EVOLUTION AND EXTINCTION

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: None Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness + Lab Breadth - Biological Science Level - Elementary L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe and appraise the arguments and evidence for evolution via natural selection. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Describe the Central Dogma of molecular biology and define key molecular components therein. Audience: Undergraduate 3. List key mechanisms involved in the regulation of gene expression during the development of organisms. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Identify mechanisms that can result in speciation and extinction. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Describe the nature of the fossil record as an archive for the history of life. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Describe the methods used to partition and measure geological time and determine the age of the Earth and key evolutionary events. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Describe macroevolution and characterize general macroevolutionary patterns in the fossil record. Audience: Undergraduate 8. Define the basis for recognizing mass extinctions, their effects, and outline causal hypotheses. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe and appraise the arguments and evidence for evolution via natural selection. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Describe the Central Dogma of molecular biology and define key molecular components therein. Audience: Undergraduate 3. List key mechanisms involved in the regulation of gene expression during the development of organisms. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Identify mechanisms that can result in speciation and extinction. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Describe the nature of the fossil record as an archive for the history of life. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Describe the methods used to partition and measure geological time and determine the age of the Earth and key evolutionary events. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Describe macroevolution and characterize general macroevolutionary patterns in the fossil record. Audience: Undergraduate 8. Define the basis for recognizing mass extinctions, their effects, and outline causal hypotheses. Audience: Undergraduate