Professor: Donna M. Jurdy
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
The death of the dinosaurs as well as theories and evidence for other catastrophic extinctions will be examined. Dinosaur hunters; geological time; the history of life on earth; dinosaur classification and behavior; plate tectonics, periodicities and cosmic occurrences and the search for Nemesis, the "Death Star" will be included in the seminar. The development of research skills and use of the Northwestern Library will be stressed. Also, documentation of sources in writing and academic integrity will be emphasized.
Google Scholar
Winner of 2011 Freshman Seminar Writing Award Competition:
Hannah Fisher, Repenomamus Giganticus's Last Adventure:
download paper here
Voyager Scavenger Hunt (send email response using connection at bottom of page)
1.
book,
"T Rex and the Crater of Doom", title approx,
Walter Alvarez
What
is
call #, do we have, what is status? Does Evanston Public Lib.
have?
Are
the
call numbers the same at the two libraries?
2.
Locate
the text of "Making an Exceptional Impact" in
Astronomy magazine
What
were
the impacts? (Cosmic & terrestrial)
Is
this
issue available here? Which library has it?
What
year
did comet Shoemaker-Levy disrupt the surface of Jupiter?
When
were
the subsequent impact movies?
3.
Find the very recent paper published arguing that Jupiter has played an
important role in protecting Earth from cosmic impacts.
4. Find the details of the study on DNA extracted from a
TRex bone.
5.
Recently the color of a dinosaur was inferred.
Find
the
publication of this. How was the link with color reasoned out?
Paper #1 Dinosaurs and You ( 1-2 pages, due
Monday, September 29)
Discuss
yourself, where you're from, your major, travel,
and your thoughts on college life. Have there been any surprises?
What experiences
brought you to this seminar?
Why do you think the 'One Book' was chosen for this year's discussion?
How does it change how you think about farming or Africa?
Field Museum Field Trip (to be planned)
Paper #2, Paul Sereno, Dinosaur Hunter
(3-4 pages,
DRAFT due Wed., Oct. 10th)
Cover the person, his background and education.
.
How did he get into the paleontology and dinosaurs, specifically?
Go into his discoveries, the significance.
What is he currently doing?
How does he organize an international expedition to hunt for dinosaurs?
Use appropriate
reference citations and a direct quote.
Hand in one periodical article w/paper.
Use
5-6
authoritative
sources (3 books, 3 articles minimum). Paper can be
revised and handed in
again
for
grade.
Paper #3, "Herding with the Hadrosaurs (4-5 pages; due
Wed., Nov. 2nd)
Write a critique of the short story by Michael Bishop,
how their lives are portrayed in the story, how they
reproduced, ate, protected themselves.
Why were they so
successful, numerous, long-lived and widespread?
Use several periodicals (either print or on-line), turning at least one
in
with your paper, along with peer-reviewed first draft.
Use books; limit use to authoritative websites.
Use semi-colon at least once.
Final Paper #4 Your Choice of Fiction or Topic
(7-8 pages, due NOON, Saturday, December 3rd,
end of WCAS Reading Period
Topics
can
be anything related to the course: a specific dinosaur type
or
group, mammal-like reptiles, flying or swimming reptiles, early
mammals; the
dinosaur collections of one of the world's great dinosaur museums or a
location
where dinosaurs are found, a dinosaur hunter; the hisory of
paleontology
or ideas on dinosaurs, theories of evolution; dinosaur lifestyles, warm
vs.
cold-blooded dinosaurs, parental care, herding behavior; dinosaurs in
art,
film, making of Jurassic Park series; the K-T event or an earlier
extinction,
comets, asteroids, diversion of impacters, black matter in the
universe;
life on other planets, SETI (the search for extra-terrestrial life).
Any
of these topics could bepresented as a straight research paper or be
the theme of a short story.
Please
hand
in your final paper at my office Tech F496 or in the mailbox
just outside or in the Earth & Planetary Sciences Earth &
Planetary Sciences Office, Tech F379.
