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Literature of Science 2: Evolution Cary Honig email: caryh@school-one.org
updated for 2024-5 ask ahead of time if you're not sure about a date.
Welcome to the Literature of Science 2 wiki. Hopefully, having an overview of what we will do and roughly when will make the class easier. This also allows me to make the suggested but not required readings available in a context that might make them more attractive. All of the assignments and due dates are available here, so I won't be making any extra copies for you. If you lose something or are absent, just about everything you need (other than the book and the play) are available here, and they're probably available online as well.
Students can take this class for English or science credit. The workload for English and science students is the same in this class. The syllabus linked immediately below provides the details of what we're reading and writing this trimester. This trimester, most of our reading will be science with one short story relating to evolution late in the trimester..
Trimester 2 Syllabus 24-5 This is mostly accurate, but some of the readings will be updated.
Every student taking this class must read and sign the source policy and abide by it. Failure to do so will lead to no credit in the class. I am not interested in what anyone at wikipedia, Sparknotes or Harvard thinks about this material. I am interested in what YOU think. You must think for yourself in this class. If you don't want to do that and perhaps occasionally struggle, don't take the class. You are always welcome to come discuss your ideas with me before writing if you are worried you are off track. I won't tell you what to write or think, but I am happy to ask you questions that might help you to focus or reorient. This is NOT a research class; it is a thinking, reading and writing class. Please respect that and trust that I respect ideas that may be flawed but original far more than ideas that are on more solid ground but that aren't yours. If you want to improve your reading, thinking and writing skills significantly this trimester (or want to earn credit), do not cheat, which is what looking for help online or elsewhere amounts to when I tell you not to do so.
For a guide to proper citation within text and bibliography (works cited), go to
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
Links under the weekly schedule are to note sheets we will use in class as well as to articles that are sometimes recommended but not required to add to your knowledge about what we are discussing in class.
Essays are due every other week and always on Wednesdays at class time. I will try to get drafts with comments back to you on Thursdays). Revisions should be done soon after being returned but MUST be completed by the following Wednesday unless an earlier date is specified at the end of the trimester. That gives you a full week to write and revise except for the first essay, and even then, you will have a week or most of week from when you sign up for the class and get the assignment. Most essays need revision until I approve them as complete, which means you must address both mechanical and content issues I indicate on your drafts or you will be revising multiple times. You must always hand in the previous draft with my comments along with revisions.
Reading assignments are always due on Mondays by class time. You are welcome to read ahead and hand in your work ahead of time. This could lead to a relaxing end of the trimester or more time to work on other things then.
Late work slows down the class for everyone, so don't do your work late. This class asks you to do a reading assignment and a writing assignment each week. That's not overwhelming unless you leave them until the night before they're due, and even then, it's doable if not pleasant. You should be spreading your work over much of the week to make it easy. Please don't offer excuses. On the fourth late assignment (and each class day an assignment is late counts as a late assignment), you will receive an extra essay. The first three should cover any excuse you might have or create. Should a student reach an eighth late assignment, s/he will not receive credit in this class regardless of the quality of the work. Should there be a truly valid excuse like a death or serious illness in the family, have your parent contact me beforehand so that we can work out a schedule. Students who don't have the late assignments but who wish to do the extra essay for extra credit on their evaluations may do so.
Students are welcome to get ahead on assignments. If it's work from a book or article not on this site, please ask if you want to get ahead.
The first essay is due by Wednesday, December 4 at class time. This is to get you thinking about traits and evolution; it is mainly a thought essay.
Week 1: We will review the class rules and begin evolution.
Grammar: Prepositions and ends of sentences
Genesis 1 and 2: 2 Biblical Takes on Creation
Supplemental Reading if you're interested:
How Inbreeding Affected Darwin's Family 10
Appraisal of Darwin 200 years after his birth 09
An Argument that Darwin Gets Too Much Credit 09
To read the original New York Times review of The Origin of Species from 1860, go to https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1860/03/28/91453742.html?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20210323&instance_id=28377&nl=books&pageNumber=3®i_id=65429340&segment_id=54018&te=1&user_id=b8afc4b830e6b700bf5ba4c3228f29e9
Let's just say Darwin had the last laugh against that reviewer.
This week's essay is a getting to know you essay that introduces the idea of traits, which is so key to evolution, and we'll be looking at it scientifically in class this week. The essay asks about two traits you have that you'd like to pass on. If you're stumped, I suggest asking friends or relatives who like you. The essay is due on Wednesday, December 4 by class time.. There is no home reading assignment due the first week.
Reading for Monday, December 9 at class time is part 2 of Origin of Species
Week 2: Since everyone is going to hand in the homework on time on Monday, December 9, we can begin discussing evolution and natural selection, which will be central to our analysis and many essays this trimester. As you could last trimester, you can add notes to your homework once i have checked it, and it will then be more helpful on essays.
