Global Change - The Science behind Sustainability

Schedule

Week Date Day Topic Instructor
1 29-Aug Mon Introduction and Goals, Canvas Setup  Kling/Badgley
  31-Aug Wed The Anthropocene:  A Transformed Earth Badgley
  2-Sep Fri The Big Bang and Fundamental Laws Kling
Lab-Disc Week 1   "Challenges We Face" -  Discussion and Intro to Term Presentations  
2 5-Sep Mon    Labor Day (No Class; Take-home lab this week)  
  7-Sep Wed The Age and Evolution of the Earth Kling
  9-Sep Fri Planetary Energy Balance Kling
Lab-Read Week 2   Take-Home reading (no in-class labs, Labor Day week)  
3 12-Sep Mon Plate Tectonics Kling
  14-Sep Wed Earth's Climate in Deep Time Kling
  16-Sep Fri Gaia - Does Life Regulate Earth's Atmosphere? Kling
Lab Week 3   Earth's Energy Balance Model  
4 19-Sep Mon Greenhouse Gases and Climate Kling
  21-Sep Wed Aerosols, Radiative Forcing, and Climate Kling
  23-Sep Fri The Fossil Record of Lineages and Ecosystems Badgley
Lab Week 4   Introduction to Stella - Daisy World  
5 26-Sep Mon Processes of Evolution:  Natural Selection Badgley
  28-Sep Wed Processes of Evolution:  Speciation Badgley
30-Sep Fri Evidence for Evolution in Today's World Badgley
Lab Week 5   Natural Selection - The Case of the Peppered Moth  
6 3-Oct Mon MID-TERM EXAM #1 (take-home, covers material through 1 Oct) Kling/Badgley
5-Oct Wed
The Science of Sustainability
Kling
  7-Oct Fri Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News Kling
Lab Week 6   Ecological Footprint Activity and Assignment  
7 10-Oct Mon Ecological Communities: Networks of Interacting Species Badgley
  12-Oct Wed Trophic Links: Predation and Parasitism Badgley
  14-Oct Fri Competition for Resources Badgley
Lab-home Week 7   Science and the Media -- Fake News Exposed  
8 17-Oct Mon  Fall Study Break (No Class), No labs - Group Project Work     
  19-Oct Wed Ecosystems Kling
  21-Oct Fri Microbes: Transformers of Matter and Materials Kling
Lab   Week 8   Group Project Work  
9 24-Oct Mon The Flow of Energy from Primary Production to Higher Trophic Levels Kling
  26-Oct Wed Climate Change and the Ice Ages Kling
  28-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 31-Oct Mon Climate Models and Predictions for the Future Kling
  2-Nov Wed Sustainability and the Global Carbon Cycle Kling
  4-Nov Fri Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region Kling
Lab Week 10   The Global Carbon Cycle  
11 7-Nov Mon MID-TERM EXAM #2 (take-home, covers material through 5 Nov) Kling/Badgley
  9-Nov Wed Pollutants, Acid Rain, and Sustainability Kling
  11-Nov Fri The Tropical Rainforest Kling
Lab Week 11   Group Project Work  
12 14-Nov Mon The Impacts of Climate Change on the Water Cycle Kling
  16-Nov Wed Sea Level Rise and Dangerous Climate Kling
  18-Nov Fri Sustainability and Co-Production - an Arctic Case Study Kling 
Lab Week 12   Climate and Atmosphere - Long-term Climate Regulation  
13 21-Nov Mon    Thanksgiving Break -  No Class from 22-26 Nov.  No labs this week     
  23-Nov Wed    Thanksgiving Break - No Class from 22-26 Nov.  No labs this week   
  25-Nov Fri    Thanksgiving Break - No Class from 22-26 Nov.  No labs this week     
Lab Week 13   Thanksgiving break, No Labs Meet  
14 28-Nov Mon  The Value of Nature's Services Badgley
  30-Nov Wed  Diversity over Space and Time Badgley
  2-Dec Fri  Human Ecology Badgley
Lab Week 14   Group Project Work  
15 5-Dec Mon The Ecological Footprint of Food and Agriculture Badgley
7-Dec Wed Summary and Review  Kling/Badgley
  9-Dec Fri Summary and Review Kling/Badgley
Lab Week 15   Student Presentations of Final Projects - In Lab  
 
  16-17 Dec Fr-Sa FINAL EXAM Take-home starts 8 am Friday, Due 8 am Saturday  
 
Last updated:
13 November 2022