BIOL 4400 - Evolution

3 unit(s)

Mechanisms and patterns of evolutionary change in populations and species, from molecular to geographical, over recent and geologic time scales.

Prerequisites: BIOL 3350 with a grade of C- or higher.

Hours: (Lecture, 3 hours)

Course Learning Outcomes List
Upon completion of this course:

1.Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of evolution as a natural process and the study of evolution as a scientific endeavor, illustrating the interplay between observation, prediction, interpretation, and theory;

2. Students will be able to communicate the relevance of evolution to health, agriculture, forensic science, conservation, human origins, and even thoughtful consumerism;

3. Students will be able to construct an historical timeline of people, places and events that shaped understanding and development of the modem theory of evolution and its processes;

4. Students will be able to distinguish between different processes (with evidence and examples of these processes) that lead to evolutionary change in organisms (i.e., natural selection, mutation, recombination, gene flow, genetic drift, sexual selection);

5. Students will be able to communicate examples of evidence for evolution from biochemistry, paleontology, genetics, ecology, biogeography, comparative anatomy, physical anthropology, and molecular biology;

6. Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of relationships between evolution and biological diversity through scientific understanding of speciation events and phylogenetic relationships of fossils and living organisms; and

7. Students will have enhanced understanding of the peer-reviewed literature in science, its cumulative, self-correcting, and hypothesis-testing features, and be able to distinguish it from pseudoscience, such as creationism and intelligent design.

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