Teacher Training Program in Life and Earth Sciences

This course is a cross-disciplinary course in the second year of the SV program designed to provide biology students with a fundamental understanding of how plants function, enabling them to grasp the current challenges in plant agricultural sciences.

The following basic concepts of plant physiology and functional biology will be studied: 

Key experimental approaches: plant transgenesis, forward and reverse genetics

Fundamentals of Autotrophy

mechanisms underlying the major stages of angiosperm development: meristem function, floral transition, and fertilization.

auxin, a key hormone involved in plant development and their response to the abiotic environment

The laboratory sessions will allow students to experiment with regulating plant water uptake and to analyze plant mineral nutrition using various biochemical assays (flame photometry, spectrophotometry). 

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Course Description (max 10 lines):

The objective of this learning unit is to help students understand how to measure variation in biology and how it can be represented. It draws on concrete examples from various fields of biology (ecology, developmental biology, evolution, genetics, physiology) and provides the statistical tools for measuring this variation and the graphical methods for representing it. Statistical concepts such as sampling, inference, distribution, central tendency, dispersion, distribution function, parameters, confidence intervals, and dependence between variables for different types of variables (binomial, discrete, continuous) are explained through tutorials based on biological problems.

Competencies targeted by the EU (see competency framework):

- Descriptive analytical tools in biology; an introduction to biostatistics through the analysis of biological patterns

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This course unit brings together three complementary and fundamental disciplines of Earth sciences: sedimentology, tectonics, and mapping. The various types of sedimentary rocks will be taught in detail to enable students to interpret the context of their formation and the associated processes. Topics in ductile and brittle tectonics will also be addressed at various scales to establish their formation context, particularly in terms of stress regimes. Laboratory work on samples will be conducted in parallel to help students develop their observational and drawing skills and make use of the department’s extensive collections. Finally, an introduction to reading and working with geological maps (schematic maps, cross-sections) will be provided, applying the concepts of sedimentology and tectonics previously acquired. This course unit is designed to enable students to outline the general history of a given region’s geology.

Hourly volumes:

• CM: 12
• TD: 3
• TP: 21

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This course is a practical, complementary application of the course “Description of Variability 1” (HAV312B).

The creation and analysis of datasets are carried out through lab sessions using the R software, in conjunction with tutorial sessions, as well as the generation of graphs and numerical parameters used to characterize the samples and their variability.

Competencies targeted by the EU (see competency framework):

- Descriptive analytical tools in biology; an introduction to biostatistics through the analysis of biological patterns

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This course is an introduction to the general concepts of scientific ecology: levels of organization, measurement and conservation of biodiversity, biogeography, and biotic and abiotic factors influencing the distribution and dynamics of biodiversity. It also provides an understanding of the methods used in scientific ecology: the importance of experimentation, considerations for designing a protocol, data analysis, and oral and written reports on an experiment.

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The EU covers the theoretical concepts of plant biology, using the group of spermatophytes as a model. It aims to define the concepts and specific vocabulary related to morphology, anatomy, reproduction, and life cycles.

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The EU is interested in describing the morpho-anatomical characteristics of the major organizational plans of metazoans found in present-day and past faunas, as well as in explaining their origin and the dynamics of their emergence. It thus develops a perspective on organisms based on paleontology and zoology. It will primarily address the origin of metazoans and the main divisions—diploblastic and triploblastic organisms—as well as basic concepts related to the positioning and phylogenetic relationships among taxa (mono- and paraphyly, evolutionary convergence, etc.). The course is traditionally divided into lectures, tutorials—which will primarily aim to illustrate and support aspects related to the biodiversity of taxa—and laboratory sessions designed to develop skills, particularly and mandatorily in dissection.

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EUObjectives: A comparative study of major physiological functions in animals in relation to their environment. A study of structures and functions at various levels of integration, from the organism to the molecule.

Organisms studied: mammals compared with other vertebrate models (teleosts, etc.) and invertebrates (insects, crustaceans, mollusks, etc.).

Description: This course will cover certain major physiological functions (respiration, nutrition, excretion, and water-and-electrolyte regulation) as well as the fundamentals of immunology and regulatory systems (the nervous system and chemical communication). In addition to lectures, students will work in groups on various topics proposed by the instructors. They will present these topics in the form of presentations and summarize the key points to remember in a written summary. Lab sessions and a tutorial will also be offered to illustrate the course material.

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The course builds on the L2 S3 course, focusing on describing the morpho-anatomical characteristics of the major organizational levels of metazoans found in present-day and past faunas, as well as explaining their origin and the dynamics of their emergence through the acquisition of skills in paleontology and zoology. In S4, the course will primarily explore the major subdivisions within protostome organisms—namely the Lophotrochozoa (annelids, mollusks, brachiopods, etc.) and the Ecdysozoa (arthropods, nematodes, etc.)—while emphasizing their phylogenetic relationships as well as their socio-economic significance and impacts. The course unit is traditionally divided into lectures, tutorials—which will primarily aim to illustrate and support aspects related to the biodiversity of taxons—and laboratory sessions designed to develop skills, notably and mandatorily through the performance of certain dissections.

