Об этом курсе: How did life emerge on Earth? How have life and Earth co-evolved through geological time? Is life elsewhere in the universe? Take a look through the 4-billion-year history of life on Earth through the lens of the modern Tree of Life! This course will evaluate the entire history of life on Earth within the context of our cutting-edge understanding of the Tree of Life. This includes the pioneering work of Professor Carl Woese on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus which revolutionized our understanding with a new "Tree of Life." Other themes include: -Reconnaissance of ancient primordial life before the first cell evolved -The entire ~4-billion-year development of single- and multi-celled life through the lens of the Tree of Life -The influence of Earth system processes (meteor impacts, volcanoes, ice sheets) on shaping and structuring the Tree of Life This synthesis emphasizes the universality of the emergence of life as a prelude for the search for extraterrestrial life.
Для кого этот курс: No specific background is required. You do need an open mind and an eagerness to apply critical free thought and approaches of scientific inquiry. This will enable you to explore how life on Earth came to be in its current form and whether there is life elsewhere in the cosmos.
Автор: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Преподаватели: Bruce W. Fouke, Ph.D., Director of the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center
Department of Geology, Department of Microbiology, and Institute for Genomic Biology
| Уровень | Beginner |
| Выполнение | 8 weeks of study; 4-6 hours/week |
| Язык | English |
| Как пройти курс | Чтобы пройти курс, выполните все оцениваемые задания. |
| Оценки пользователей |
Программа курса
НЕДЕЛЯ 1
Orientation
In this module, you will become familiar with the course, your instructor, your classmates, and our learning environment.
2 видео, 8 материала для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Welcome to Emergence of Life!
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: Updating Your Profile
- Reading: Social Media
- Reading: About the Discussion Forums
- Reading: How Graded Discussions Work
- Reading: Discussion Rubric
- Reading: Paper Assignment Rubric
- Видео: Welcome to the Emergence of Life!
Оцениваемый: Orientation Quiz
Week 1 - Geological Time and the Nature of Science
The week begins with a discussion of the historical and philosophical approaches that have been developed for the completion of scientific research, with the work of Professor Carl Woese evaluated as an example. The basic tools required for this type of scientific reasoning and the ability to overcome the challenging concepts of scale and complexity are then presented. Finally, we'll explore the dynamic formation of the Earth itself with respect to the environmental conditions present on the earliest and most ancient version of planet Earth.
9 видео, 1 материал для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 1 Overview
- Видео: 1.2. Philosophical Benchmarks in Science
- Видео: 1.3. Scientific Inquiry vs Scientific Method
- Видео: 1.4. The Scale of Time and Space: Powers of Ten
- Видео: 1.5. NASA’s Greeting Card to Aliens: The Golden Record
- Видео: 1.6. Deep Geological Time
- Видео: 1.7. The Structure of the Solar System
- Видео: 1.8. Birth of the Earth
- Видео: 1.9. The Perfect Storm: A Recipe for Life
- Discussion Prompt: Week 1 Discussion
Оцениваемый: Week 1 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 1 Quiz B
НЕДЕЛЯ 2
Week 2 - The Tree of Life and Early Earth Environments
The advent of life on Earth came about as a result of a remarkable confluence of physical, chemical, and biological processes, all of which were intrinsically linked to rapidly changing early Earth environments. Within this context, cutting-edge approaches in molecular phylogeny by Professor Carl Woese revealed new understandings of the emergence of life and the possible distribution of life within the cosmos. All this and more will be explored in this week's lessons!
10 видео, 3 материала для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 2 Overview
- Видео: 2.2. The Place of Carl Woese in Evolutionary Biology
- Видео: 2.3. Revolution of the Tree of Life
- Видео: 2.4. Evolution of the Tree of Life
- Видео: 2.5. How Did Life Emerge?
- Видео: 2.6. The Genetic Code and Evolutionary Theory
- Видео: 2.7. Throwing Rocks at Earth: The Martian Meteorite
- Видео: 2.8. Microbial Mats and Stromatolites: Laying Down On the Job
- Видео: 2.9. Oxygenation of the Atmosphere
- Видео: 2.10. Snowball Earth; It Did Freeze Over!
