This syllabus is subject to change depending upon the time allotted to class discussion.

Date	Topics	Readings (text chapters)
Jan. 22	Part I: Introduction, Fossils, Geologic Time	Chapt. 1, 2
Jan. 29	Cladistics, Vertebrate Relationships	Chapt. 3,4
Feb 3	Plate Tectonics, Climates	Chapt. 2
Feb 10	Origins of Dinosaurs	Chapt. 4
Feb 17	Part II: Stegosauria	Chapt. 5
Feb 24	Ankylosauria, Pachycephalosauria	Chapt. 6
March 3	Ceratopsia, Ornithopoda	Chapt. 6
March 5	Exam 1
March 10	No Class Spring Break
March 17	Sauropodomorpha, Dinosaur Size	Chapt. 8
Sat March 21	Trip to museum (scheduled time TBA)
March 24	Dinosaur Reproduction	readings
April 7	Reports due, Dinosaurs and plants	Chapt 13 and assigned readings
April 14	Theropoda and Dinosaur Endothermy	Chapt. 9,12
April 21	Origin of Birds	Chapt. 10,11
April 28	Videos and Critiques
May 5	Extinction	Chapt. 15
May	Final exam 1:30-4:15

Geology 206: Grades will be based on two exams, a report, and a critique. The relative value will be Exam I 40%, Final Exam 45%, Report 10% and Critique 5%, Museum Trip 5%.

Geol 315 and Biol 470: Grades will be based on two exams, a report, a critique and assignments in Recitation. The relative value will be Exam I 30%, Final Exam 35%, Report 5%, Critique 5%, Museum Trip 5% and Recitation 20%. Exams will be a combination of short answer and essay questions.

Geol 206 Exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions.

Geol 315 and Biol 470 Exams will be a combination of short answer and essay questions.

Reports will be on an assigned dinosaur. You will be responsible for determining what information is available on the species assigned and follow the format described on the web page devoted to this subject. The length of the report will be 3.5 pages double-spaced for students in Geol 206 and 6 pages double-spaced for students in Geol 315/Biol 470.

The critique will be done in two parts. Part one will be a short critique of an article in news source or a children’s book. Part 2 will involve the watching of selected portions of movies and/or videos about dinosaurs in class in which you will do a summary of issues/problems you observe. For Part one see http://mason.gmu.edu/~gbirchar/Dinobiol/dinocrit.htm

Attendance in recitation is mandatory. Missing 25% or recitations will result in an unsatisfactory grade in the course.

The assignments in recitation will vary by week. In general they will be reading from the most current literature dealing with topics in the course. One page summaries will be required of these reading. The summaries will be a maximum of 1 page double spaced, 10 or 12 point font with one inch margins all around. They do not need to include a reference to the paper being summarized.