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TIMELINE [The topics list is intended as a guide and may not be strictly adhered to.]
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| WEEK | BEGIN DATE | TOPIC |
| 1 | Jan 14 | Introduction and overview; Life as we know it; Conditions and timescales for life's origins |
| 2 | Jan 21 | Definitions of life; Overview of scenarios for life's origins (No class Monday 1/21) |
| 3 | Jan 28 | Origin of the biologically important chemical elements; stellar evolution and mass ejection |
| 4 | Feb 4 |
Galactic chemical evolution; Interstellar matter and environments |
| 5 | Feb 11 | Chemical processes in interstellar clouds; Star formation and proto-planetary disks |
| 6 | Feb 18 |
Origin and early history of our Solar System; |
| 7 | Feb 25 | Planetary habitability; Habitable zones; Comparing our Solar System with others |
| 8 | Mar 3 | EXAM 1 (Thursday Mar 6) |
| 9 | Mar 10 | Spring recess - no classes |
| 10 | Mar 17 | Origin and early evolution of the Earth; Cosmic bombardment chronology |
| 11 | Mar 24 | Early sources of volatiles and organics; Origin of Earth's atmosphere and oceans |
| 12 | Mar 31 | Hypotheses for the origin of life; RNA world; The phylogenic tree and the first organisms |
| 13 | Apr 7 | Searching for life elsewhere in our Solar System: Mars, Europa, Titan |
| 14 | Apr 14 | Seeking biomarkers on extra-solar planets; The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence |
| 15 | Apr 21 | EXAM 2 (Thursday April 24) |
| 16 | Apr 28 | Final Seminar; Course evaluation |
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