2015 Presentation Schedule:
Wed, Nov. 11
Jacob Murray - Impact Scenario
Brandon Rafidi - TRex
Danielle McCallister - Warm- vs. Cold-Blooded Dinosaurs
George Kepertis - Permian-Triassic Extinction
Mon, Nov. 16
Trae Williams - Stegosaurs
Charles Fessler - Making of movies, JP
Nate Woods - Ankylosaurs
Joshua Smith - Dinosaurs-Bird Connection - Prehistoric sharks
Wed, Nov. 18
Drew Bosset - Trex (Fiction)
Tyus Loman - Mososaur lifestyles
Yufan Yang - Leipluerodon or Super Croc
Victor Yin - Brachiosaurs
Mon, Nov. 23
Kevin Zhu - Triceratops
Lloyd Yates - Cretaceous Scene (Fiction)
Ben Paoleli - Dinosaurs in Pop Culture
2014 Presentation Schedule: Wed, Nov. 12 Mon, Nov. 17 Wed, Nov. 19 Alex Keller - Jack Horner, Dinosaur Hunter
Mon, Nov. 24 2013 Presentation Schedule: Wed, Nov. 13 Mon, Nov. 18 Wed, Nov. 20 Leah Downs - Sea predators
Mon, Nov. 25 2011 Presentation Schedule: Wed, Nov. 9 Mon, Nov. 14 Wed, Nov. 16 Mac Mastrangeli - Dinosaur Bird
Connection Mon, Nov. 21 Wed, 11/23, no class, workshop
on final paper 2010 Presentation
Schedule: Wed, Nov. 10 Mon, Nov. 15 Wed,
Nov. 17 Mon,
Nov.
22
2009
Presentation
Schedule: Wed,
Nov.
11
Mon,
Nov.
16
Wed,
Nov.
18
Mon,
Nov.
23
2008
Presentation
Schedule: Wed,
Nov.
12
Mon,
Nov.
17
Wed,
Nov.
19
Mon,
Nov.
24
2007
Presentation
Schedule: Mon,
Nov.
13
Final
Paper
is
due Monday, 10AM, December 8th, the beginning of Exam Week. 2006
Presentation
Schedule
and Topics: Wed,
11/10
David
Sum - Permian Extinction Caroline Barry - History of Ideas
on (KT) Extinction Mon,
11/15
Ani
Schmidt - Fiction Michael Kane - Sea Level Changes
Peter Bartleson - Dinosaur Metabolism Amy Alvarez - Sue, the Trex
(Fiction)
Wed,
11/17
Melissa
Solomon - Dinosaur Museum(s) Kristopher Rottmuller
- Allosaurus (Fiction) Aileen Kang - ? Monica Boen - Dinosaur Fiction
Mon,
11/22
Aaron
Yoon - Crocodiles Eugene Park - Early Mammals (Fiction)
Wendy Culp - Climate Change & Volcanism Paul Baumbusch - Trex
Fiction
**** Pizza Dinner **** Fri,
12/3
-
Tour Field Museum Sue, and behind the scenes of the
Life Through Time Exhibit renovation Mon,
12/6
-
Final Paper Due
Previous Years' Presentation Schedule and Topics:
Mon,
5/15
Wed,
5/17
Mond,
5/22
Wed,
5/24
...And More:
Wed,
11/12
Mon,
11/17
Wed,
11/19
Mon,
11/24 ****
Pizza
Dinner
**** Earlier
Presentation
Schedule
and Topics:
Wed,
11/14
Mon,
11/19
Mon,
11/26
Wed,
11/28
Earlier
Presentation
Schedule and Topics:
Mon,
11/6
Wed,
11/8
Mon,
11/13
Mon,
11/20
Previous
Year's
Presentation Schedule and Topics:
Mon,
11/15
Wed,
11/17
Mon,
11/22
****
Pizza
Dinner **** Texts
Dinosaur Museums: Mount St. Helens,
Before and After 1980 Mount St. Helens Today: VolcanoCam
Allosaurus at the Price, Utah
Museum
Matt Dulas - Origin of Life
Katie Braun - Making of JP
Nick Kryza - Velociraptor
Jennifer Delgado - Cloning Dinosaurs
Adam Cohen - SETI
Summer Zhang - Social Behavior
Ben Oxley - KT Scenario (Fiction)
Graham Anderson - Pachycephlasaurus
Jacob Rowden - Crocodiles, survivors
Troy Xu - Velociraptor, Fiction
Solomon Vault - Spinosaurus
Dom Zona - Permian Mass Extinction
