Natural Science 0145 - Earth and LIfe Through Time

Humans are recent tenants on an ancient Earth. Understanding Earth's remarkable history is enlightening yet humbling. Earth's history provides a critical lens for evaluating the environmental processes occurring in our modern world. In this course, we will travel through time to study the evolution of Earth from its fiery beginning over 4.5 billion years ago to the present day. We will explore the physical and biological evolution of Earth and gain an appreciation for Earth as a series of complex systems that interact dynamically and holistically. We will also learn how geologists reconstruct Earth history as well as predict the future. This course will be valuable for anyone who is curious about geology, life, and evolution and is concerned about the future of Earth and its tenants. Keywords: geology, earth, environment, evolution, sustainability

Environments and Change Students should generally expect to spend 6-8 hours a week on work outside of class time.