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2021/2022

Human Origins

Code: 100749 ECTS Credits: 3
Degree Type Year Semester
2500250 Biology OT 4 0
2504235 Science, Technology and Humanities OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ferran Estebaranz i Sanchez
Email:
Ferran.Estebaranz@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

Articles to be read will be in English

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to follow the course successfully

Objectives and Contextualisation

The main objective of the subject of human origins is to understand current human groups based on their evolution over time.

The study of the evolution of man is made from an integrative perspective of various disciplines. The entire process can not be understood without understanding the periodization and therefore the dating methods for each moment; The changes can not be understood without understanding the evolution of the Earth and how it limits the environment, as climate changes modify ecosystems. In this whole, we can understand the evolution from the first primates to the variability of the current man.

Throughout this process, we can understand the evolution of diseases and their distribution in the biosphere.

And the molecular study of the different hominins will capture the variability of the current man. 

Competences

    Biology
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Analyse and interpret the origin, evolution, diversity and behaviour of living beings.
  • Assess environmental impacts.
  • Be able to analyse and synthesise
  • Be able to organise and plan.
  • Characterise, manage, conserve and restore populations, communities and ecosystems.
  • Control processes and provide services related to biology.
  • Design and carry out biodiagnoses and identify and use bioindicators.
  • Develop a historical vision of biology.
  • Isolate, identify and analyse material of biological origin.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
  • Perform genetic analyses.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
  2. Analyse present and past intra-population and inter-population variability in our species.
  3. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  4. Analyse the sustainability indicators of the academic and professional activities within the area, integrating the social, economic and environmental dimensions.
  5. Assess environmental impacts.
  6. Be able to analyse and synthesise.
  7. Be able to organise and plan.
  8. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  9. Define the role of the primates in the identification of disease-causing agents.
  10. Explain the historical precedents that justify the study of the human being as a separate subject area.
  11. Explain the underlying biological causes of human social behaviour.
  12. Identify the principal natural factors that have intervened in the distribution of human populations.
  13. Interact with and advise government institutions operating in the field of social policy and population and public health policy.
  14. Interpret human variability as a source of individualisation.
  15. Interpret phylogeographic analyses of the human species.
  16. Interpret the evolutionary dimension of hominids and their evolution in space and in time.
  17. Interrelate the environmental, biological and cultural data that merge in the interpretation of human evolution.
  18. Make population genetic determinations from which to interpret the relationships between normal and pathological variability in the human species, and interpret the findings.
  19. Manipulate human samples and perform morphological, molecular and chromosome determinations for the diagnosis and prevention of diseases.
  20. Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
  21. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  22. Propose ways to evaluate projects and actions for improving sustainability.
  23. Select and classify museum samples and recover data from archives and registries.
  24. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  25. Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  26. Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  27. Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  28. Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  29. Summarise and interpret the biology, evolution and behaviour of the order Primates.
  30. Work in teams.

Content

T. 1. Systematics: morphological and molecular

T. 2. Dating methods

T. 3. Reconstructing behavior

T. 4. The origin

T. 5. Miocene period

T. 6.- Colonization of the savannah

T. 7.- Routes of Asian SE

T. 8.- Homo in Asia

T. 9.- Homo in Europe

T. 10. Neandertals

T. 11. Early Homo sapiens

T. 12. Colonization  of Oceania

T. 13.  Colonization of America

T. 14. The first villagers

T. 15. Upper Pleistocene in Iberian Peninsula

 

“*Unless the requirements enforced by the health authorities demand a prioritization or reduction of these contents.”

 

 

Methodology

 

The development of the training activities of the course is based on: theory classes, seminars and laboratory and computer practice classes, each with its specific methodology.

 

These activities will be complemented by a series of tutoring sessions.

 

Theory classes: Two typologies have been designed, the first merely masterful and the second aimed at a dialogue at all times open on the relevant topic.

 

In the first, students acquire the scientific knowledge of the subject by attending theory classes: master classes with ICT support, which will complement the personal study of the topics presented. The audiovisual material used in class can be found by students in the "teaching material" tool of the Virtual Campus. These classes are conceived as a fundamentally unidirectional method of transmitting knowledge from teachers to students that forces them to develop autonomous learning strategies outside the classroom.

 

In the second typology, days before and sufficiently in advance, the students will be provided with the necessary documentation to discuss; students must have prepared them from the material delivered by the teachers on the Virtual Campus. These students and within the subject of human biology have already had some basic notions of some topics. Within these classes students will have the opportunity to discuss and discuss in depth the latest developments in human evolution research.

 

Seminars: a leading researcher will be taken to talk and discuss current issues.

 

Practice classes: Students come into contact with laboratory material and techniques. The results will be discussed at the end of each practice and/or the evaluable materials will be collected. Students will be able to access the protocols and practice guides through the Virtual Campus. The knowledge acquired in theory classes and in personal study is applied to the resolution of practical cases. Students work in small groups allowing them to acquire the ability to work in groups, analysis and synthesis. It also allows you to apply statistical resources in the interpretation of data.

