Instructor: Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Room: Chemistry Building (091 CHM) 1225B
Office Hours: Th 11:30 am-1 pm, or by appointment
Phone: (301) 405-6965, Email: tholtz@umd.edu

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 lectures per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). 1 online homework (or exam) per week. 1 required self-guided Smithsonian exhibit assignment.

Lectures lost due to University late openings or cancellations or instructor absence will be made up as Panopto video recordings on the ELMS page.

Midterm Exams (25%): Two online exams on October 6-8 and November 3-5, respectively. For each of these there will be a section comprised of true/false, matching, multiple choice, and similar type questions, as well as a few short answer questions. These exams are open note but timed (60 minutes) and are subject to the University's Honor Pledge; you may not seek help from students or other people in doing these. If you encounter a technical problem, please contact ELMS@umd.edu for help (and Dr. Holtz so that he is aware of your situation).

Final Exam (25%): A online final exam during the regularly scheduled exam season. It is cumulative for the entire course but focuses on the material since the second midterm. Format and rules are the same as the mid-term exams, but you have 120 minutes in which to complete it. The exam will be held December 18-20.

Online Homework (12% total): There will be a series of online homework assignments (generally one per week in which there is not also an exam), administered through ELMS. These homework assignments are open-note, but they ARE subject to the Honor Pledge: you may not seek help from other people in doing these. Questions asked include true/false, matching, multiple choice, short answers, and in some cases longer answers. In some cases you may be asked to upload an image for your answer. The exact questions asked are randomized, so that no two student's quizzes will be identical. The lowest homework grade will be automatically dropped; if you miss a homework for any reason, it will be accommodated in this fashion. However, only one homework at most will be dropped.

homework assignments are normally due at 11:59 pm on Fridays. However, please give yourself sufficient time in which to complete the assignment.

Smithsonian Self-Guided Field Trip Report (12%): To take advantage of our proximity to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History and its excellent display of fossil materials, there is an 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.

Pre-/Post-Course Survey (1% total): In order to effectively assess the learning in the course, an online pre-course survey will be administered in the first week of class, followed by a post-course survey during the last week. You will not be graded on the specific answers on these surveys, but you will be graded for participating in the survey.

Extra Credit: 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, 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.

Expectations & Attendance:
Attendance in lecture is expected. The individual PowerPoints will not be provided to students, although there are detailed lecture notes online and Panopto recordings of the lectures will be available on ELMS. If you want to achieve a good grade in the course, the time to start working towards that is from the very beginning! Keep up with the material as it is presented rather than "cramming" to study it right before exams.

NOTE: Attendance means more than mere presence: it means "paying attention". Please take out your ear buds and refrain from texting/web-browsing/doing homework/etc. in class.

Communication:
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 of any changes to the schedule of the course due to cancellations

General 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.

Laptop/Tablet/Smartphone Use:
You will need to upload documents to ELMS, take online quizzes, and occasionally watch online lectures this semester, so please make certain that you have access to appropriate hardware, software, and Internet connections. If you are concerned about your ability to connect remotely for this course, please consult the following information about solutions provided by the Division of Information Technology:

• General Technology Information, including laptop loaner requests
• Network Resources

During, please refrain from email, social media, online shopping, streaming videos, and other such communication outside the scope of the course. In other words, please restrict your computer use to the activities of the class.

Copyright © 2022 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.

Lecture Notes

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