miss an exam, .
GRADE OF INCOMPLETE
Medical emergencies are the only circumstances under which I will give a grade of "Incomplete".
WITHDRAWING FROM THE COURSE
If you wish to withdraw from the course, do it officially. If you just stop coming to class, you will receive an "F".
The last day on which you can receive a 100% refund on your tuition when you withdraw from the course is January 19th.
EXTRA CREDIT
There is no extra credit!
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