ap biology, week 24: macroevolution

This week our discussions turn away from adaptive traits and adaptation of populations and towards even bigger ideas like macro evolution and speciation. We will tackle the question, “How do new species arise from old species?” It is a facinating question. It’s what Darwin called, “The mystery of mysteries.” Obviously, the answer is complex. Evidence in support of speciation and macroevolution continually streams in from the field and from the lab. Our objective is to look at the fundamental, or core, science that helps explain speciation (genetic mutation and reproductive isolation) and macro evolution (Hox genes, evolutionary developmental biology). These basic concepts will help you understand the work of researchers on the fronteir of evolutionary biology.

Monday (2/8/10): Finish Population Genetics and Discuss Reporductive Isolation

Tuesday (2/9/10): ARMT administration (AM); 45/45 split in the afternoon. Begin Macro evolution

Wednesday (2/10/10): Macro evolution continued (Evo-devo, Hox genes)

Thursday (2/11/10): Origins of life, Origins of biodiversity. Endosymbiosis anyone?

Friday (2/12/10): DARWIN DAY! Celebrate Charles Darwin’s and Kevin’s birthday with healthy snacks, caronated beverages, and real-time simulations of fundamental versus realized niche. (Population genetics labs due.)

Monday (2/15/10): SCHOOL IN SESSION! EVOLUTION EXAM. 45 MCQ, 1 FRQ. All in class.

Hardy-Weinberg data and new slides available on Sharepoint

I just posted the data from the simulations you guys ran on  population genetics. You can start your write ups this weekend, or wait until you receive more instructions on Monday.

I have also posted slides for Chapter 24 and 25. Monday and Tuesday will be lecture, with a pinch of student research. Don’t forget, Darwin Day is February 12. Bring healthy food to augment our Darwin Party.

Next test: Monday, Feb. 15, 2009.

More on wings, feathers, and derived characters

Just when you thought it was safe the check the blog…more transitional fossils!

Prum calls this new head-to-tail portrait “the ultimate dream of every kid who was ever obsessed with dinosaurs.” And there will be plenty of coloring to do, indeed—paleontologists are turning up more feathered dinosaurs each year.

ap bio, week 23: more evolution. population genetics

Now that we’ve successfuly inerpreted phylogenetic trees, we’ll look at the genetic underpinnings of evolution: the change in allelic frequencies. Next week, we’ll look at macro evolution and speciation.

Wenesday (2/3/10): Population Genetics Intro

Thursday (2/4/10): Population Genetics Simulation: Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

Friday: (2/5/10): Analysis of Population Genetics Simulation

ap bio, week 23: evolution rolls on…

Look for a more extensive blog post tomorrow evening…but I want you to prepare for tomorrow. Check the “what’s due when” page. Your phylogenetic trees and cladograms are due tomorrow. We’ll talk about what you learned from this activity tomorrow. If time permits we’ll take a closer look at natural selection. We will definitely get into it on Tuesday. Remember, I want you to think about everything we looked at last week, and decide for your self, “What are the most convincing lines of evidence in support of evolution?”

Check our sharepoint site for recent slides (Ch. 22 and Ch. 23)
Monday (2/1/10): Vertebrate Phylogenetic Trees and Cladograms due. Discuss divergent characteristics and reproductive success.

phylogenetic tree updates

Everything is due on Monday, but you don’t have to cut up your circle sheets. You DO have to include an image at the end of each branch of the phylogenetic tree. You can redraw your image, or find another image of the same specimen you looked at. I prefer to see the image is some sort of circle. (Consider it a nod to detritus and remineralization, or me just being weird.)

Ecology Exam Debriefing

You’ve heard me say this in class already, but I was less than impressed by the results on yoru Ecology Exams. Everyone received 3 points back (6.6%, more than half a letter grade) for the following: I miskeyed item 11, confusing language on 29, and confusing language and concept application on 45. 45 was about “bioaccumulation” which is an appication of trophic structure and ecological efficiency. I should have talked about it in class more explicitly.

There were three questions that the majority of the class missed, but we discussed the concepts explicitly. Look at items 19 and 40. You should be able to figure out why the correct answer is indeed, correct. For item 34, I think the language was confusing. I won’t give this back, but I’m giving you an opportunity for 2 points if you write an answer the following prmopt: Give me an example of secondary succession in two distinct biomes. Describe the successional change and the climax species for each biome. You will receive a point for each biome you describe correctly. Email me your response by Monday, 1Feb10.

ap bio, week 22: Evolution

Welcome to my world.
I am so excited to have an opportunity to teach you guys about the most important concept in biology: Evolution. The great evolutionary biologist Theo Dobzhansky’s comment, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” has been used so much, it’s almost become cliché. I like Neil Campbell’s idea. I call it, “a word from the top.” Consider this, “A theory, such as Newton’s theory of gravitation or Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, accounts for many observations and data and attempts to explain a great variety of phenomena. Such a unifying theory doesn’t become widely accepted unless its predictions stand up to thorough and continual testing, experimentation and observation.” This is an insightful comment by an insightful biologist. We will spend the week investigating and discussing various lines of evidence that support Darwin’s theory of evolution. As the week comes to a close, we’ll look more closely at the mechanism, natural selection. Next week we will look at the intricacies of Darwin’s theories and explore Population Genetics: the change in allelic frequencies within a population.