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The objective of this course is to introduce the concepts and tools needed to observe and describe magmatic and metamorphic minerals and rocks and to understand their origin. The course will begin with an introduction to the concepts of mineralogy (crystallography, crystallochemistry) and the tools required to identify the minerals that make up magmatic and metamorphic rocks. You will then study the structure and nature of the mantle, as well as the processes involved from magma formation through to the eruption of igneous rocks: partial melting, crystallization, crustal assimilation, and magmatic mixing. You will learn to distinguish between different magmatic series based on their chemical compositions and physical properties. The link between eruptive processes, volcanic hazards, and risks will also be addressed. In the third part, we will introduce the main variables (pressure, temperature, time) and the various geodynamic contexts of metamorphism. We will examine the various metamorphic facies, as well as the structures and textures of metamorphic rocks, and you will learn to recognize mineral reactions and interpret them in terms of metamorphic evolution.

A combined study of igneous and metamorphic rocks will provide the foundation for understanding issues related to the geodynamics of the Earth’s interior, geochemical cycles, mineral resources, and more…

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The objective of this course unit is to understand evolutionary processes at both the micro- and macro-evolutionary scales.

Using examples, hands-on activities, and accessible modeling, the course will aim to present, in a concrete and quantitative way, the effects of the four evolutionary forces operating at the individual and population levels (mutation, migration, selection, and genetic drift). The integration of these microevolutionary processes into larger timescales (e.g., lineage differentiation, speciation) will then be addressed. Finally, the course unit will include an introduction to phylogenetic tools (interpreting and constructing phylogenetic trees) that enable the study of macroevolutionary events (diversification, extinction) and the tracing of changes in character states, particularly by incorporating fossil data.

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This is a general education course that will cover a wide range of current topics related to human health. The course will address a diverse array of themes through 1.5-hour mini-seminars, taking both a pragmatic and critical approach. The course’s many guest speakers will share their expertise on topics such as immunity, molecular biology, cancer, nutrition, diagnosis, vaccination, bioethics, ecology, neuroscience, emerging diseases, and current and future therapeutic treatments. Each presentation will aim not only to provide cutting-edge knowledge and engage in a critical analysis of its subject matter, but also to guide students in researching and filtering scientific information to combat misinformation. Regarding the major challenges facing human health in the 21st century, we will address the real issues, the false controversies, and the solutions we can offer. 

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In this course, students will learn about the connections between an individual’s genetic makeup and the development of their morphology, physiology, and lifestyle. The course will focus on understanding the connections between the information contained in the genome and the life cycle of the organism in question, including the cellular characteristics resulting from the expression of genetic information. This information will be placed within an evolutionary context and will help shed light on several major evolutionary transitions, particularly among metazoans.

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This course unit is a natural continuation of the course unit “Description of Variability” presented in S3. Its objective is to provide the concepts and methods underlying modern biostatistics—namely, the quantification of randomness—which is a pervasive issue in the life sciences. This course will serve as an introduction to inferential statistics: parametric and nonparametric tests, linear regression, and analysis of variance. Particular attention will be given to the conditions under which these methods are applicable, as well as to the concepts of Type I and Type II errors, power, replication, and confidence intervals. Each concept will be illustrated using analyses of real and diverse biological data, contributing to the biostatistical literacy necessary to develop critical thinking regarding scientific results. Practical exercises using R will provide training in this standard programming language and the statistical tools implemented within it, while also helping students understand the material covered in class through the application of the methods presented.

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The EU addresses the various groups of plants (“algae,” “cryptogams,” and spermatophytes”), specifying for each group its phylogenetic position and nature (monophyletic or paraphyletic), its origin, and its distinctive features in terms of morphology, anatomy, reproduction, and ecology.

The 4th-grade classes cover the different groups of plants: 4th grade, diversity of “algae”; 5th grade, life cycles of “algae”; 6th grade, “cryptogams”; 7th grade, spermatophytes.

Six tutorials cover cross-cutting concepts through oral and written exercises: Tutorial 1, Biological Cycles; Tutorial 2, Endosymbiosis; Tutorial 3, Interactions; Tutorial 4, Adaptation; Tutorial 5, Polyploidy; Tutorial 6, Phylogeny.

Six lab sessions illustrate the concepts covered in lectures and tutorials using living specimens: Lab 1, “Algae” 1; Lab 2, “Algae” 2; Lab 3, “Bryophytes”; Lab 4, “Pteridophytes”; Lab 5, Gymnosperms, vegetative system; Lab 6, Gymnosperms, reproduction.

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