| Unit name | Life and the Planet |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EASCM0070 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1B (weeks 7 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Schmidt |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why is this unit important?
The co-evolution of life and the planet is key to understanding two big topics, climate change and biodiversity loss, and it is a fundamental part of modern earth sciences. The focus is on tackling deep-time questions concerning global change and the origins of biodiversity. It draws on the ways in which we use the rock and fossil records and speak to a wider community of people concerned about these topics. In this unit, you will learn about the data and methods we use to analyse fossil data, using both laboratory techniques (microscopes, data) and computational techniques (statistics, model fitting, phylogenetic comparative methods). It is an interdisciplinary unit, drawing material from palaeontology, climate science, geochemistry, sedimentology and biology. A clear focus is given to debates, so students can read widely in the current literature and understand the nature of different kinds of evidence and their meaning. We explore how the data and methods we have learned provide powerful tools to explore current environmental crises.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Key fossil groups can provide important information about evolutionary processes, extinction events, and the structure of ecosystems on land and in the oceans. All fossils are important for understanding the diversity and evolution of life, with many plankton groups boasting an exceptional fossil record that is unparalleled in other clades. Organic and inorganic fossils are also powerful proxies for various aspects of palaeoenvironmental change such as sea level, nutrient input, oxygenation, and temperature. Understanding the uncertainties associated with and critically evaluating these proxies is an important tool for palaeobiologists interested in Earth System Science. Modern phylogenetic comparative methods give palaeontologists great power in linking their deep-time data to modern biological information, as well as analysing unique deep-time events such as mass extinctions and hot-house worlds and identifying fundamental patterns and processes in large-scale evolution.
An overview of content
This unit covers the basics of understanding the evolution, biology and ecology of a wide range of organisms, from vertebrates to marine plankton. It introduces major biological approaches used to quantify and understand biodiversity and the Earth System, linking fossils and their environment, on land and in the ocean. We explore mass extinctions, rates and modes of large-scale evolution, and parallels between the past and the present. We focus on case studies of key events in the history of life such as Pliocene warmth, Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction, and the main drivers of climate change.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
You will be able to infer paleoclimatic conditions of the environment, and confidently use state-of-the-art computational techniques. Everyone will be able to explain impacts of environmental and climate change on life on the planet, and drivers of diversification and mass extinctions and demonstrate your knowledge in written essays.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion you will be able to:
Learning is most effective when it is practice based and will involve a mixture of lectures, practicals, a one day field course, recommended reading and discussion groups. You will explore new knowledge through a blended approach of computational and microscopy practical classes, and field observations, combined with discussions of the current literature. These will allow you to develop our understanding and put into practice what you have explored during all different forms of study. Feedback will be provided during the practicals verbally, jointly in groups explorations of results of practicals, and for the assessments.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative)
You will receive 1:1 help and feedback from staff and demonstrators during laboratory practical sessions and discussion sessions which are tied directly to content and topics discussed in the lectures. Each session provides hands-on experience in either applying microfossil proxies to reconstructing past environmental conditions, in using the fossil record to accurately date marine sediments, and in application of programs in the R environment to macroevolutionary questions. You will take a formative test on key questions which will support you towards the summative assessment.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
The summative assessment will be a report in the style of a review paper (2000 word maximum), on a topic that will be given to you at the beginning of the unit. Topics will be broad and incorporate the content of the course and the recommended reading which you will have explored in the formative test and the discussion session. (100%)
When assessment does not go to plan
The University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes outline the requirements for progression on and completion of degree programmes. Students who miss an exam and self-certify their absence may complete a supplementary assessment for an uncapped mark as if taken for the first time. Resit and supplementary exams are habitually taken during the reassessment period later in the summer. As far as is practicable and appropriate, resit and supplementary assessments will be in the same form as the original assessment but will always test the same intended learning outcomes as the initial missed or failed assessment. In the case of group work, failure by a whole group would result in an appropriate group task being set and reassessed for all group members. If a single student fails a group assessment or is unable to participate for an evidenced reason, an individual reassessment will be set.
There are rigorous and fair procedures in place to support students who are ill or whose studies and assessments are affected by exceptional circumstances.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EASCM0070).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
