Biology: Natural Selection- How Populations Change Over Time (Flex Schedule)

Week 1 Learning Goals:
• Organisms produce more offspring than are needed to replace themselves.
• If populations of organisms have no limiting factors in their environments these populations will
produce offspring exponentially.
• In a stable population experiencing limiting factors in the environment we see that population
numbers stay about the same over time.

Week 2 Learning Goals:
• Organisms are in competition with other organisms for resources such as sunlight, water,
nutrients, and mates.
• Competition can occur between species and also between organisms of the same species.
• Competition rarely involves physical fighting between organisms.
• As a result of competition most offspring die before reaching sexual maturity.

Week 3 Learning Goals:
• Variation exists between organisms even if they look very similar.
• This variation originates from random mutations in DNA.
• These variations can be important in the survival of the organism and can be passed down to
offspring.
• Traits that are learned or acquired during the lifetime of an organism are not encoded in the
DNA and therefore are not passed down to offspring.
• As long as a trait is not harmful to the survival/reproduction of an organism it can get passed on
through generations.

Week 4 Learning Goals:
• Adaptation is a change in allele frequency in a population over time in response to
environmental pressures.
• Individual organisms cannot change their genes and therefore cannot adapt. Biologists say
that individuals acclimate. Only populations can adapt over time.
• Acclimation are only physical changes that happen, not genetic. An example of acclimation is
producing more red blood cells at higher elevation.
• When interbreeding between organisms is prevented changes can occur between the two
populations over a long period of time.
• Reproductive isolation can eventually lead to the formation of a new species if given enough
time.

I have been a public school teacher for 10 years.  I have both my bachelor's and master's degree in Biology. 

Work will be assigned every week on Monday.  Students are free to complete the assignments at their own pace. 

Students will be assessed at the end of the course with a multiple choice test and throughout the course through the use of data from the assignments.

No live meetings, and an estimated 2 - 4 hours per week outside of class.