Science 370 H: History of Life on Earth/ Honors

Science 355A: Human Biology (Honors) Spring 2011

Instructor: Dr. Kenneth Gobalet Office: Science I, Room 205 Phone: 654-3038 E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: You are welcome in my office any time I am free.

Books: Diamond, Jared. 2005. Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Brown, Lester R. 2009. Plan B. 4.0, mobilizing to save civilization. Available as free download www.earthpolicy.org Recommended, Jones, Ellis. 2006. The Better World Shopping Guide. Readings: The following articles are available on Gobalet’s CSUB faculty Web Page: Arax Mark. 2009. West of the West: Chapter five The Summer of the Death of Hilario Guzman. Booth, F.W. and P.D. Neufer. 2005. Exercise controls gene expression. American Scientist. 93(1): 28-35. Chouinard, Y. 2006. Let my People Go Surfing. P. 187-246. Guha, Ramachandra. 2006. How much should a person consume? Hardin, G. 1968. The tragedy of the commons. Science 162: 1243-1248. Larson, Douglas, 2009. The battle of Bull Run. American Scientist 97: 182-184. Pollan, Michael. 2006. A republic of fat. The Omnivores Dilemma. P. 100-108. Specter, Michael. 2008. Big Foot. New Yorker. February 25, 2008. Pg 44-53. Trevino, Adriana. 2010. Shifting Baselines Syndrome. Wilson, E.O. 2002. How much is the biosphere worth? The Future of Life. Pg. 103-128.

Possible Videos: An Inconvenient Truth Planet Earth: Saving Species, Into the Wilderness, Living Together

Grading: Points will be totaled and grades based on the percentage score scaled against the top grade in the class. The top percentage will be set by the instructor. The scale follows: 94-100 = A 73 - 76 = C 90 - 93 = A- 70 - 72 = C- 87 - 89 = B+ 67 - 69 = D+ 83 - 86 = B 63 - 66 = D 80 - 82 = B- 60 - 62 = D- 77 - 79 = C+ below 60 = F Approximate value of assignments: Exam May 2nd 100 Exam June 8th 100 Quizzes (announced or unannounced) ~50 Paper May 16th 100 Participation in class discussions 50 Paper A paper is required that address a topic on human biology appropriate to the topics covered in lecture and in the readings. Skim through the course materials to help select a topic. Your topic must be approved by Gobalet two weeks prior to the due date on May 16, 2011. The first page of text should have the title at the top followed by the author’s name and date. Please do not include a cover or folder. Write the paper with other students in Science 355 A (Honors) as the audience. A minimum of ten cited references are required for the paper and should be at least five pages (1 1/2-line spaced) in length. The paper must contain a literature-cited section and not a bibliography. As long as you are consistent and cite sources in the text, the format is flexible. Do not use quotes but put the ideas of your sources in your own words. The citation of secondary sources like newspapers, encyclopedias and lay readership - based national magazines is not acceptable. Use original works as much as possible. On-line sources are generally unacceptable. Do not cite textbooks unless you have fulfilled the minimum number of sources. Check with Gobalet to establish if the online sources are credible.

Science 355A (Honors) Bonus Opportunity By turning in a review of one of the books listed in Sci 355A S’11 Bonus on Gobalet’s Web Page, up to 20 bonus points will be added into your course point total. Another book may be acceptable, but only with Gobalet’s prior approval. The number of points awarded will depend on the quality of the submission, and on the length and difficulty of the book. The review is due electronically and as a printed copy to [email protected] on May 9, 2011 by 12:20 pm. The 2.5-page review should be single-spaced and with a # 12 font. The top of the first page should follow this format:

Science 355A Bonus Book Review Eldridge, Niles. 2000. The Triumph of Evolution, the Failure of Creationism. Taylor Phinney May 2, 2011

Schedule (tentative as of March 18, 2011)

Week Topic Reading March 28--30 Our Future, Land, Water, Plan B: 3-75 (31st Holiday C. Chavez) Energy, Climate Change, April 4-7 the Sac-SJ Delta

April 11-14 Framework, Montana, Collapse 1-76 Hardin (1968) April 18-21 Past Societies that failed Collapse 77-177 Larson (2009) April 25-28 more Past failed Societies Collapse 178-308

May 2-5 Modern Societal Failures Collapse 309-416 Midterm May 2nd Arax (2009), Trevino (2010) May 9-12 Practical Lessons Collapse: 417-485 Bonus due May 9th Wilson (2002) Chouinard (2006)

May 16-19 World as a Polder Collapse: 486-525 Paper due May 16th Guha (2006)

May 23-26 Saving Civilization Plan B: 79-187 Specter (2008)

May 30-June 2 Great Mobilization Plan B: 188-268

(30th holiday)

June 6 “Use it or lose it” Booth and Neufer (2005) Pollan (2006)

June 8, 2011 Final Examination (2:00-4:30pm)