Instructor: Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.

Room: Geology Building (237 GEO) 4106
Office Hours: Thurs 12-1:30 pm, or by appointment
Phone: x56965, Email: tholtz@umd.edu

Course Description: Dinosaurs, their evolution, and our understanding of their fossil record. Students will examine the geologic record and the tools used by paleontologists to determine: geologic ages and ancient environments; evolutionary history and extinctions; dinosaurian biology and behavior; and their survival as birds. Mechanisms of global change ranging from plate tectonics to asteroid impact will be discussed.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of the semester, every student should be able to:

• Identify the major clades of dinosaurs and their primary attributes (anatomy, behavior, stratigraphic and geographic distribution, etc.)
• Interpret cladograms in determining evolutionary relationships and distribution of specializations
• Assess claims of inferred dinosaurian behavior, physiology, and extinction patterns from fossil evidence

Themes: This course examines how scientists study the age, environments, evolution, origin, biology, behavior, and extinctions of dinosaurs and the other inhabitants of their world. We will explore several big themes:

• The scale of geologic and evolutionary time
• Biological evolution and the origin, evolution, and diversification (and occasional extinction) of branches of the Tree of Life
• The nature of scientific knowledge, and how diverse lines of evidence are used to reconstruct events of the ancient past
• What an understanding of dinosaurian biology, behavior, ecology, and extinction can reveal about modern environmental conditions

Textbook: No required textbook for purchase. However, please keep current with the online lecture notes.

Course Organization: 3 meetings per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

NOTE: Online quizzes and Smithsonian Field Trip Projects cannot be completed for a grade after their regularly assigned due date passes.

Grade Scale: The numbers given represent the thresholds that must be passed in order to reach that grade (for example, A+ is 97.000... and any number greater). There is no rounding for letter grades; the thresholds must be passed. F is any grade below D-. Thresholds: 97, A+; 93, A; 90, A-; 87, B+; 83, B; 80, B-; 77, C+; 73, C; 70, C-; 67, D+; 63, D; 60, D-; < 60, F.

The Final Grade is the algebraic sum based on the numerical grades.

Midterm Exams: Two mid-term exams are scheduled for this course. They combine true/false, multiple choice, matching, identification, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and short essay questions. They are held during regular lecture periods. The dates for these exams are October 5 and November 9. Absences from exams will not be excused except for those causes approved by University policy (see Office of Undergraduate Studies Course Related Policies page, under "Attendance, Absences, or Missed Assignments"). Only those students excused for these causes will be eligible for a make-up exam.

Final Exam: The final exam has a similar format to the mid-term exams. It is cumulative for the entire course, but with a special emphasis on the material since the second exam. NOTE: This exam is on Tuesday, December 20. Please plan your winter schedule accordingly!! Again, absences from exams will not be excused except for those causes approved by University policy in the University of Maryland Undergraduate Catalog). Only those students excused for these causes will be eligible for a make-up exam.

Online Quizzes: There will be a series of online quizzes, administered through ELMS, throughout the course. For each of these you will have between 11 am two days before they are due until 11:55 pm the day they are due in which to complete them. These quizzes will be open-note, but they ARE subject to the Honor Pledge: you may not seek help from other people in doing these. The questions, the order in which they are asked, and the order of the answers are randomized, so no two student's exams will be identical. The lowest quiz grade will be automatically dropped; if you miss a quiz for any reason, it will be accommodated in this fashion. However, only one quiz at most will be dropped.

Smithsonian Field Trip Report: To take advantage of our proximity to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History and its excellent display of fossil materials, there is a small assignment requiring you to go to that museum and answer a series of questions based on your observations. There is no single formal field trip; you may go on your own or in small groups. The project is due online NOVEMBER 14.

EXTRA CREDIT Course Evaluations:CourseEvalUM will be open for students to complete their evaluations for Fall 2016 courses during the last two weeks of the semester. Students can access CourseEvalUM through ELMS to complete their evaluations. You will be alerted about these dates and provided more information closer to that time, and students will be alerted via their official University e-mail account.

In order to reward good citizenship, the class as a total will receive +1 percentage point if at least 70% of the students do the Course Evaluation and a +2 if 90% or more!