- Reading: Who Was Carl Woese?
- Discussion Prompt: Week 2 Discussion
- Reading: Paper Assignment 1 Information
Оцениваемый: Weeks 1-2 Discussion Samples
Оцениваемый: Week 2 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 2 Quiz B
Оцениваемый: Paper Assignment 1
НЕДЕЛЯ 3
Week 3 - Fossilization and Precambrian Life-Earth Interaction
This week, you'll explore how scientists interpret ancient fossilized life, which yields remarkably detailed and complete reconstructions of the lifestyles of ancient organisms that have been deceased for hundreds, thousands, millions, and even billions of years. These reconstructions provide valuable information regarding the evolutionary success of organism morphology and lifestyle.
7 видео, 1 материал для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 3 Overview
- Видео: 3.2. Ancient Forensic Science: Fossilization
- Видео: 3.3. Getting Old and Well-Preserved: Modes of Preservation
- Видео: 3.4. Our Spineless Friends: The Invertebrates
- Видео: 3.5. Lifestyles of the Rich and Fossilized
- Видео: 3.6. Trying to Make a Living: Fossil Feeding Modes
- Видео: 3.7. The Great Experiment of the Ediacaran Fauna
- Discussion Prompt: Week 3 Discussion
Оцениваемый: Week 3 Discussion Samples
Оцениваемый: Week 3 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 3 Quiz B
НЕДЕЛЯ 4
Week 4 - Paleozoic Life After the Advent of Skeletons
This week, you'll learn more about the Cambrian Explosion, which led to the development of external hard skeleton components at 542 million years before present. The initial successes of the invertebrates were shortly followed by the appearance of vertebrates with internal skeletons. Life then utilized these newfound evolutionary capabilities, beginning distinct cycles of radiation, diversification, and extinction, which define the three great Eukarya faunas of the Phanerozoic.
10 видео, 2 материала для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 4 Overview
- Видео: 4.2. Cambrian Explosion
- Видео: 4.3. Cambrian Fauna: Origin of Vertebrates
- Видео: 4.4. Burgess Shale Experiment
- Видео: 4.5. Invertebrates: Successes of Life Without a Backbone
- Видео: 4.6. Paleozoic Fauna
- Видео: 4.7. Vertebrates: Successes of Life With a Backbone
- Видео: 4.8. Evolution of Jaws and Perfecting Predation
- Видео: 4.9. Heavily Armored Fish Without Jaws
- Видео: 4.10. Fish Evolution: Hook, Line, and Sinker
- Discussion Prompt: Week 4 Discussion
- Reading: Paper Assignment 2 Information
Оцениваемый: Week 4 Discussion Samples
Оцениваемый: Week 4 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 4 Quiz B
Оцениваемый: Paper Assignment 2
НЕДЕЛЯ 5
Week 5 - Paleozoic Plants, Reptiles, and the Transition to Land
In the early Paleozoic, plants evolved to leave the water and invade the terrestrial landscape. Following this transition, vertebrates emerged into land-based ecosystems, and Carbon Dioxide concentrations increased in the atmosphere. The greenhouse warming of the Earth propelled the success of both prevascular and vascular plants, as well as the related terrestrial radiation of the three lineages of the reptiles. This week, you'll also learn about the Permian-Triassic mass extinction and later environmental changes that opened the door to the rise of the diapsids.
7 видео, 1 материал для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 5 Overview
- Видео: 5.2. Early Prevascular Plants
- Видео: 5.3. Takeover of the Vascular Plants
- Видео: 5.4. Pennsylvanian Greenhouse Earth
- Видео: 5.5. Rise of the Reptiles
- Видео: 5.6. Reptiles Heating Up: Thermal Regulation
- Видео: 5.7. Diapsids and Synapsids: Ships Passing in the Night
- Discussion Prompt: Week 5 Discussion
Оцениваемый: Week 5 Discussion Samples
Оцениваемый: Week 5 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 5 Quiz B
НЕДЕЛЯ 6
Week 6 - Mesozoic Reign of the Dinosaurs and the Development of Flight
This week, you'll learn more about the Permian-Triassic extinction event, which caused more than 80% of life to go extinct. This opened vast swaths of ecological opportunity for radiation and diversification of life during the Mesozoic. You'll learn about symbiosis, which was widely utilized during this period, as well as the fascinating lineage of diapsid reptiles that rose to replace the synapsid predators of the late Paleozoic. We'll also discuss the rise of the dinosaurs, as well as the catastrophic meteor impact that drove the dinosaurs to extinction.
