You are on page 1of 7
 
 
NATS
2
332
ge of Dinosaurs CV
 
Syllabus
 
Dr. Homer Montgomery
 
PROFESSOR'S CONTACT INFORMATION
 
Office
 
Phone
 
972.883.2480
 
Office Location
 
FN 3.308L
 
Email mont@utdallas.edu
 
Office Hours in person
 
W 0800-1200 / T 1400-1700
 
Other Information
 
Please get in touch whenever you have questions
 
GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION
 
Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, & other restrictions
 
None
 
Course Description Objectives
 
 Age of Dinosaurs
 is an introductory survey of the anatomy, physiology, life-styles, population, and evolution of dinosaurs and swimming and flying reptiles, as well as Mesozoic climates and basic Earth history of the “Age of Dinosaurs”. Class meets every Tuesday and Thursday.
 
 Active and regular participation in class is required in order to understand the subject well and to make a top grade.
 
Students are encouraged to participate in field activities. There is one (attendance optional) field trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park. Required field trip forms will be provided.
 
Methodology
 
Many lectures will be reinforced with demonstrations or samples of bone or bits of video or silly stunts, etc.  All in-class projects will be learner-centered and be small group activities. Montgomery’s lectures will not be placed online. The purpose is to establish a dynamic learning environment in the classroom. We will review and repeat and refocus from different perspectives as requested. Note taking is strongly advised.
 
 The student has a responsibility to attend class and to be prepared.  An online discussion board on WebCT will be maintained. This is a great place to get a concept explained by another student. Your professor periodically monitors the discussions. Each student will write weekly 500 word abstracts. These are due by 1700 on Fridays.  Additional information is below. The midterm and final exams are short answer and the final is comprehensive. Most questions are of a practical sort requiring analysis of fossils or evaluation of a scenario. “What happened here?” and “What might this mean?” questions are popular. See below for details.
 
 Activities
 
ABSTRACTS
Concept
Each
 a
bstract
 w
ill
 a
ddress
 r 
esearch
 p
ertinent
 t
o
 t
he
 t
opics
 o
f
 t
he
 w
eek
 i
n
 w
hich
 t
hat
 
abstract
 i
s
 d
ue.
 W
ithin
 t
his
 g
uideline,
 t
he
 s
ubject
 f 
or
 y
our
 a
bstract
 i
s
 y
our
 c
hoice.
 O
ne
 
warning
 i
s
 to be certain t
hat
 c
hoice
 is highly focused
.
 Abstracts are scientific writing at its best. They are incredibly precise. Abstracts are also difficult to write. In essence, you must have thought through a short research paper before producing an abstract. Your writing must be concise. Each word should be weighed for effectiveness. We will talk about writing in class.
 
Format Each abstract will focus on current research dealing with the topic of that week. The length is 500 words (+ 30 words) as determined by TurnItIn. The "Word Count" feature in MS Word will give you that number. Highlight the body of your abstract. That is the important number. Your name, title, and references are not counted. Missing the word count will produce penalties – increasingly severe ones if the count is off by more than about 30 words. For assistance in writing effective abstracts please consult me and see: http://research.berkeley.edu/ucday/abstract.html You must cite the reference(s) you consulted. Do not use quotations. Use only metric measurements.
 
Procedure
 
You
 
must
 
submit
 
each
 
abstract
 
no
 
later
 
than
 
the
 
weekly
 
Friday
 
deadline
 
at
 
1700
 
hours
 
to
 
TurnItIn.com
 i
n
 
order
 
to
 
have
 
the
 
assignment
 
count.
 
Grades
 
will
 
be
 
posted
 
in
 
the
 
WebCT
 
grade
 
book.Go
 
to:
 
www.turnitin.com
 
Follow
 
the
 
directions
 
Class
 
ID:
 
(provided
 
in
 
class)
 
Password:
 
(provided
 
in
 
class)
 
You
 
may
 
check
 
your
 
own
 
originality
 
report
 
once
 
the
 
TurnItIn
 
review
 
is
 
completed
 
with
 
 
its
 
process.Clearly,
 
your
 
work
 
must
 
be
 
original.
 
We
 
take
 
this
 
issue
 
quite
 
seriously.
 
Happily,
 
few
 
students
 
have
 
difficulties.
 
References
 
may
 
get
 
included
 
in
 
your
 
originality
 
report.
 T
ake
 
this
 
into
 
account
 
and
 
filter
 
out
 
that
 
number.
MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMS
 
Concept
 
The
 
exams
 
are
 
comprehensive
 
and
 
are
 
written
 
with
 
a
 
focus
 
on
 
assessing
 
achievement
 
in
 
terms
 
of
 
understanding
 
rather
 
than
 
on
 
memorization.
 
You
 
will
 
be
 
asked
 
to
 
recall
 
few
 
dates
 
and
 
specific
 
names.
 
You
 
will
 
be
 
asked
 
to
 
arrive
 
at
 
solutions
 
based
 
on
 
your
 
knowledge
 
and
 
on
 
the
 
information
 
presented
 
in
 
each
 
exam
 
question.
 
The
 
exam
 
is
 
supplied.
 
You
 
need
 
nothing
 
but
 
pencils.
 
And
 
an
 
eraser.Procedure
 
A
 
set
 
of
 
review
 
questions
 
is
 
provided
 
approximately1
 1/2
weeks
 
before
 
the
 
exam.
 
A
 
thorough
 
review
 
is
 
conducted
 
in
 
class
 
the
 
period
 
before
 
the
 
exam.
 
One
 
should
 
make
 
every
 
effort
 
to
 
attend
 
reviews.
COURSE POLICIES Grading (credit)
 Abstracts: 50% (must be from the scientific literature) Midterm exam: 20% Final exam: 30% (comprehensive)
 
Learning Outcomes
 
Students will be familiar evolutionary history of select Mesozoic vertebrates.
 
Students will have a basic understanding of Mesozoic geology and paleoecology.
 
Students will evaluate one or more of our dinosaur sites in west Texas utilizing criteria presented in the class and in primary sources.
 
Required Text
 
Fastovsky and Weishampel, 2009, Dinosaurs, a Concise Natural History
 
Suggested Readings
 
& Materials
 
Will be assigned as the semester progresses.
 
CALENDAR & ASSIGNMENTS
 
[Topics, Reading Assignments, Due Dates, Exam Dates]
 
Week
 
of:
 
Topic Reading
Jan
 
12
 
Introduction, Mesozoic Era, Geologic time 2
Jan
 
19
 
The fossil record Taphonomy  Abstract due Friday @ 1700 hrs
 
Jan
 
26,
 
Feb
 
2
Evolution  Abstract due Friday @ 1700 hrs 3, 4
Feb
 
9
 
Ornithischia  Abstract due Friday @ 1700 hrs
 
5
Feb
 
12
 
Sauropods  Abstract due Friday @ 1700 hrs
 
8

Reward Your Curiosity

Everything you want to read.
Anytime. Anywhere. Any device.
No Commitment. Cancel anytime.
576648e32a3d8b82ca71961b7a986505