ZOOL 304, Evolution

ASSIGNMENTS

As of March 17, and until further notice, written assignments have not been posted.

304 Index page

Week 1  In the textbook, read the Prologue and Chapter 1.  (Notes for Chapter 1)

PREPARE for QUIZ -- See Study Questions.

Bring to class brief written answers to the assigned DISCUSSION QUESTIONS listed below.

• Wednesday, Jan. 15.   
  1. What does the word "evolution" refer to?
     • There is not one single "correct" answer.  We shall consider a variety of answers in class.
  2. Is evolution progressive (yes or no)?  Be prepared to discuss:
     • If so, what is it that increases as evolution progresses?
     • If not, what accounts for the popular concept of "evolutionary progress"?
     • See class answers and discussion here.
        
• Friday, Jan. 17.  
1. List at least three different classes of observation which can be explained by adaptive evolution.  For each of these, be prepared to discuss:
   • What alternative processes (other than evolution by natural selection) might explain these observations?
   • What makes an evolutionary explanation preferable to the alternatives?
   • What evidence might disprove evolution as the preferred explanation?
      
2. Is an evolutionary process inevitable?  Be prepared to discuss:  
   • Why or why not?   (Consider separately the several different aspects of evolution, as discussed in the previous class period.)
      
• Class notes for Chapter 1.

Week 2.  In the textbook, read Chapter 2.   (Notes for Chapter 2)

PREPARE for QUIZ -- See Study Questions.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:  Bring to class brief written answers to the assigned questions listed below.

• Monday, 20 Jan.  Holiday, no class.
   
• Wednesday, 22 Jan.  
   
  1. What does the word "adaptation" refer to?  Be prepared to discuss:
     • Can traits which are not the product of natural selection be adaptive?
     • If so, how can they have acquired this quality?
        
  2. What is the difference between adaptive evolution and neutral evolution?
      
• Friday, 24 Jan.  
  1. For each type of selection listed below, propose a hypothesis of adaptation for some particular trait in some particular species (your choice, but NOT a textbook example).  Be prepared to defend your hypothesis (i.e., to explain how selection would would operate).
     • natural selection and sexual selection
     • stabilizing selection, directional selection, and disruptive selection
     • density-dependent and density-independent selection
     • frequency-dependent selection and frequency-independent selection
     • individual selection, kin selection, and group selection

• For Monday, 27 Jan.:  

  On paper, VOTE Yes or No in response to the following questions concerning specific traits.  Come to class prepared to justify your votes, in terms of evolutionary processes (see explanation below).

  1. Are long necks of giraffes an adaptation?
  2. Are the limbs of most tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds) an adaptation?
  3. Is leglessness of snakes an adaptation?
  4. Is leglessness of nematodes an adaptation?
  5. Is leglessness of earthworms an adaptation?
  6. Is the dorsal fin of many aquatic vertebrates (most fish, whales, and ichthyosaurs) an adaptation?
  7. Is the absence of a dorsal fin on other aquatic vertebrates (seals, penguins, sea turtles) an adaptation?
  8. Is the hair of most mammals an adapation?
  9. Is the hairlessness of frogs an adaptation?
  10. Is the hairlessness of people an adaptation?
       
      
• For Wednesday, 29 January:

Read nakedape.htm, an introduction to questions about the evolutionary acquisition of human hairlessness.

Be prepared to present a hypothesis for the evolution of this remarkable trait, and to defend your hypothesis against alternative hypotheses (including consideration of the following issues).

• For any trait deemed an adaptation, what is it an adaptation for (i.e., on what basis has it been selected)?  
• What was the ancestral condition for the trait (on the basis of what evidence)?  
• Did selection act to shape the original acquisition of the trait (on the basis of what evidence)?  
• Is selection currently acting to maintain (stabilizing selection) or modify (directional selection) the trait (on what evidence)?  
• And what evidence might cause you to abandon your currently favored hypothesis in favor of another?

• For Friday, 31 January, read text chapter 3.  (Notes for Chapter 3)

Complete one of the following probability exercises.

Flip a coin 20 times.  Record the number of heads.  Repeat for a total of 10 sets of 20 flips.  Bring to class the 10 numbers, as well as the total of heads for all 200 flips.
         OR
If you have dice, roll one die 36 times.  Record the number of times that 1 appears AND record the number of times that either 3 or 5 appears.  Repeat for a total of 5 sets of 36 rolls.  Bring to class the 5 pairs of numbers, plus the totals for each list.

(Results from this probability exercise.)

Class notes for Chapter 3.

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Week 4.  Read Chapter 3.   (Notes for Chapter 3)

PREPARE for QUIZ -- See Study Questions.

• Monday, 3 Feb.  READ CHAPTER 3.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.
   
• Wednesday, 5 Feb.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT..
   
• Friday, 7 Feb.  
  • WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:  Turn in topic or book title for review paper.  
      
    Papers turned by April 4 may be revised after receiving a tentative grade.  Final deadline for papers is April 25.
     
  • Read Chapter 4.  
    

304 Index page

Week 5.  Read Chapter 4.   (Notes for Chapter 4)

PREPARE for QUIZ (sometime this week) -- See Study Questions.