8 видео, 2 материала для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 6 Overview
- Видео: 6.2. Rise of the Diapsids
- Видео: 6.3. Pterosaurs: The ONLY Flying Reptiles
- Видео: 6.4. Dinosaur Phylogeny: Hips Don't Lie
- Видео: 6.5. Evolution of Flight: Life Invades the Sky
- Видео: 6.6. Wild Wings: Fit to Fly
- Видео: 6.7. Cretaceous Warming on a Reorganized Earth
- Видео: 6.8. T. rex, and the Crater of Doom
- Discussion Prompt: Week 6 Discussion
- Reading: Paper Assignment 3 Information
Оцениваемый: Week 6 Discussion Samples
Оцениваемый: Week 6 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 6 Quiz B
Оцениваемый: Paper Assignment 3
НЕДЕЛЯ 7
Week 7 - Cenozoic Mammals and Global Environmental Change
With the demise of the dinosaurs, mammals rapidly radiated and diversified during the Cenozoic. The combination of abundant food sources and significant fluctuations in global climate fostered extreme variations in morphology, body size, and interaction with the environment. You'll learn why mammals had a distinct advantage over previous groups, and you'll also have the opportunity to explore multiple theories on primate and hominoid evolution in the context of global conditions during this period.
10 видео, 1 материал для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 7 Overview
- Видео: 7.2. Mammals Conquer the Earth
- Видео: 7.3. Big is Beautiful
- Видео: 7.4. Sophistication of Mammal Skulls
- Видео: 7.5. Mammalian Dentition: My, What Big Teeth You Have!
- Видео: 7.6. Mammals: Taxonomy is in the Eye of the Beholder
- Видео: 7.7. Mammal-Marsupial Exchange: There Goes the Neighborhood
- Видео: 7.8. The Primates
- Видео: 7.9. The Rise of Humans: Getting a Leg Up on the Competition
- Видео: 7.10. Early Hominids: Trees versus Savannahs
- Discussion Prompt: Week 7 Discussion
Оцениваемый: Week 7 Discussion Samples
Оцениваемый: Week 7 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 7 Quiz B
НЕДЕЛЯ 8
Week 8 - Astrobiology and the Search for Life in the Cosmos
No matter where you are or what you believe, sometime in your life you will look up into the sky and ask: What is out there? Where are we going? Is there life elsewhere in the universe?
This course is dedicated to searching for answers to these questions. The fundamental concepts of life and habitable environments, established upon the modern synthesis of the Tree of Life, will direct us in recognizing biospheres that might be quite different from our own. In the last week of this course, we will look in detail at what the future has in store for space exploration and the search for life in the cosmos.
11 видео, 1 материал для самостоятельного изучения
- Reading: Week 8 Overview
- Видео: 8.2. NASA: A Platform for Inter-Disciplinary Science
- Видео: 8.3. Mars Flybys and Orbiters: Getting the Picture
- Видео: 8.4. Mars Rovers: Was the Red Planet Habitable?
- Видео: 8.5. NASA Future Missions
- Видео: 8.6. NASA Institute for Universal Biology
- Видео: 8.7. Think and Wonder…Wonder and Think
- Видео: 8.8. The Emergence of Life: Course Synthesis
- Видео: Emergence of Life Outtakes
- Discussion Prompt: Week 8 Discussion
- Видео: Week 8 Quiz A Video 1: Curiosity Completes Its First Martian Year
- Видео: Week 8 Quiz A Video 2: One Year to Pluto
Оцениваемый: Week 8 Quiz A
Оцениваемый: Week 8 Quiz B
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Авторы
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world leader in research, teaching and public engagement, distinguished by the breadth of its programs, broad academic excellence, and internationally renowned faculty and alumni. Illinois serves the world by creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and finding solutions to critical societal needs.
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