The Big Stuff: Evolution and Ecology (Coursera)

The Big Stuff: Evolution and Ecology (Coursera)

In this course, we will explore how evolution works to generate new species, the wide variety of life on earth. We will also touch on the importance of biodiversity for the overall health of our planet, and for our well being as humans. Then we will discuss ecology and the interconnectedness of life and touch on one big ecological issue in today’s society, conservation.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 3 of 4 in the Biology Everywhere Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
The "E" Word
In this module, we'll explore evolutionary biology.

WEEK 2
The Diversity of Life
Evolution produces the vast biodiversity we see on Earth. In this module, we'll explore what biodiversity is and why we need it on Earth.

WEEK 3
The Interconnectedness of Life
In this module we'll explore ecology, or the study of the interconnectedness of life.

WEEK 4
Questions of Conservation: Finding Balance
In this module we'll apply principles of ecology to conservation and how the decisions we make everyday impact living things around us.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Training and Learning Programs for Volunteer Community Health Workers (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Training and Learning Programs for Volunteer Community Health Workers (Coursera)

Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) are a major strategy for increasing access to and coverage of basic health interventions. Our village health worker training course reviews the process of training and continuing education of CHWs as an important component of involving communities in their own health service delivery. Participants will be guided through the steps of planning training and continuing education activities for village volunteers. The course draws on real-life examples from community-directed onchocerciasis control, village health worker programs, community case management efforts, peer educators programs and patent medicine vendor training programs, to name a few.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health (Coursera) Coursera
University of North Carolina

Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health (Coursera)

Often called “the cornerstone” of public health, epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases, health conditions, or events among populations and the application of that study to control health problems. By applying the concepts learned in this course to current public health problems and issues, students will understand the practice of epidemiology as it relates to real life and makes for a better appreciation of public health programs and policies. This course explores public health issues like cardiovascular and infectious diseases – both locally and globally – through the lens of epidemiology.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Emergent Phenomena in Science and Everyday Life (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Emergent Phenomena in Science and Everyday Life (Coursera)

Before the advent of quantum mechanics in the early 20th century, most scientists believed that it should be possible to predict the behavior of any object in the universe simply by understanding the behavior of its constituent parts. For instance, if one could write down the equations of motion for every atom in a system, it should be possible to solve those equations (with the aid of a sufficiently large computing device) and make accurate predictions about that system’s future.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Worldview of Thomas Berry: The Flourishing of the Earth Community (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

The Worldview of Thomas Berry: The Flourishing of the Earth Community (Coursera)

Thomas Berry (1914-2009) was a historian of world religions and an early voice awakening moral sensibilities to the environmental crisis. He is known for articulating a “new story” of the universe that explores the implications of the evolutionary sciences and cultural traditions for creating a flourishing future. This course investigates Berry’s life and thought in relation to the Journey of the Universe project.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Feeding the World (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Feeding the World (Coursera)

This course will explore the concepts driving current food production science (population growth, urbanization, emerging affluence, resource constraints, and underlying biological limits) with the main focus on livestock production. Each of the major food animal species (dairy, swine, beef, and poultry) will be covered in terms of their universal life cycles, constraints to production and emerging societal issues.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness (Coursera) Coursera
University of Toronto

The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness (Coursera)

Learn how social factors promote mental health, influence the onset and course of mental illness, and affect how mental illnesses are diagnosed and treated. This course explores how our understanding of mental health and illness has been influenced by social attitudes and social developments in North America and around the world. The course begins by situating our contemporary mental health practices in historical context, then looks at different aspects of mental health, mental illness and mental health services and their connections to what’s going on in our social environment.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Ecology: Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation (Coursera) Coursera
American Museum of Natural History,Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Ecology: Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation (Coursera)

This course is an introduction to ecology and ecosystem dynamics using a systems thinking lens. Through a case study on Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, learners will explore how scientists study ecosystems, and investigate the complex array of factors that inform management efforts.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Biochemical Principles of Energy Metabolism (Coursera) Coursera
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - KAIST

Biochemical Principles of Energy Metabolism (Coursera)

Everyone knows that energy is essential for sustaining life. How can you define energy in life? Have ever thought about ways of how carbohydrates like glucose from your diet can be used for extracting energy? A scientific field that focuses on energy production and flow though living cells and organisms is called bioenergetics. Energy metabolism covers various biochemical ways of energy transformation and regulatory mechanisms of over thousands chemical reactions. Without fine control of those metabolic processes, cells and organisms cannot maintain activities linked to life.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
An Introduction to the U.S. Food System: Perspectives from Public Health (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

An Introduction to the U.S. Food System: Perspectives from Public Health (Coursera)

A food system encompasses the activities, people and resources involved in getting food from field to plate. Along the way, it intersects with aspects of public health, equity and the environment. In this course, we will provide a brief introduction to the U.S. food system and how food production practices and what we choose to eat impacts the world in which we live. Through several case studies, we will discuss some key historical and political factors that have helped shape the current food system and consider alternative approaches from farm to fork.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Case Studies in Personalized Medicine (Coursera) Coursera
Vanderbilt University

Case Studies in Personalized Medicine (Coursera)

Learn how advances in biomedicine hold the potential to revolutionize drug development, drug treatments, and disease prevention: where are we now, and what does the future hold? This course will present short primers in genetics and mechanisms underlying variability in drug responses. A series of case studies will be used to illustrate principles of how genetics are being brought to bear on refining diagnoses and on personalizing treatment in rare and common diseases. The ethical and operational issues around how to implement large scale genomic sequencing in clinical practice will be addressed.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Genomic Technologies (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Introduction to Genomic Technologies (Coursera)

This course introduces you to the basic biology of modern genomics and the experimental tools that we use to measure it. We'll introduce the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology and cover how next-generation sequencing can be used to measure DNA, RNA, and epigenetic patterns. You'll also get an introduction to the key concepts in computing and data science that you'll need to understand how data from next-generation sequencing experiments are generated and analyzed.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks