** Note: This is a flexible schedule class WITHOUT weekly pre-scheduled live meetings.  Course materials will be delivered via interactive lessons on Pear Deck, quizzes, assignments, and a final project with detailed instructor feedback. 
 
This course may be used as a part of the “Ornithologist in Training Curriculum Series”.  Please see the section below entitled “About the Ornithologist in Training Curriculum Series” to learn how this curriculum series can provide your learner with a comprehensive multi-year curriculum in Ornithology culminating in the development of skills in independent ornithology field research and college-prep scientific writing.  

Today’s living bird species have undergone and continue to undergo changes as evolution shapes their physiology, morphology, behavior, and ecology.  The scientific field of systematics, focused on uncovering avian phylogeny (i.e. the evolutionary relationships connecting birds), has changed dramatically due to rapid advances in genetic technologies. But no study of systematics would be complete without a firm foundational understanding of evolutionary biology and the evolutionary processes that drive speciation and even hybridization of today’s living birds.  In this course students will gain a firm foundation in avian evolutionary biology and will learn about the work being done by systematists to uncover the evolutionary relationships of the world’s living bird species.     


Course Components:

Weekly Lessons: On Monday morning each week students will receive a link to one interactive lesson using Pear Deck.  Lessons are designed to take 20-40 minutes to complete. Pear Deck lessons include slide visuals, audio recordings, video, and website links to explore as well as opportunities for students to respond to questions and prompts embedded in the lesson.  Students will receive review sheets that include the lesson content, student responses, and individualized feedback from the instructor for lessons that are complete on time (by the end of the day on Wednesday of the week they are assigned). Students who have not completed the PearDeck lesson by Wednesday will continue to have access to the lesson throughout the course, but will receive a general review sheet rather than an individualized review sheet with instructor feedback.  

Weekly Quizzes: On Monday morning each week students will receive a link to a 10 question quiz on Google Forms.  Quizzes are “open notes”, and students may refer to the Pear Deck lesson and any additional notes they have taken while submitting responses.  Quizzes are due at the end of the week on Sunday, are designed to take 10-15 minutes, and will provide immediate feedback that students may use to check for understanding of the course material.  Students may wish to take the quiz after receiving the lesson review sheet on Thursday.    

Weekly Assignments: Assignments allow students to extend the lesson or synthesize what they have learned by completing a hands-on activity, interpreting and discussing scientific literature, or completing a review/summary activity.  Weekly assignments are designed to take 15-30 minutes to complete and are due at the end of the week on Sunday.      

Final Project: The final project is completed during the last week of the course.  Final projects will integrate knowledge and understanding from at least 2 of course lessons and will require the student to create something new.  Final projects can take many forms including, but not limited to: a 3-D model/craft, artwork, an infographic, a video, a photo collage, etc…  Students will be provided with project examples and a guideline rubric at the beginning of the week.  Projects are designed to take 1-2 hours to complete.  Students will share their work and comment on one another’s projects through a discussion post, and students will receive individual feedback from the instructor based on the guidelines in the rubric.  

Notes About Assignments and Grades: All assignments submitted on time will receive individual feedback from the instructor. Grades are optional in this course and the grading scale and grading methods are specified in the course syllabus. Students who wish to receive a grade (percentage and letter grade) should notify the instructor by the start of the 2nd week of class. The full course syllabus will be provided on the first day of class and is available early upon request. Just message the instructor if you would like to view the full course syllabus prior to registering.


Course Topic Outline:

Week 1: The phylogeny of living birds and the science of systematics
Scientists work to classify birds according to their evolutionary relationships  through a science called systematics.

Week 2: How systematists create phylogenetic trees
Systematists work to uncover avian evolutionary relationships by placing birds with shared derived traits into groups to generate the most parsimonious phylogenetic tree.  

Week 3: Avian evolutionary biology and natural selection
The evolutionary process called natural selection explains the various ways that avian lineages can split apart over time to form new species.  

Week 3: Avian evolutionary biology and sexual selection
Sexual selection, a special form of natural selection driven by access to mating opportunities, has produced a variety of traits in birds.  

Week 5: Speciation and hybridization
Speciation is an ongoing process, driven by reproductive isolation, by which one ancestral lineage splits into two or more descendent species. When reproductive isolation is not complete, hybridization may occur. Speciation and hybridization together help drive the evolution and survival of bird species.

Week 6: Final Project


About the Ornithologist in Training Curriculum Series

This course is a part of the “Ornithologist in Training” curriculum series.  Each course may be taken as a stand-alone course, or in series using any order.  

Learners seeking a comprehensive multi-year curriculum in Ornithology may want to consider taking two courses that pair together in one semester.  Below is an example of how a learner could use the Ornithologist in Training curriculum series to take 3 full years of ornithology courses that culminate in the development of skills in independent ornithology field research and college-prep scientific writing.  

- Year 1, Semester 1: The Evolution of Birds
Ornithologist in Training: The Origin and Diversification of Birds (6 weeks, 1-2hr per week)
Ornithologist in Training: Bird Evolutionary Biology and Systematics (6 weeks, 1-2 hr per week)

- Year 1, Semester 2: Bird Anatomy, Physiology, and Adaptations for Flight 
Ornithologist in Training: Anatomy and Physiology of Birds (6 weeks, 1-2 hr per week)
Ornithologist in Training: Bird Feathers and Flight (not developed yet)

- Year 2, Semester 1: Bird Behavior
Ornithologist in Training: Bird Foraging Behavior  (not developed yet)
Ornithologist in Training: Breeding Biology of Birds (not developed yet)

- Year 2, Semester 2: Ecology of Birds
Ornithologist in Training: Bird Migration and Dispersal  (not developed yet)
Ornithologist in Training: Bird Population and Community Ecology (not developed yet)

- Year 3, Semester 1: Avian Research and Scientific Writing
Ornithologist in Training: Avian Research and Scientific Writing (12 weeks, 3-4hr per week)

- Year 3, Semester 2: After completing the course Ornithologist in Training: Avian Research and Scientific Writing, dedicated ornithology students often use subsequent semesters to refine their scientific writing/presentation skills and pursue research interests through the  1-to-1 independent research mentoring opportunities provided by the course Ornithologist in Training: Avian Field Ecology Project Private Mentoring

If you are looking for additional, live support from the instructor as well as an opportunity to study and work on materials for this course in the company of other Ornithologist in Training students, please consider subscribing in one or more of my “open office hours” sections as you complete this course. This is a good option for students who enjoy live instruction, have a lot of questions for the instructor, need a little bit of accountability and motivation to work on course materials at a set time each week, and/or who want to get to know some other Ornithologist in Training students.  Additional details about what to expect during office hours are included in the listing. Link to available office hours: https://outschool.com/classes/ornithologist-in-training-open-office-hours-9mrHNp19?usid=jd8koNrm&signup=true&utm_campaign=share_activity_link