Essay 1:

Pick one of the following essays to research.

Question 1: Knowing the controversy behind the origins of birds (thecodonts, therapods, or other?), suggest your own evolutionary path that includes a valid timetable for your origin of birds.

Question 2: The thecodont versus therapod origin theories have been a controversy for a long time. Compare them to any more current theory that has recently emerged.

Essays:

Periodically (see topic schedule) You will be required to write essays guided by questions in the appropriate units. See Expectations of Writing for Online Courses (on the Blackboard site). All essays will be submitted directly to Turnitin.com; do not send them to me by email. Students should access this website prior to the deadline and submit their papers directly to check on their own work. This screening will allow you to revise the paper, if necessary. Remember that since this is a graduate level course, I will expect to see well-written, and cohesive essays. You will have the opportunity to submit only one rewrite (for essay one). Students who are uncertain of their ability to write at a graduate level should contact the CAE.

Plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. (see Academic Integrity statement). All written work must be screened by Turnitin.com before submission to me. The Turnitin.com website is a site which screens documents for similarity to other works and will flag suspicious passages. You will be allowed to clean-up any flagged passages prior to the deadline and resubmit; note that resubmissions are not available after the deadline. If passages are found to plagiarized upon submission at the deadline, the assignment will receive an automatic zero for the assignment for the first offense.

No more than 10% of the paper should be derived from quoted material. Unless highly appropriate, the use of quotes is unnecessary. If a quote is used be sure you supplement the quote with an explanatory sentence to prove to me you understand what you wrote. Note that quotes have to be extraordinary in order to be used.

To avoid any possibility of plagiarism, correctly cite your sources using the CSE style of referencing. Information about CSE format can be found through the Academic Resource Center, through the attached documents, or on-line. However, note that students in the Master's Degree of Biology are required to have a copy of the CSE Style Manual, available at the USJ Bookstore and elsewhere.

Use of Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia-type service as a primary source will result in a score deduction per usage. Wikipedia is an on-line resource which can be freely edited, and this global editing can result to misinformation being published. Feel free to use Wikipedia as a resource, but do not use it 

Each report should include at least the following:
• Location
• Day/time
• Weather
• Habitat type
• Birds you encountered and what they looked like, sounded like, how they behaved or moved around
• Description of the birds you encountered even though you may not know their name.

When to Bird:
This is to get you out to try and see birds, watch them in their habits and learn to record their behavior. Depending on where you live will depend on the timing of your visits but early morning or early evening is the best times unless you are doing shore birding and then low tide is the best time.

What kind of Reports:
Feel free to present the information in any format. This can be just a listing of the birds you saw and a description of the habitat. The most interesting to view are the powerpoint presentations showing pictures and descriptions.

Where to Post:

Field reports will be posted in the "Field Reports" link on the Discussion page of Bb so all can learn the birds of that area.

Report demonstrates limiteddescriptions of the birds, habitat, and behaviors. Most of the basic data is not included and accurate. The report is difficult to follow due to organization.

Report demonstrates gooddescriptions of most of the birds, habitat, and behaviors. Most of the basic data is included and accurate. The report is difficult to follow due to organization.

Report demonstrates gooddescriptions of most of the birds, habitat, and behaviors. Most of the basic data is included and accurate. The report is easy to read/view.

Report demonstrates exceptional descriptions of most of the birds, habitat, and behaviors. All of the basic data is included and accurate. The report is easy to read/view but not as innovative in style or delivery.

Report demonstrates exceptional descriptions of most of the birds, habitat, and behaviors. All of the basic data is included and accurate. The report is pleasing to read/view. There is probably pictures or drawings to help supplement the data.

Report demonstrates exceptional descriptions of the birds, habitat, and behaviors. All of the basic data is included and accurate. The report is easy to follow and pleasing to read/view. There are probably pictures or drawings to help supplement the data.