Cari Schuette - Sea Reptiles (Fiction)
Christina Zhao - Archeopteryx
Tiffany Anderson - Trex Sue, Legal Issues
Jonah Kaplan - Crocodiles
Rimsha Ganatra - Coelophysis
Maalik DeFreitas - Birds and dinosaurs
Elleana Shepperd - Asteroid, comet diversion
Grant Cohen - KT scenario
Annika Hansen- Sea reptiles of Mesozoic
Heather Deng - Color of dinosaurs
David Marin - Prehistoric sharks
Jayme Taylor - Dinosaur lifestyles
Alex Gordon - Trex Sue
Mark Gorogianis - Life at the KT
Quinn Baker - Dinosaur cloning
Matt Alviti - TRex: scavenger vs. hunter
Negatwa Tewodros - Life and times of Diplodocus
Jennifer Hare - Permian Extinction
Sara Fadlalla - Brachiosaurs
Jean Chang - Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life
Asim Aziz - Making of Jurassic Park
Nick VanHoose - Asteroid Diversion
Tyler Munci - Triassic Extinction
Rameez Jafri - Armored Dinosaurs
Katrina Hurst - Cloning Dinosaurs
Rick Gattone - Trex Sue
Leah Bowman - Dinosaurs in 'Terra Nova', tv series
Erika Schonher - Late Cretaceous Carnivores
Jacon Lamberth - Jack Horner, Dinosaur Hunter
Sabrina D'Agostino - Raptors
Michael
Knudsen - KT Scenario
Will Crandall - Trex
Paul Jorgensen - Stegosaurus
Nolan Adams - Pterosaurs
Ryo Kawashima - Permain Event
Vincent Huang - Dinosaur Ancestors
Tommy Yu - Sauropods (Fiction)
Gabby Budzon - Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park
Hannah Fisher - Early mammals
Michael Muzyka - Origin of life
Alex Matelski - KT Event
Adam Sperber - Ceratosaurus (Fiction)
Maddy Schweid - Bird-dinosaur connection
Daniel Han - Velociraptors (Fiction)
Max Reid - Loch Ness monster
Dane Stier - Spinosaurus
Harry Hulsh - Prehistoric sharks
Wed, 11/24, no class, workshop on final paper
Papers due: Mon, Dec. 6th, 10AM, beginning of Exam Week
Lakshman Mody - Triceratops (Fiction)
Davon Custis - KT Event (Fiction)
Ryan Best - Raptors
Saaquib Baksh - Stegosaurus (Fiction)
Kyle Trimble - TRex (Fiction)
Damien Proby - Permian Extinction
John Fernandez - Maiasaur (Fiction) -
Devlin Brannon - Flying Reptiles (Fiction)
Rebecca Sclater - Raptors (Fiction)
Chloe Kim - Dinosaur Meat
Andrea Kim - Ankylosaurus (Fiction)
Jenny Fang - Protoceratops (Fiction)
Meghan White - Cretaceous Mammals (Fiction)
Chris Rowe - Pachycephalosaurs
Paul Choi - Theories for evolution
Meg Baglien - Sue, legal issues
Pizza Dinner following, compliments of WCAS
Emily Rockoff - Permian Extinction
Anne Retson - Loch Ness Monster, Pleiseosaur?
Miles Howell - Stegosaurus
Jay Ahn - Evolution in the Future
Ross Zhan - Triceratops
Lester Tsai - Dinosaur Extinction Theories
Richard Noh - Genetic Engineering
Cody Lawrence - Raptors, Social Life
Xiaowen Wang - Origin of Life I
Stacy Vinokur - Raptors & Birds
Parth Sharma - Making of "Jurassic Park"
Jonathon Roullard - Asteroids & Impact
Samantha Wei - Maiaosaurus
Richie Kay - Discovery of Oldest Dinosaurs (Fiction)
Mike Johnson - Liopleurodon
Katherine Bassel - Origin of Life II
Pizza Dinner following, compliments of WCAS
Final Paper: due 10AM on Monday, December 8th, start of Exam Week.