Darwin's Dangerous Idea video part 1 questions
New discoveries about the hybridized evolutyion of the potato 25
Grammar:
Next week's reading assignment covers the third part of Origin Of Species, and as usual, it is due next Monday, December 16, by class time. Leave yourself time for the reading and thought. Your revision of essay one is due by class time by Wednesday, December 11. See me if you need help with any aspect of the revision. You need to fix everything I discuss or note on your first draft as you should know from last trimester. I will cut people off a lot sooner this trimester if they lag on revisions.
Week 3.: We will continue to dig into Darwin's theories this week as you will have finished the book (handout), and we will watch the second half of the video about Darwin's ideas. . We will also look at how an asteroid hitting the earth actually helped mammals to evolve.
Grammar: Parallel Structure
Strange Microbes May Mark One of Life's Great Leaps 20 with questions
New discovery in Brazil indicates dinosaurs were earlier than previously thought 24
What Were Dinosaurs For? reviews of several new dinosaur books 19
The Social Life of Dinosaurs 21
A Bird Superpower That Evolved From Dinosaurs 20
Great article with video about amazing ways cuttlefish have evolved in terms of intelligence and camouflage: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/science/cuttlefish-cognition-cephalopods.html?campaign_id=34&emc=edit_sc_20210713&instance_id=35170&nl=science-times®i_id=65429340&segment_id=63300&te=1&user_id=b8afc4b830e6b700bf5ba4c3228f29e9 or
Cannibal Toads Demonstrate Fast Evolution in Australia 22
Darwin's Dangerous Idea video part 2 questions
Your second essay is due by Wednesday, December 18 at class time.
You will be expected to read up to page 57 of The Human Story and answer the questions by class time on Monday, January 6. This outlines what is now known about the earliest human ancestors after their split with chimps. Your second essay revision is due Wednesday, January 8 by class time with the draft. The better your homework notes, the easier this will be.
Essay 2 - Should We Create Hybrids 25
The Human Story text (for both weeks' homework)
Week 4: We will probably be finishing up Darwin and his theory of natural selection this week, and once we do, we will begin human evolution, about which you will have read in The Human Story for this week.
Grammar: Advanced Usage Sheet
Marmosets use something like names 24
Great Transformations video notes
Notes about key points of Madelaine Bohme's theory about Eurasian origins of hominids 24
Link for Great Transformations if my feed isn't good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p8tFcIQ8K4
Recommended:
Adam Hochschild on the Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925. 25
This week's reading assignment requires that you read up to page 97 of The Human Story by Monday, January 13 by class time. This picks up from our earliest ancestors about whom you read over vacation and moves into the beginnings of Homo and the evolution of our unique species: Homo sapiens. I don't suggest leaving this to do in one night. Essay 3 is due Wednesday, January 15. You will need quotations from the texts and parenthetical notes in both body paragraphs. Any essay handed in without sufficient quotations will be deemed late/unacceptable. See me ahead of time if you need help so that you only have to revise once.
The Human Story part 2 questions
Essay 3: Evidence for human evolution 25
Week 5: In class, we will be plowing ahead with human evolution as we get closer to our own species.
Grammar: We're back to reviewing the first set of rules: usage
Link for this week's video (Evolution: Extinction) if it's easier than watching my feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRoD3g-r3-I
Study Indicates New Twist in early human evolution 23
New Twist in early human evolution paragraphs 23
Privilege and wealth accumulation in the animal kingdom 22
Discovery of Homo florensis 10
Humans Have Spread Globally and Evolved Locally 07
Human Culture: An Evolutionary Force 10
Neanderthal-Denisovian Blends? 18
Ancient Footprints change views about human arrival in the Americas 21
Skull Fossils in South Africa show mix of humans existed at same time 20
How Humans Lost Their Tails 21
New Hominid species's remains found in Asia21
Shifting Climate led some hominids to leave Africa 21
The Evolutionary reason why Humans Heal More Slowly Than Other Animals 25
Your reading this week is the article about Gene Drives, which is due on Wednesday, January 22 due to the Monday holiday. This article will be crucial for essay 4. You have the revision of essay three due this week on January 22 as well, so don't leave both for Tuesday night.
Week 6: We will be continuing with human evolution as we begin to discuss what we read in Sapiens.
Grammar: Apostrophes
Notes on early human evolution
Genetic Data and Fossil Evidence Diverge on Human Origins 12
Human Mastication and Evolution 22
A New View of Human Evolution That isn't a Tree 18
Crispr and Sickle Cell Anemia article and questions 23
This week's reading assignment is chapter 1 of Sapiens. It is due by Monday, January 27. This week's essay (4) is due by class time on Wednesday January 29 Don't forget to hand in the earlier draft with it.
