This course is broken up into 8 weekly modules covering the following topics:

Week 1: Course Welcome, Geological Time, and the Nature of Science

Week 2: The Tree of Life and Early Earth Environments

Week 3: Fossilization and Precambrian Life-Earth Interaction

Week 4: Paleozoic Life After the Advent of Skeletons

Week 5: Paleozoic Plants, Reptiles, and the Transition to Land

Week 6: Mesozoic Reign of Dinosaurs and the Development of Flight

Week 7: Cenozoic Mammals and Global Environmental Change

Week 8: Astrobiology and the Search for Life in the Cosmos

This course will evaluate the entire history of life on Earth within the context of our cutting-edge understanding of the Tree of Life. This includes the pioneering work of Professor Carl Woese on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus which revolutionized our understanding with a new "Tree of Life."