I don’t expect you to learn this all at once. I honestly don’t expect you to completely understand “Darwinian” evolution (evolution by natural selction) and its implications when this unit is “finished”. These are complex ideas and difficult concepts. It has been one of the joys of my life wrestling with ideas about evolution. I have spent the past 20 years thinking about what I know, learning about new discoveries, and incorporating new information into my current understanding. My goal is to teach you the fundamentals so that you can begin your own journey. I’ll leave you with one more big idea. In the words of the “ dear old philosopher”, Charles Darwin, “There is grandeur in this view of life.”

Evidence for Evolution
Monday (1/25/10): Principles of Geology with visiting speaker, Dr. Scott Brande, UAB, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Tuesday (1/26/10); Fossils and extinct species. Field trip to McWane Center
Wednesday (1/27/10): Vertebrate evolution, vertebrate phylogenetic trees, and homologous structures

Thursday (1/28/10):  Continue Investigating Vertebrate phylogeny. Understanding Evolution as a predictive science.
Friday (1/29/10): Finish Vertebrate Phylogeny. Begin constructing Phylogenetic Trees and Cladograms. Prepare for Monday’s discussion on Lines of Evidence.

Clearly we’re taking a very synthetic approach to this material, but you will want to read Chapters 22, 25, 26, and 34. (See what’s due when for page numbers.)

ap bio, week 21: Flowing through ecosystems

Before we proceed with our investigation of ecosystems, a word one of the “Fathers of Ecology”, Charles Elton.

“Animals and plants in associations with each other and with the physical factors of their surroundings, as a fundamental ecological system. An ecosystem. Biological and physical parts of nature are interdependent. Plants and animals depend on their physical surroundings, and they contribute to the maintenance of the physical world.”

If the diagrams and concepts get to be too much, or just too abstract, just look behind you in class. We have several aquatic ecosystems to look at and to learn from. There are a few fundamental concepts I want you to know. One is that energy flows through ecosystems, another is that nutrients are retained and remineralized. To better understand those two concepts, know this. Tansley was right. “Biological and physical parts of nature are interdependent.” Truth.

Wednesday (1/20/10): Ecosystem Concepts Continued. Students should be reading Chapter 54. If time, investgate the effects of light on Aquatic Ecosystem Productivity.

Thursday (1/21/10): Review Ecology. Finish investigation of Aquatic Ecosystem Productivity. If time, work on community ecology writing assignments: keystone species, invasive species, biodiversity…So What? (thanks, Miles)

Friday (1/22/10): Ecology Exam. 45 MCQ, 10 pt. FRQ to take home.

Next week we begin our explicit unit on Evolution. If you haven’t figured out the whole class is on Evolution, then I need to catch you up to speed. We’ll have guest, fieldtrips, and borrowed stuff from Birmingham-Southern College. Get ready for a great week.

ap biology, week 20: Ecology Continued

Pardon the weather interuption last week. Again, we are dealing with the realities of winter as we understand the theories and concepts of Ecology. We’ll pick up where we left off on where was it? Oh yeah, Thursday.

Monday (1/11/09): Continue with Population Ecology. Students will construct  Survivorship Curves of various populations and relate survivorship to “r-selection” and “k-selection”. Students should be reading Chapter 52. Biome plots (climographs) due in class.

Tues (1/12/09): Community Ecology  Concepts. We will expand our understanding of Ecology by looking at interspecific interactions, talking about niche and basic community ecology concepts like keystone species, trophic structure, trophic cascades, ecological disturbance, succession, and Island Biogeography. Students will want to read  Chapter  53 closely.

Wednesday (1/13/09): Community Ecology Concepts (cont.). Get ready for another day of discussion as we continue our investigation of the concepts listed abovc. Students are responsible for reading Chapter 53. Survivorship curves due in class.

Thursday (1/14/09): Ecosystem Ecology. We’ll broaden our scope of ecological concepts and return to bioenergetics when we look at Ecosystem science. Discussions will be balanced with an investigation of the effects of light on aquatic primary productivity. Students should be reading Chapter 54.

Friday (1/15/09): Ecosystem Ecology continued. We’ll collect data from experiments and discuss community primary production/respiration. Questions will be available on Sharepoint on 1/14/09 and due date for assignment will be set. Continue reading Chapter 54.

Next class session, Wednesday, 1/20/09. Reality.

Wed: Finish Community Eco concepts

Thursday: Ecosystem Ecology, set up AQPPExp

Friday: Take data on AQPPExp