Week 7: We will explore the role of gender and sex in human evolution this week.
Grammar: agreement
Evolutionary Arms Race video questions
Evolutionary Arms Race video link on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIX6fdDyyRs
Japan's Monkey Queen 22 article and question
Scientists Seek To Stop Gene Editing That Might Be Inherited 15
Scientists Ponder A Synthetic Human Genome 15
Your reading homework this week is chapter 2 of Sapiens. It is due Monday, February 3. You will probably want to finish the book, and the questions for the last chapters are available under next week. This week's writing assignment is the revision of essay 4, which is due on Wednesday, February 5. In addition to the article about Gene Drives that you did for homework, you can use any of the three articles linked just above about gene editing in humans.
Sapiens chapter 2 questions reading is with chapter 1
Week 8: If we're all caught up, we will begin discussing Sapiens and the development of human culture along with the increasing rapidity of human evolution. We will begin looking at recent related species.
Grammar: Adverbial clauses and commas
Review of Human Evolution part 2
Study shows Sapiens adapt to variety of environments before successfully leaving Africa 25
Recommended Reading:
New Evidence of Human pathways out of Africa 20
Humans and Neanderthals May Have Overlapped Earlier In Europe 20
Mix of early human species at same time in South Africa 20
Neanderthal Genes found in Africa too 20
Neanderthal Genes May Increase The Risk of Covid19 20
South African Skull Fossils Indicate Mix of Human Relatives at same time 20
Neanderthal Genes 20 questions
At Home with the Neanderthals 20
Sapiens and Neanderthals Alternated in this Cave 22
1.5 million year old Vertebrae in Israel indicate waves of hominid migration out of Africa 22
Denisovian Tooth Supports interbreeding with Sapiens 22
This week's writing assignment is to write essay 5. It is based on the story The Eye Altering by Ursula K. LeGuin, which I will give you as a handout. It's a short story, but you will want to read it carefully, so give yourself ample time to read and think about the story before you begin the essay. The essay is due on Wednesday, February 12. Be sure to get help well ahead of that date if you need it. This week's reading homework is chapters 3-4 of Sapiens. It is due by Monday, February 10 at class time.
Essay 5 assignment - The Eye Altering with notes and vocab 25
Article about Ursula K. LeGuin 16
Week 9: We will continue to discuss our Sapiens reading, including the book's original take on the Agricultural revolution.
Grammar: Because, If, Although and commas
Link for Mind's Big Bang video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftXQ4xwF-8g
New discovery about the evolution of the sense of smell 22
The final essay revision of the trimester is due by Wednesday, February 19 by class time. Chapter 5 of Sapiens is also due on Monday, February 17.
Week 10: We will discuss the pros and cons of gene editing and students' opinions from essay 4 and a new finding about another extinct Homo branch just discovered.
Grammar: Comma/Conjunction rule
World Health Org. wants to limit Gene editing 21
Hopefully, everyone was smart and no one earned an extra essay, but just in case, here's the assignment. Two helpful readings are linked below, and you can also use notes from the Why Sex? video we have already watched. Students who owe an extra essay must complete it by Thursday, February 20 and revise it completely by Thursday, February 27 at the latest. There is no give on these dates. It would be smart to get it done well ahead of time.
Extra Essay 2025 - Sex and Evolution
Secrets of the Y Chromosome 18
Scientists Ponder Evolutionary Purpose of the Female Orgasm 17
Theories About Same Sex Animal Behavior and Evolution 19
Evidence that some women were ancient hunters 20
Week 11: We will wrap up our discussion of Sapiens and watch the final Evolution video, which is about the conflict between science and religion and whether these can be reconciled.
Grammar: Commas with non-essential clauses
Evolution: What About God? video notes
Evidence of earlier population of the Americas 21
ReWriting Humanity's Longterm History 21
The only work I will consider accepting this week are recent re-revisions, and those must be in by class time on Monday, February 27 and need no more revision. If any work isn't completed to my satisfaction by this time, you won't earn credit, so don't even think about leaving work until the last minute or handing in anything substandard at this point.
Week 12: We just have one class, and we'll be doing class evaluations and wrapping up any loose ends and previewing next trimester.
If you want to learn more about Human Evolution, I strongly recommend Wellesley Professor Adam Van Arsdale's MOOC (online class) Introduction to Human Evolution at https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:WellesleyX+ANTH207x_3+3T-2015/home. I did most of it in 2013 until a School One teacher leaving suddenly sucked up my free time, and it was excellent. I think you can look through all of the materials for free or pay $50 to get a credential (that you could put on a college application) if you do all the work adequately. You will definitely know more about teeth after taking this class than you ever expected! It's a mixture of good readings and videos of the professor explaining stuff, and there's a gallery of fossil photos.
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