Planet Earth - Goals and Course Objectives

Goal: Investigate biodiversity of a selected group of organisms at a local nature preserve and present results in a visual format.

Objectives:

  1. Give an overview of the diversity of life on earth today, using facts and figures (such as numbers of species, dominant life forms).
  2. Explain various techniques used to determine biodiversity.
  3. Discuss the value of biodiversity both from a personal, societal, and global viewpoints.
  4. Examine the major factors (latitude, plate tectonics, geological barriers) that historically have determined global biodiversity.
  5. Discuss the causes and consequences of loss of biodiversity.
  6. Analyze the role of humans in causing present-day extinctions.
  7. Use a topographic map, a geologic map and aerial photographs to: describe a selected nature preserve, and locate the areas of study within that nature preserve.
  8. Learn the appropriate field techniques and calculations to determine the population and biodiversity of a selected organism.
  9. From a spreadsheet, make charts/graphs that visually show trends in collected data.
  10. Learn to write an abstract and a conclusion that analyzes data with appropriate depth of content while utilizing word processing skills.
  11. Prepare a professional poster of the field study (which includes: title, abstract, conclusion, tables, graphs, maps, visual representation of procedure or organisms) and present orally to class.
  12. Give numerous examples of how extinctions and threats of extinctions impact local and more global political and economic interests and evaluate the role humans and/or the United States should play in reversals of extinctions.

Goal: Debate opposing theories in the current controversy about the cause of the demise of the dinosaurs and many other organisms at the end of the Cretaceous (K-T boundary) and its relevance to humans today.

Objectives:

    1. Explain the impact theory (catastrophism) of dinosaur extinctions and evaluate evidence supporting it including (but not limited to): tektites, iridium, K-T boundary clay, shocked quartz, Yucatan crater, displaced boulders, other craters.
    2. Explain the volcano theory (catastrophism) of dinosaur extinctions and evaluate evidence supporting it including (but not limited to): shocked quartz, iridium, K-T boundary clay, Deccan traps and associated lava flows, the year without a summer.
    3. Describe radiometric dating techniques and limitations especially as it applies to fossil evidence of the K-T mass extinction.
    4. Discuss and analyze evidences for a gradualist demise of the dinosaurs which include: Darwin's theory of natural selection, land bridges and viruses.
    5. Discuss the impact of massive extinctions on the evolution of life including Stephen Gould's interpretations of the Cambrian fossils in the Burgess Shale.
    6. Evaluate evidences for periodicity of mass extinctions including the Permian extinction, Nemesis theory, and other crater ages.
    7. Review the taxonomic classification system and explain why lower losses at higher taxonomic levels correlate to higher losses at lower taxonomic levels for mass extinctions.
    8. Discuss evidences which show how past geologic events can influence global climate including: continental drift, glaciation, atmospheric and oceanic circulation.
    9. Discuss humans' role in the present threat of mass extinction from a global climate change including evidences for: melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, satellite remote sensing and predictive models.
    10. Discuss the feasibility of international climate agreements.

Goal: Identify a community problem related to population issues and create a unique solution to address the problem, implement the solution and evaluate its effectiveness.

Objectives:

  1. Explain the population growth pattern of any population in a closed environment, and show what this would look like on a graph.
  2. List factors which have acted to curb human population growth and factors which have caused an increase the population growth rate and predict which limiting factors will ultimately cap the human population.
  3. Revisit Malthus: was he correct in his pessimistic predictions?
  4. Graph and interpret human population data.
  5. Contrast the demographics (age distribution, birth rate, death rate, rate of increase) of human population in underdeveloped and developed nations .
  6. Discuss strategies and progress which selected nations (U. S., Mexico, Kenya, Indonesia, etc.) are using to solve their population problems.
  7. Use future problem solving strategies to create and elaborate solutions for potential problems and evaluate.

Goal: Discuss and analyze controversies regarding scientific theories on the origin of life from organic molecules.

Objectives:

  1. Review the criteria necessary for an organism to be considered living.
  2. Discuss alternate theories on origin of life and decide which could be considered a testable scientific hypothesis.
  3. Describe Pasteur’s role in ending the commonly-accepted idea of spontaneous generation.
  4. Interpret a diagram showing the organizational ladder of life, and indicate which level displays the attributes of life.
  5. Describe the oldest life on earth, including where their fossils are found, their structure, and their inferred energy sources.
  6. Review the fundamental chemical molecules which make up the "alphabet of life." (amino acids- proteins; nitrogen bases - DNA)
  7. Describe the current model of the solar system's origin and the role meteorites have on the origin of life.
  8. Speculate on the origin of the hydrosphere and atmosphere and its significance to the origin of life.
  9. Describe and evaluate the attempts of Oparin and Haldane (1920s) and Urey and Miller (1950s) to offer scientific explanations for the origin of life. (Include the problems of dehydration reactions, initial atmosphere conditions and the lack of proteins.)
  10. Describe and elaborate on the requirements necessary for the chemical origin of life including: energy sources, methods of concentrating organic molecules, habitats (consistent with biochemistry), and catalysts.
  11. Describe alternate hypotheses about the first replicating systems that were necessary for life to exist, including: RNA, proteins (Fox), clays-Carin Smith (1990's), crystals, viruses/viroids.
  12. Compare the inner planets (Venus, Earth, and Mars) to the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus) as potential habitats for the origin of life.

Goal: Describe early milestones in the evolution of life: organization of eukaryotic cells, multicellular organisms, and "rapid" diversification.

Objectives:

  1. Describe similarities and differences in the two fundamental cell types: prokaryotic and eukaryotic.
  2. Describe Cyanobacteria as representative of typical ancient prokaryotic organisms.
  3. Describe Lynn Margulis' "organelle capture" (endosymbiosis) hypothesis of how eukaryotes were organized.
  4. Describe current theories about how sexual reproduction evolved.
  5. Contrast the diversity of life in the Precambrian with that of the Cambrian.
  6. Describe the dynamo theory for the origin and unstable behavior of the earth's magnetic field, and the effect of the earth's magnetism on evolution.

Goal: Create and interpret a geologic map of McKinney Falls State Park from field observations.

Objectives:

  1. Review methods of identifying minerals.
  2. Review how rocks are formed.
  3. Memorize the geologic time scale.
  4. Explain the important principles of stratigraphy: superposition, original horizontality, lateral continuity, and faunal succession.
  5. Construct a cross section from a geologic map and write a geologic history.
  6. Analyze one locality in Austin, using observations and interpretations representative of methods used by geologists.
  7. Compare methods used to analyze past, present and future earthquakes.
  8. Describe the multifaceted applications of satellites to study the earth.

Goal: Write a persuasive letter to a state official regarding your opinions about the space program.

Objectives:

  1. Place the earth within a scale of the cosmos, considering distance and time.
  2. Describe the information provided by spectral lines and explain their relationship to atomic structure.
  3. Compare the terrestrial and universal abundances of chemical elements, and account for the profound differences.
  4. Describe the earth-moon system, including its gravitational and tidal interactions.
  5. Critique the chief explanations of the origin of the earth's moon.
  6. Compare and contrast the structure and chemical composition of the moon and the earth.
  7. Account for the fact that the moon is a "dead" planet, in contrast to its lively earth companion.
  8. Discuss scientific and political implications of using the space shuttle to build a space station.
  9. Use the Internet to access information about space spinoffs.
  10. Discuss and evaluate the pros and cons of a manned mission to Mars.