• Monday, 10 Feb.   WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:

  Bring at least two questions to class, in either of the following two categories. (Please indicate to which category each question belongs.)

  • What do you still need to learn?  Submit a question about some concept or information which you do not yet understand but which seems to be significant in classroom discussion or in our textbook (preface through chapter 4).
  • What significant knowledge have you acquired so far in 304?  Propose a plausible exam question which would allow you to demonstrate your understanding of some significant concept or information in evolutionaray biology, as presented through this week in 304 (including text preface through chapter 4).  

Continuing with drift, please consider the following question:

• If two populations begin by splitting from a single ancestral population, so that initially each has the same pattern of variation in many different alleles, then over extended time, genetic drift acting alone [without mutation to introduce new alleles] is expected to:
  • maintain genetic variation between the populations.
  • increase genetic variation between the populations.  
  • reduce or eliminate genetic variation between the populations.  

This question differs subtly but significantly from question 7 on Wednesday's quiz (which inquired about variation within a single population).  Although many of the phrases are exactly the same, the distinction between what happens in one population and what happens between two related populations is quite important.  This question has a different answer.  Please see if you can come to class prepared to explain this distinction.

• Wednesday, 12 Feb.  PARTY.  
  CELEBRATE DARWIN'S BIRTHDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 1809 (same day, same year as Abraham Lincoln)
   
• Friday, 14 Feb.  QUIZ, Chapter 4 study questions.
  
  

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Week 6.  Read Chapter 4 again.   Then STUDY Chapter 4.  (Notes for Chapter 4)

Monday, 17 February.  WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

• Answer the end-of-chapter questions 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 on p. 92.
• Turn in the quiz (distributed in class on Friday).  

Please try your best to complete the quiz, using the text, before checking the answers to the study questions.

Wednesday, 19 Feb.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.

Friday, 21 Feb.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.   Read Chapter 5.  (Notes for Chapter 5)

• For Monday, turn in answers to the end-of-chapter questions on p. 111.  Give at least a one-sentence explanation for your answer, and cite the appropriate equation.  "Helpful hints" for these questions are posted.

Week 7.  STUDY Chapter 5.  (Notes for Chapter 5)

Monday, 24 Feb.  WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

• Turn in answers to the end-of-chapter questions on p. 111.  
• For each question, your response should include at least a one-sentence explanation including (if appropriate) the equation (or equations) that should be used answer the question. If you have difficulty with questions, see the "helpful hints".

Wednesday, 26 Feb.  WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.   

• Bring at least two questions to class, in either of the following two categories. (Please indicate to which category each question belongs.)

  • What do you still need to learn?  Submit a question related to Chapters 4 or 5, about some concept or information which you do not yet understand but which seems to be significant in classroom discussion or in our textbook.
  • What significant knowledge have you acquired?  Propose a plausible exam question which would allow you to demonstrate your understanding of some significant concept or information in evolutionary biology, as presented in the last couple weeks (text chapters 4 and 5).  
• QUIZ?

Friday, 28 Feb.  Read Chapter 7.   WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT  

• Written assignment -- use Chapter 7 to answer the following questions:
  • What is "the queen of problems in evolutionary biology"?
  • Who said so?
  • When?
• In class:  watch PBS video.

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Week 8.  STUDY Chapter 7.  (Notes for Chapter 7)

Monday, 3 March.  WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

Turn in a written response to the following.  Class responses may help me decide the style of Friday's midterm exam.  If there sufficient variation in the class, a choice may be available at test time.

Please rank the following three test styles on a scale from zero to ten.

0	5	10
strong aversion	either style acceptable	strong preference

______  Style 1.  Approximately 30 multiple-choice questions and three written questions.  No notes allowed.

______  Style 2.  Approximately 40 multiple-choice questions and five written questions.  One 8.5" x 11" page of hand-written notes permitted for reference.

______  Style 3.  Approximately 40 multiple-choice questions and five written questions.  No notes allowed.  Designate 10 multiple-choice questions and two written questions as "not to be graded".

In either style, "multiple choice questions" will be similar to the chapter-by-chapter questions posted on the Study Questions page, while "written questions" will selected from the additional exam questions posted at the end of the Study Questions page.

Keep in mind the time constraint, that the exam must be completed in 50 minutes.

Wednesday, 5 March.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

Friday, 7 March.  Midterm Exam 

Week 9.  STUDY Chapter 8.  (Notes for Chapter 8)

Monday, 17 March WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT TBA.  

Wednesday, 19 March.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

Friday, 21 March.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

 

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Week 10.  STUDY Chapter 9.  (Notes for Chapter 9)

Monday, 24 March NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

Wednesday, 26 March.  NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.  

Friday, 28 March.  WATCH VIDEO.  

Week 11.  This week we will briefly discuss chapter 10 (not to be tested) and then more thoroughly consider Chapter 11, on speciation.  

Papers are due on Friday this week.  There shall be no additional written assignments.

Monday, 31 March.  Briefly read Chapter 10 (not to be tested).  

Wednesday, 2 April.  Read and STUDY Chapter 11. 

(Notes for Chapter 11)

Friday, 4 April.  Papers are due today (for those who want their papers returned for revision).

 

304 Index page

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