Course Information Paleontology (Geol 3604)

LECTURES
Time & Place: Monday and Wednesday 11:15-12:05 a.m. Derring 4069
Instructor: Michal Kowalewski, Derring 3061D, office phone 231-5951, e-mail: michalk@vt.edu
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 2:20-3:20 p.m. or by appointment

LABS
Time & Place: Wednesday 5:30-8:20 p.m. OR Thursday  8:00-10:50 a.m., Derring 3045

CATALOG DESCRIPTION
3604: PALEONTOLOGY
Paleontological principles and techniques and their application to the evolution of life, the ecological structure of ancient biological communities, the interpretation of ancient depositional environments, and the history of the earth. Pre: 1004, 1014; (2H,3L,3C). I, II.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
This is an introductory paleontology course that provides a basic knowledge of the major groups of ancient organisms including biological and geological interpretations of their fossil record. The major events in the history of life on our planet including origin of life, evolution of sex, key biological innovations, and mass extinctions will also be reviewed. The course provides an understanding of the historical and evolutionary processes that have determined the history of our biosphere from its origin about 4 billion years ago up to its present form.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Benton, M., & Harper, D., Basic Palaeontology, Longman, 1997

HANDOUTS
Lecture handouts and other supplementary materials will be available online in advance. With the exception of our first meeting, the hard copies of the handouts WILL NOT be provided.
This page's URL: http://www.paleo.geos.vt.edu/3604/index.htm
Syllabus and Class Materials Online: http://www.paleo.geos.vt.edu/3604/syllab07.htm

REVIEW SESSIONS
If requested, review sessions will be scheduled prior to each exam.

GRADING
The grading criteria used here are adjusted to accommodate the fact that this is an interdisciplinary, information-rich course that requires students to acquire a wide array of biological and geological data. Exams will include multiple-choice and short answer questions. The final exam will include questions from the last part of the semester (100 points) as well as review questions from the entire course material (100 points). Each of the three exams will include several questions based on the labs (prepared by the lab instructor). Quizzes will be given weekly. The total lab grade is 200 points (31% of the final grade).