Course Overview

The existence of many species depends on the survival of others. Humans are no exception. In the past 14,000 years, many organisms have left indelible marks and exercised on human history. The roles that individual species play in providing food, unique medical compounds, air, and water purification are critical to our health and survival. This course will provide sufficient background of 12 selected organisms and discuss their impacts on our daily life and culture. Field trips to Taipei Zoo and/or Botanical Garden will also be arranged.

Learning Achievement

The goal of this lecture is to introduce you the origin of each organism and its impact on human history. Some of the organisms were domesticated by our ancestors, and thus improving the quality of our life. The aim of this course is to allow students to appreciate the importance of all organisms on earth and to learn how organisms have evolved.

Competence

Course prerequisites

Attendance is required. If you find that you must miss class, do file the leave of absence on Ceiba. You are allowed one free absence in this course. Homework will be assigned after each lecture. You will be asked to turn in a one-page feedback to show what you have learned. It is due before the next lecture. The assignment you turn in should be neat, and legible. Make sure to show sufficient work for each time. Each students will be asked to pick one organism of interest, and do a 5-min briefing as the final report which takes up 30% whereas the written essay after each lecture will be worth for 70% of your total grade. Absolutely no late work will be accepted regardless of the reason..

Grading Philosophy

Course schedule

Course type

Online Course Requirement

Instructor

Shun-Chern Tsaur

Other information

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