DINOSAURS AND THE HISTORY OF LIFE

Earth & Environmental Sciences V1001y / V1401y

(http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/edu/dees/courses/v1001)
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Course Information

Purpose and Scope: Dinosaurs are a spectacular example of a common and highly successful form of life, dominant for 135,000,000 years and still with us today. The course focuses on using dinosaurs to show how the Earth and its life functions, and how scientists learn how the world works. We will use a paleoecological systems approach, and hence the course is a basic introduction to Earth Systems in general. The lab is a "hands-on" introduction to paleobiology and historical aspects of Earth System study. The main question that we focus on is, "What can dinosaurs tell us about the way the world works?".

 Room: 517 Hamilton Hall

 Time: Lectures, Monday and Wednesday 10:40 - 11:55 AM
            Lab, Mon 4:00-7:00 (Lab in 219 Schermerhorn Hall Extension)

 Professor: Professor Paul Eric Olsen is the instructor for this course.
 

INSTRUCTORS - Your Professor, Paul E. Olsen, and the TA's, office hours etc.
THE TEXTBOOK - The required text for this course.
SYLLABUS AND LECTURE NOTES - Lectures: dates and topics.
TIMESCALE - The geological timescale (2 pages).
LAB SYLLABUS - Labs: dates and topics.
REQUIREMENTS - What kind of preparation is needed before I can take this course?.
SCIENCE REQUIREMENT - Not all parts of Columbia University are the same!
GRADING - What is the basis for the grade? (New! Reduced work load).
READINGS - List of the readings tied to the syllabus.
TA office hours - Need help? The TA's have made themselves available.
AMNH LIBRARY HOURS - A very important reference source for the term paper.
LIBRARY WEB - The most important tools for the term paper! (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/).
TERM PAPER - Structure of the term paper and a list of topics.
HOMEWORK - Directory for the homework assignments.
DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMNETAL SCIENCES (DEES) - The department sponsoring this course.
LAMONT-DOHERTY EARTH OBSERVATORY (LDEO) - The institution that houses the research portion of DEES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - A thank you to those who have helped this course through the years.

 send comments and questions to : polsen@ldeo.columbia.edu

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