Level: Level 1

Target Students:  Students on the first year of undergraduate degrees in the School of Life Sciences and Environmental Biology students. This module is not open to students outside the School (except where agreement exists with other Schools), any enrolments made by students from outside the School will be cancelled without notice. There is a limited number of places on this module. Students are reminded that enrolments which are not agreed by the Offering School in advance may be cancelled without notice.

Taught Semesters:

Prerequisites: A2 Level Biology or an equivalent (e.g. Access/BTEC/ International Qualification) is highly desirable.

Corequisites:  None.

Summary of Content:  The Life on Earth module will introduce the students to the vast range of living (and many extinct) species to be found on Earth. The various domains of life will be explored with due attention to the two prokaryote groups, the archea and eubacteria and then detailed views of the eukaryotes. Issues of how they arose and how the process of endysymbiosis added much more complexity will be examined. Questions about the processes that drove the evolution of complexity and multicellularity, the development of mitosis, meiosis and the production of asymmetrical gametes will be considered. Within the context of the most recent phylogenetic trees the distribution of phyla will be examined in detail with the most complex groups, fungi, animalia and plantae being targeted for special consideration. The course will emphasise our current understanding of biodiversity and how a simple morphological-based taxonomy has been shaken up by current molecular techniques. The module concentrates on the unity and diversity of life set in an evolutionary context and how the genotype gives rise to both phenotype and behaviour.

Method and Frequency of Class:

Activities may take place every teaching week of the Semester or only in specified weeks. It is usually specified above if an activity only takes place in some weeks of a Semester

Method of Assessment: 

Convenor: 
Dr M Gering

Education Aims:  A student who completes this module will have an understanding of: - cells, the basic unit of life - ancestral prokaryotes and a life without oxygen - evolution and diversity of Archaea and Bacteria - photoautotrophs and their impact on the evolution of life - how eukaryotic cells incorporated prokaryotes via endosymbiosis - the diversity of Protists - Beneficial and detrimental effects of fungi - multicellularity and the evolution and diversity of Fungi, Plants and Animals - genomic relationships and phylogeny - structure-function relationships in organisms and their relevance in the context of evolution - effects of global climate changes on the evolution of organisms - basic coverage of the interaction of organisms in the context of their evolution