 

Tutorials: The aim of these sessions is multiple: to resolve doubts, to carry out debates on topics that have been proposed in class, to orient on the sources consulted by the students and to explain the use of the necessary tools of the Virtual Campus for the proposed activities. These sessions will not be expository nor in them will advance matter of the temario, but will be sessions of debate and discussion. Much of the content of the tutorial sessions will be based on the work done by students independently.

 

Approximately 15 minutes will be devoted to allowing your students to answer the surveys for the evaluation of the teaching performance and the evaluation of the subject or module.

 

“* Unless the restrictions imposed by the health authorities force the change to the non-contact mode. In this case, its format will be adapted to the possibilities offered by the online and non-contact work tools of the UAB. ”

 

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Seminars 2 0.08 2, 15, 16, 17, 6
Theory I 9 0.36 2, 11, 15, 16, 17, 6, 7
Type: Supervised      
Practices 4 0.16 2, 11, 15, 16, 17, 6, 7
Theory II 9 0.36 2, 11, 15, 16, 17, 6, 7
tutoring 1 0.04
Type: Autonomous      
Study 50 2

Assessment

Avaluació

En tractar-se d'una avaluació continuada es tindrà en compte la participació de l'alumnat, la preparació delsseminaris, dels materials de pràctiques i les notes dels controls. Per poder assistir-hi cal que l'estudiantjustifiqui haver superat les proves de bioseguretat i de seguretat que trobarà en el Campus Virtual i serconeixedor i acceptar les normes de funcionament dels laboratoris de la Facultat de Biociències.Per a l'avaluació de l'assignatura es farà un control amb un pes del 40% de l'assignatura. L'alumnat que nohagi superat l'examen disposarà d'un control de recuperació.Respecte a les classes de teoria tipus II es poden avaluar amb la recollida d'un qüestionari de les mateixes od'algun petit treball al respecte. En tot cas aquesta part tindrà un pes d'un 40% de la nota.Pel que fa a les pràctiques de laboratori l'assistència és obligatòria i es valora l'actitud, destresa i el diversmaterial que lliurarà el professorat a l'alumnat en funció de la pràctica (problemes, qüestionari,...).L'assistència a les sessions pràctiques és obligatòria. L'alumnat obtindrà la qualificació de "No Avaluable"quan l'absència sigui superior al 20% de les sessions programades.Els seminaris es treballaran a classe i s'avaluaran amb l'entrega de qüestions i problemes entregats el mateixdia del seminari. El pes de les pràctiques i dels seminaris a la nota final de l'assignatura és del 20%.Per participar a la recuperació, l'alumnat ha d'haver estar prèviament avaluat en un conjunt d'activitats el pesde les quals equivalgui a un mínim de dues terceres parts de la qualificació total de l'assignatura o mòdul. Pertant, l'alumnat obtindrà laqualificació de "No Avaluable" quan les activitats d'avaluació realitzades tinguin unaponderació inferior al 67% en la qualificació final.La nota mínima en cadascuna de les parts avaluables serà de 4. Per aprovar l'assignatura la nota ha de serigual o superior al 5.

 

 

*”Student’s assessment will performed face-to-face, unless the requirements enforced by the health authorities demand shifting to the online modality. In this case, the format will be adapted to the possibilities offered by the UAB’s online tools.”

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
control 40% 0 0 2, 9, 11, 18, 12, 15, 16, 14, 17, 27, 25, 29, 23, 6, 7
intervenció en les classes de teoria tipus II 40% 0 0 8, 4, 2, 3, 1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 18, 12, 13, 15, 16, 14, 17, 19, 22, 20, 21, 27, 26, 23, 6, 7, 30
pràctiques i seminaris 20% 0 0 8, 4, 2, 3, 1, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 20, 21, 28, 27, 26, 24, 25, 23, 6, 7

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAFY

 

Berger, Lee Berger i Hawks John (2017). Almost humans: The Astonishing Tale of Homo naledi and the Discovery that changed our human story. Ed. Penguin USA.

Boyd, Robert i Silk, Joan B. (2001). Como evolucionaron los humanos. Ariel Ciencia.

Campillo, Domingo i Subirà, M. Eulàlia (2004). Antropología Física para arqueólogos. Ed. Ariel Prehistoria.

Carbonell, Eudald Coord. (2005). Homínidos las primeras ocupaciones de los continentes. Ariel.

Larsen, Clark Spencer (2010). A Companion to Biological Anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Lozano Marina i Rodríguez Xose Pedro (2010). Dón venim? l'origen de l'Ed: Rafael Dalmau,Homo sapiens.col·lecció evoluciona núm 2.

Muehlenbein, Michael P. (2010). Human Evolutionary Biology. Cambridge UniversityPress.

Turbón, Daniel (2006). La evolución humana. Ariel.

SPECIFIC BIBLIOGRAFY

Most of the subject will be based ob specific bibliography that will be provided throughout the course

 

Software

Not required