Global Change I Outline - Fall Semester

GLOBAL CHANGE I -- preliminary Fall2000 schedule - Update: 7/5/2000

Week 1 - Introduction

W 9/6 Introduction & Overview; Goals of the Course (All)
F 9/8 The Universe; Radiation Laws; The Background Radiation (van der Pluijm)

Week 2 - The Beginning

M 9/11 Evolution of the Universe; The Big Bang; Birth and Death of Stars; Origin of Elements (van der Pluijm)
W 9/13 Evolution of the Solar System and the Planets (van der Pluijm)
F 9/15 Clocks in Rocks: Isotopes and the Age of Earth (van der Pluijm)

Week 3 - Earth and Fire

M 9/18 The First Billion Years: Differentiation, Water and Early Atmospheres (van der Pluijm)
W 9/20 Continents and Oceans: Topography and Isostasy (van der Pluijm)
F 9/22 Natural Hazards: Volcanoes and Earthquakes (van der Pluijm)

Week 4 - Earth and Fire

M 9/25 Evolving Planet: Plate Tectonics (van der Pluijm)
W 9/27 The Energy Balance of the Surface of Early Planets; Radiative Equilibrium Temperature and Natural Greenhouse Gases (Samson)
F 9/29 Evolution of the Atmosphere: Structure and Composition (Samson)

Week 5 - Air and Water

M 10/2 The Paleoclimate Record and Climate Modeling (Samson)
W 10/4 Climate Patterns and Paleoclimates (Samson)
F 10/6 Weather Patterns and Systems (Samson)

W 10/11? MIDTERM REVIEW: 7pm, 1400 Chem

Week 6 - Air and Water

M 10/9 The Blue Planet: Salinity, Circulation, and the Conveyor Belt (Samson)
W 10/11 The Impact of Life on Earth Systems (Killeen)
F 10/13 MIDTERM EXAM #1

Week 7 - Tree of Life

M 10/16 Soils, Weathering and Nutrients (TBA)
W 10/18 Emergence of Complex Life; The Fossil Record; Punctuated Equilibrium (Allan)
F 10/20 The Process of Speciation (Allan)

Week 8 - Evolution, Natural Selection, and Speciation

M 10/23 Evolution and Natural Selection (Allan)
W 10/25 Rapid Evolution in Plants and Animals (Teeri)
F 10/27 Reprise: Class on Interdisciplinarity -- GAIA and How Each Discipline Impacts on It (All)

Week 9 - Biological Communities

M 10/30 Ecological Communities: Networks of Interacting Species (Allan)
W 11/1 Competition and Resource Scarcity (Allan)
F 11/3 Trophic Links: Predation and Parasitism (Allan)

F 11/10? MIDTERM REVIEW: 7pm, 1400 Chem

Week 10 - Cells and Energy

M 11/6 The Cell, Respiration, and Photosynthesis (Teeri) Poster Project Proposal Due
W 11/8 Green Plants: Nutrient Requirements and Procurement (Teeri)
F 11/10 TBA (was Microbes: Transformers of Matter and Materials)

Week 11 - Ecosystems

M 11/13 MIDTERM EXAM #2
W 11/15 The Concept of the Ecosystem (Allan)
F 11/17 The Flow of Energy: Primary Production (Allan)

Week 12 - Ecosystems

M 11/20 The Flow of Energy: Higher Trophic Levels (Allan) Homework Assignment for Wednesday - 11/24
W 11/22 The Tropical Rain Forest (Allan)
F 11/24 Thanksgiving Break (No Classes)

Week 13 - Biogeochemical Cycles

M 11/27 The Global Water and Nitrogen Cycles - the Case of Acid Rain (Kling)
W 11/29 The Global Carbon Cycle (Kling)
F 12/1 Using Ecosystem Science to Solve Problems: the Case of the Killer Lakes of Cameroon (Kling)

Week 14 - Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions

M 12/4 Pollutants, Ozone, and Ozone Depletions (Samson)
W 12/6 Ecological Consequences of Elevated Atmospheric CO₂ (Teeri)
F 12/8 Stop the Presses! Policy Issues and the Likelihood of Global Climate Change (Teeri)

Student Poster Presentations - TBA

Week 15 - Human Impacts

M 12/11 Human Impacts of Global Change: Global Change II (Allan)

?? FINAL REVIEW: 7pm, 1400 Chem

F 12/22 FINAL EXAM