EPSc480 - Syllabus

EPSc480/ L19 480 Special Topics in Microbiology, Chemistry, and Earth Sciences
Astrobiology, Spring 2005

Dr. Carrine E. Blank, Professor
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
Office: 305 McDonnell Hall
Phone: 314-935-4456
EMAIL: blank@levee.wustl.edu

Course Description:

For each class meeting, students will be assigned articles to read from the primary scientific literature in the field of Astrobiology. Class meetings will include a short lecture, which covers background information for the assigned readings and places the topic in perspective with the rest of the field of Astrobiology. The remainder of the meetings will be spent discussing the assigned readings. Every week or two a special topic will be covered, called the "Raging Debate", where both sides of a controversial topic in Astrobiology is explored. Discussions will focus on understanding the arguments presented by the authors on each side of the debate, as well as on the nature of how science is done and the personalities driving each side of the debate. This class will be taught every other spring semester.

Prerequisite:

Students should be upper-division (junior or senior) science majors.

Course Meetings:

T Th 2:30 – 4:00. The first class meeting will be in January Hall Room 104; all other classes will meet in McDonnell Hall Room 312.

Office Hours:

Friday 1:00-3:00 in McDonnell Hall 305, or by appointment.

Readings:

Assigned readings will be from the primary research literature in the field of Astrobiology. Readings chosen are those that have had an important impact in the field, are controversial in nature, and/or review the current state of the field. Readings are available on electronic reserve at the Earth & Planetary Sciences library. Articles will be provided as pdf files.

Course Structure:

The course will entail three hours of lecture and discussion each week. Students will be expected to read the assigned papers and participate in each class meeting, and thus 50 points of the final grade will be assigned for class participation.

Students will have the choice between a midterm (format similar to the final exam, see below) or a paper (undergraduate students will write a term paper; graduate students a grant proposal) to be due on Tuesday, 3-11-03. The midterm/paper will be worth 100 points.

Each student will chose one lecture topic that particularly interests them and prepare to lead the lecture and discussion for that day. It is expected that each student will read background material about their topic, and present this background in the form of a short (15-20 minute) preparatory lecture. For the remainder of the class period, the student will lead a discussion on the assigned readings. Students are strongly encouraged to discuss appropriate background reading materials, lecture content and style, and discussion strategies with the professor before their presentation day. The lecture/discussion will be worth 100 points.

A final exam (date to be announced) will cover all reading and lecture materials covered in the class. The final exam will be in the form of short-assay questions that will not focus on specific details of the research papers provided, but will rather emphasize broad, overall themes and concepts. The final exam will be worth 100 points.

To ensure that students are keeping up with the readings several surprise quizzes are to be expected throughout the semester. Quizzes will add up to a total of 50 points.

Course Schedule:

Week	Date	Day	Lecture	Lecture Topic
1	1-14	T	1	What is Astrobiology?
	1-16	Th	2	Formation of the Earth and Moon
2	1-21	T	3	Impact History of the Earth; Frustration of Life and Delivery of Volatiles
	1-23	Th	4	Early Earth Environments
3	1-28	T	5	Raging Debate #1: How Much Oxygen Was on the Early Earth?
	1-30	Th	6	What is Life? Students should have signed up for a discussion topic by this date.
4	2-4	T	7	Molecular Phylogeny of Life and its Implications for Astrobiology
	2-6	Th	8	Raging Debate #2: The RNA World, is it Dead or Alive?
5	2-11	T		No class (NASA Astrobiology Institute meeting)
	2-13	Th	9	Life in Extreme Environments
6	2-18	T	10	Raging Debate #3: Life at 250˚C, What is the Upper Temperature Limit for Life?
	2-20	Th	11	The Early History of Life on Earth, Isotopes and Biosignatures
7	2-25	T	12	The Early History of Life on Earth, Microfossils and Stromatolites
	2-27	Th	13	Raging Debate #4: The Apex Chert "Microfossils"?
8	3-4	T		Spring break
	3-6	Th		Spring break
9	3-11	T		Midterm/Papers due
	3-13	Th	14	The Miller-Urey Experiment and Abiotic Synthesis
10	3-18	T	15	Hydrothermal Systems and Abiotic Synthesis
	3-20	Th	16	Origin of Life Theories
11	3-25	T	17	Impacts and Major Extinction Events
	3-27	Th	18	Raging Debate #5: The Faint Young Sun and the Snowball/Slushball Earth
12	4-1	T	19	The Concept of Habitable Zones
	4-3	Th	20	The Potential for Life on Mars
13	4-8	T	21	Searching for Life on Mars; Viking Results and Modern Life Detection Methods
	4-10	Th	22	Raging Debate #6: ALH84001; Signs of Life??
14	4-15	T	23	Life on Europa
	4-17	Th	24	Titan and its Relevance to Astrobiology
15	4-22	T	25	Raging Debate #7: Cross-inoculation of the Planets and Planetary Protection Issues
	4-24	Th	26	The Discovery of Extrasolar Planets
	TBD			Final exam

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