Global Change - The Science behind Sustainability

Schedule

Week Date Day Topic Instructor
1 26-Aug Mon Introduction and Goals, Canvas Setup  Kling/Badgley
  28-Aug Wed The Anthropocene:  A Transformed Earth Badgley
  30-Aug Fri The Big Bang and Fundamental Laws Kling
Lab-Disc Week 1   "Challenges We Face" -  Discussion and Intro to Term Presentations  
2 2-Sep Mon    Labor Day (No Class; Take-home lab this week)  
  4-Sep Wed The Age and Evolution of the Earth Kling
  6-Sep Fri Planetary Energy Balance Kling
Lab-Read Week 2   Take-Home reading (no in-class labs, Labor Day week)  
3 9-Sep Mon Plate Tectonics Kling
  11-Sep Wed Earth's Climate in Deep Time Kling
  13-Sep Fri Gaia - Does Life Regulate Earth's Atmosphere? Kling
Lab Week 3   Earth's Energy Balance Model  
4 16-Sep Mon Greenhouse Gases and Climate Kling
  18-Sep Wed Aerosols, Radiative Forcing, and Climate Kling
  20-Sep Fri The Fossil Record of Lineages and Ecosystems Badgley
Lab Week 4   Introduction to Stella - Daisy World  
5 23-Sep Mon Processes of Evolution:  Natural Selection Badgley
  25-Sep Wed Processes of Evolution:  Speciation Badgley
27-Sep Fri Evidence for Evolution in Today's World Badgley
Lab Week 5   Natural Selection - The Case of the Peppered Moth  
6 30-Sep Mon EXAM #1 ( covers material through 27 Sep ) Kling/Badgley
2-Oct Wed
The Science of Sustainability
Kling
  4-Oct Fri Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News Kling
Lab Week 6   Ecological Footprint Activity and Assignment  
7 7-Oct Mon Ecological Communities: Networks of Interacting Species Badgley
  9-Oct Wed Trophic Links: Predation and Parasitism Badgley
  11-Oct Fri Competition for Resources Badgley
Lab-home Week 7   Group Project Work  
8 14-Oct Mon  Fall Study Break (No Class), Take-home Lab assignment     
  16-Oct Wed Ecosystems Kling
  18-Oct Fri Microbes: Transformers of Matter and Materials Kling
Lab   Week 8   Science and the Media -- Fake News Exposed  
9 21-Oct Mon The Flow of Energy from Primary Production to Higher Trophic Levels Kling
  23-Oct Wed Climate Change and the Ice Ages Kling
  25-Oct Fri The Blue Planet: El Nino, the Ocean Conveyor Belt, and Climate Change Kling
Lab Week 9   Ice Ages -- Analysis of Vostok Ice Core Data  
10 28-Oct Mon Climate Models and Predictions for the Future Kling
  30-Oct Wed Sustainability and the Global Carbon Cycle Kling
  1-Nov Fri Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region Kling
Lab Week 10   The Global Carbon Cycle  
11 4-Nov Mon EXAM #2 ( covers material through 1 Nov) Kling/Badgley
  6-Nov Wed Pollutants, Acid Rain, and Sustainability Kling
  8-Nov Fri The Tropical Rainforest Kling
Lab Week 11   Climate and Atmosphere - Long-term Climate Regulation  
12 11-Nov Mon The Impacts of Climate Change on the Water Cycle Kling
  13-Nov Wed Sea Level Rise and Dangerous Climate Kling
  15-Nov Fri Sustainability and Co-Production - an Arctic Case Study Kling 
Lab Week 12   Group Project Work  
13 18-Nov Mon  The Value of Nature's Services Badgley
  20-Nov Wed  Diversity over Space and Time Badgley
  22-Nov Fri  Human Ecology Badgley
Lab Week 13   Group Project Work  
14 25-Nov Mon     Thanksgiving Break - No Class, No Labs this week    
  27-Nov Wed    Thanksgiving Break - No Class, No Labs this week   
  29-Nov Fri    Thanksgiving Break - No Class, No Labs this week        
Lab Week 14   Thanksgiving Break, No Labs Meet  
15 2-Dec Mon The Ecological Footprint of Food and Agriculture Badgley
  4-Dec Wed  Lessons for Today from Deep Time Badgley
  6-Dec Fri  Course Review Badgley/Kling
Lab Week 15   Student Presentations of Final Projects - In Lab  
16 9-Dec Mon EXAM #3 ( covers all lecture material) Kling/Badgley
       
       
         
 
         
 
Last updated:
16 August 2024