Animal Morphology, Motion and Mind

Evergreen will be closed on January 18. We would like you to bring two things to class on Thursday (assuming that Evergreen is open, that you can reach school, etc.) :

1) Essay #1: Please bring 1 copy or 11 copies–whatever you were supposed to bring to the writing workshop this week. We will do a writing workshop in the afternoon.

2) Animal tracks assignment: We would like you to spend some time observing animal tracks in the snow–see the assignment sheet on the moodle site (week 2).

Enjoy the snow! Kevin, Amy, Ruth

At this point, Evergreen is open but starting late. Our morning lab will start at 10 am. Students who cannot make the morning session may attend the afternoon session.

We might have some interesting weather the next few days. If the College is open, we will be holding classes. You will need to make the decision as to whether you feel safe coming in based on your local road conditions. The consequences of missing class will be less than usual. Also, we will be able to accommodate a few more students in lab on Tuesday afternoon for those of you who are scheduled for a morning lab but cannot make it because of poor road conditions.

Welcome back! We look forward to seeing you at our first class meeting at noon on Monday, January 9, in Sem 2 B1107. We will pass out a revised schedule for the quarter and share other information at this meeting.

I recommend the following books for students who want to find out more about evolutionary developmental biology. Both books are quite accessible and written by leading biologists in the discipline.

Sean Carroll, Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo (Norton, 2005).

Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-billion-year History of the Human Body (Pantheon, 2008)

The Wikipedia entry, part of a series of pages on evolution, provides a good brief overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_developmental_biology.

An informal review session is planned for Monday, Dec. 5, 10-12 in the lab/studio space. This is not a “cram session” but rather a place for you to bring questions that you are struggling to understand.

Now on Moodle is a pdf of the draft syllabus and schedule for winter!

The study guide for the final exam is posted on the moodle site (week 9).

Monday at noon we will meet as a group in the studio/lab, instead of B1107.  Bring the research you’ve done so far to share with your group and the group you’re paired with.

See the moodle site (Week 8 ) for web handout of the reading assignment from Brian Switek, Written in Stone, and the essay prompt for Week 9.