Alex Sarver - Dinosaurs as Birds
Neil Pancal - Deinonychus
John Kang - KT Survivors
John Shabosky - TRex Sue
Wed, Nov. 15
Britta Helwig - Dinosaurs as Parents
Katherine Warga - Dinosaur Extinction
Anthony Feenick - Comet
John Webber - Polar Dinosaurs
Mon, Nov. 20
Omar Nevarez - Permian Extinction
Monisha Banerjee - Mesozoic Mammals
Katie Halpern - Gigantosaurus
Kosar Bishop - Velociraptor
Nick Sahai - T-Rex (fiction)
pizza dinner following, compliments of WCAS
Ravi
Patel
Extra-terrestrial
Life
Seth
Chodosh
Deinocheiras
(fiction)
Nader
Tehrani
???
Reed
Walker
Triceratops
(fiction)
No
Class
Philip
Wong
Origin
of
Life
Brook
Bulcha
Ice
Age
Ben
Mendelsohn
Bird-Dinosaur
Link
Jeremy
Kross
Mammals
Vince
Inendino
Asteroids
Miki
Sawada
Dinosaurs
in
Culture
Adam
Gil
Polar
Dinosaurs
Ki
Ryang
Hong
Cory
Waxman
Dinosaur-Bird
Controversy
Michael
Kozminski
Hadrosaur/Lambeosaur
Resonance
Tasnim
Imran
Martian
Meteorites
Tim
Gaulton
Search
for
Extra-Terrestrial Intelligance
Matt
Uechi
Eggs
and
Nests
Maya
Ragavan
Robert
Bakker
Luke
Mennella
Children's
Dinosaur
Story
Christian
Larson
Dinosaurs
in
Film
Alfie
Tam
Loch
Ness
Monster
Chada
Saetie
Bone
Wars:
Cope & Marsh
Samar
Rashid
Extinction
Theories
Tim
Lee
Post
K-T
Recovery
Josh
Whitcraft
Warm
vs.
Cold Blooded Dinosaurs
Pete
Tsambaris
Permian
Extinction
Michael
Liang
Crocodile
Survival
Amanda
Cordova
Dark
Matter
in the Universe
Reuben
Subramaniam
Tunguska
Event
David
Johnson
T-Rex
-
Predator or Scavenger
David
Lee
Dinosaur
Extinctions
Sree
Uppulari
Nemesis,
the
Death Star
Shaun
Warkentin
Fiction,
Late
Triassic
Aravinda
Kuntimaddi
Dinosaurs
and
Birds
Nick
Collins
K-T
Scenario
Tess
Bittermann
Warm
vs
Cold-Blooded Dinosaurs
Joey
Elkins
Fiction,
Dinosaur
Life
Dan
Zablotney
Asteroid
Diversion
Kevin
Anderson
Adaptions
of
Herbivores-Predators
Fufei
Zhang
Dinosaur
Cloning,
Fiction
Janet
Vadaparampil
Predatory
Dinosaurs
Kate
Botler
Dinosaurs
in
Film
Jonathan
DeLeon
SETI
Alyssa
Rosato
Permian
Extinction
**** Pizza Dinner ****
Chris
McCrae
T-Rex:
Predator
or Scavenger?
Molly
Keegan
Dinosaur
Digestion
(Children's Story)
Diana
Breeding
Dinosaur
Cloning
Nicole
Ouellette
Marine
Reptiles
Michael
Herbert
Stegosaurus
(Short
Story)
Jennifer
Edwards
Radiometric
Dating
Patrick
Smith
Origin
of
Life
Janjri
Jasami
Dinosaurs
in
Film
Lindsey
Claar
Dinosaurs
&
the Great Flood
David
Williams
SETI
Mark
Thatcher
Asteroid
Diversion
Lee
Nakamura
Pterosaurs
****
Pizza Dinner ****
Simone
Peart
Warm-
vs
Cold-Blooded Dinosaurs
Marcy
Naylor
T-Rex
-
Predator or Scavenger?
Obaid
Jaweed
T-Rex
Discoveries
Glen
Lakin
Fiction
-
Impact
Ben
Wu
Dinosaurs
and
Religion
Viral
Patel
Styles
of
Evolution
Jessica
Martin
K-T
Impact
Fiction
Santiago
Juarez
Dinosaur
Fiction
Adam
Brown
Fiction
-
Hadrosaurs
Lisa
Tegtmeyer
Dinosaurs
&
Children
Tom
Strandness
NASA
&
Asteroid Disversion
Shivani
Patel
Search
for
Nemesis
Melissa
Berger
Dinosaurs
and
Film
WWW Resources
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