Otherwise, no separate extra credit assignments as such planned for this course, although individual exams and homework assignments may have extra credit questions which add up in the final course grade.

• http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/G104/ (but you know that already...)
  The Website contains a copy of the course policies, the syllabus, lecture notes, copies of some of the handouts, dinosaur-related web links, and other features. Please feel free to utilize this resource, and email Dr. Holtz with any suggestions on improving this resource.
• http://www.elms.umd.edu/
  The ELMS Canvas site will include the online quizzes; announcements concerning the class; copies of the handouts; and so forth. If you have not already done so, make sure that you get access to ELMS.

Policies:
The University has provided a page on Academic policies here. Each student is responsible for reviewing this page with regards to issues of Academic Integrity; the Code of Student Conduct; Sexual Misconduct; Discrimination; Accessibility; Attendance, Absences, or Missed Assignments; Student Rights Regarding Undergraduate Courses; Official UMD Communication; Mid-Term Grades; Complaints About Course Final Grades; Copyright and Intellectual Property; Final Exams and Course Evaluations; and Campus Resources. For specifics with regards to this course, see the following:

Laptop/Tablet/Smartphone Use: Recent studies have shown that:

• People who take notes using pen/pencil and paper more effectively process and master the material, especially with regards to their ability to answer conceptual questions. (Also, taking notes by hand allows easier doodling, which has been shown to promote focus and memory).
• More importantly, people using laptops are likely to start multitasking (pulling up social media; watching videos; playing games; doing work for other classes; etc.) and that such multitasking is detrimental to the both the student doing it and all students within view of that screen.

If you choose to take notes using a computer, you are agreeing to the following conditions:

• Computer use is limited to following along with lecture notes, taking notes yourself, or searching for additional information (via Wikipedia, journal articles, and similar sites) concerning the lecture matter.
• You will refrain from using your computer from any or all of the following during classtime: doing class assignments for this or other classes; using social media, texting, email, or other electronic modes of communication; viewing any websites or apps other than those listed in the first bullet point (i.e., no checking news, entertainment, sports, shopping, etc., sites).
• Failure to restrict your computer use will mean that laptop & smartphone use by all students in class will be prohibited for the rest of the semester. Apologies to those students who prefer to use this method to take notes, but this is the only effective way of dealing with the bad actors.

When not in use, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and all other modes of electronic communication must be turned off and stowed away during class and discussion time. (NOTE: using your smartphone between your legs underneath the desk is NOT "stowed away", and you aren't and have never fooled a teacher or instructor when you try that...) If you are using the device for recording lectures, please activate them then leave them untouched for the remainder of the lecture.

That said, there may be some group activities in which we will use individual laptops/tablets/smartphones in class. Dr. Holtz will make every effort to inform you about this in advance. However, in those situations you may only use these devices for the task at hand.

Attendance in class is expected. If you cannot make a certain lecture, try and find another student who might lend your their notes. (In fact, establishing a study group early in the course has proven useful for many students in the past).

Communication in this course will primarily be by means of the ELMS Inbox email system. In cases of inclement weather or other unexpected emergencies, the University may close. Please consult the University main webpage or call 301-405-7669 (SNOW) to confirm such cancellations. Dr. Holtz will contact students via ELMS in order to inform them concerning delays of due dates for projects to be handed in or for exams: typically these will be shifted until the next available class date.

NOTE: As part of the nature of the course, there will be a lot of memorization (less than a foreign language class, but more than that found in more mathematically-oriented introductory science classes). This will include lots of anatomical, geological, and paleontological terms, as well as evolutionary and temporal relationships. If you have difficulty memorizing, this may not be the class for you. Also, if there are words or concepts with which you are not familiar, feel free to ask Dr. Holtz (in class, after class, over email, etc.) for an explanation or clarification.

Copyright © 2016 Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. as to this syllabus, all lectures, and all written material provided in this course. Students are prohibited from copying and selling course materials, from selling lecture notes, and from being paid to take lecture notes without the express written permission of the professor teaching this course. Violations of this prohibition will be treated as violations of the University Honors Code and reported and dealt with accordingly.

Syllabus & Lecture Notes

Handouts

For a formatted printable copy of the complete syllabus, click here.