Global Change - The Science behind Sustainability

Schedule

Week Date Day Topic Instructor
1 28-Aug Mon Introduction and Goals, Canvas Setup  Kling/Badgley
  30-Aug Wed The Anthropocene:  A Transformed Earth Badgley
  1-Sep Fri The Big Bang and Fundamental Laws Kling
Lab-Disc Week 1   "Challenges We Face" -  Discussion and Intro to Term Presentations  
2 4-Sep Mon    Labor Day (No Class; Take-home lab this week)  
  6-Sep Wed The Age and Evolution of the Earth Kling
  8-Sep Fri Planetary Energy Balance Kling
Lab-Read Week 2   Take-Home reading (no in-class labs, Labor Day week)  
3 11-Sep Mon Plate Tectonics Kling
  13-Sep Wed Earth's Climate in Deep Time Kling
  15-Sep Fri Gaia - Does Life Regulate Earth's Atmosphere? Kling
Lab Week 3   Earth's Energy Balance Model  
4 18-Sep Mon Greenhouse Gases and Climate Kling
  20-Sep Wed Aerosols, Radiative Forcing, and Climate Kling
  22-Sep Fri The Fossil Record of Lineages and Ecosystems Badgley
Lab Week 4   Introduction to Stella - Daisy World  
5 25-Sep Mon Processes of Evolution:  Natural Selection Badgley
  27-Sep Wed Processes of Evolution:  Speciation Badgley
29-Sep Fri Evidence for Evolution in Today's World Badgley
Lab Week 5   Natural Selection - The Case of the Peppered Moth  
6 2-Oct Mon EXAM #1 ( covers material through 29 Sep ) Kling/Badgley
4-Oct Wed
The Science of Sustainability
Kling
  6-Oct Fri Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News Kling
Lab Week 6   Ecological Footprint Activity and Assignment  
7 9-Oct Mon Ecological Communities: Networks of Interacting Species Badgley
  11-Oct Wed Trophic Links: Predation and Parasitism Badgley
  13-Oct Fri Competition for Resources Badgley
Lab-home Week 7   Group Project Work  
8 16-Oct Mon  Fall Study Break (No Class), Take-home Lab assignment     
  18-Oct Wed Ecosystems Kling
  20-Oct Fri Microbes: Transformers of Matter and Materials Kling
Lab   Week 8   Science and the Media -- Fake News Exposed  
9 23-Oct Mon The Flow of Energy from Primary Production to Higher Trophic Levels Kling
  25-Oct Wed Climate Change and the Ice Ages Kling
  27-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 30-Oct Mon Climate Models and Predictions for the Future Kling
  1-Nov Wed Sustainability and the Global Carbon Cycle Kling
  3-Nov Fri Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region Kling
Lab Week 10   The Global Carbon Cycle  
11 6-Nov Mon EXAM #2 ( covers material through 3 Nov) Kling/Badgley
  8-Nov Wed Pollutants, Acid Rain, and Sustainability Kling
  10-Nov Fri The Tropical Rainforest Kling
Lab Week 11   Climate and Atmosphere - Long-term Climate Regulation  
12 13-Nov Mon The Impacts of Climate Change on the Water Cycle Kling
  15-Nov Wed Sea Level Rise and Dangerous Climate Kling
  17-Nov Fri Sustainability and Co-Production - an Arctic Case Study Kling 
Lab Week 12   Group Project Work  
13 20-Nov Mon    Thanksgiving Break -  No Class, No Labs this week           
  22-Nov Wed    Thanksgiving Break - No Class, No Labs this week   
  24-Nov Fri    Thanksgiving Break - No Class, No Labs this week        
Lab Week 13   Thanksgiving break, No Labs Meet  
14 27-Nov Mon  The Value of Nature's Services Badgley
  29-Nov Wed  Diversity over Space and Time Badgley
  1-Dec Fri  Human Ecology Badgley
Lab Week 14   Student Presentations of Final Projects - In Lab  
15 4-Dec Mon The Ecological Footprint of Food and Agriculture Badgley
6-Dec Wed EXAM #3 ( covers all lecture material) Kling/Badgley
       
         
 
         
 
Last updated:
18 August 2023