Description

Survey of earth sciences through an examination of natural hazards including causes and effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, floods, landslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, climate change, and impacts of extraterrestrial objects. Discussion will focus on personal and societal adjustments to these hazards. Credit may not be received for more than one of GEOL 1301, GEOL 1305, or GEOL 1405.

Rationale

As the world's population grows and expands, humans are encountering natural hazards more frequently, and are contributing to a rapid change in the world's climate. College-educated consumers, voters, and decision-makers need to understand the scope and impact of these changes and the limitations that science and technology have in reducing their negative effects.  Studying natural hazards provides a valuable perspective for this understanding.  This is a general survey course that does not count towards a major in the geological sciences.

Objectives

• Learn to read, interpret, and comprehend scientific information
• Understand how geoscientists investigate earth systems
• Become familiar with natural hazards that threaten Central Texas and ways to minimize the personal and societal consequences of these hazards
• Understand the occurrence, development and major effects of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, flooding, subsidence, soil and mass movement, severe weather, ocean processes, wildfires, and asteroid/comet encounters
• Conduct academic inquiry in a safe and professional manner

Outcomes

   Course-Level - upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• describe the scientific method as applied in the earth sciences
• describe common earth materials and their relationship to natural hazards
• explain how Earth and Solar System processes create hazards to life and property
• describe and explain the most common methods used to mitigate and prepare for each type of hazardous natural process
• explain the causes and effects of global climate change

   General Education - as a Core Curriculum course, students completing this course will demonstrate competence in:

• critical thinking in the gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information
• quantitative and empirical reasoning through the application of mathematical, logical and scientific principles and methods

Registration

Section 45434 - Lecture - 4:25-5:45 PM in RGC Room 108

Prerequisite - Reading proficiency on Texas Success Initiative (TSI) testing or are TSI exempt; a knowledge of high school and middle school mathematics is required.

Required Textbook

Keller, Edward A., and DeVecchio, Duane E., 2012. Natural hazards; Earth's processes as hazards, disasters, and catastrophes (3rd edition):  Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall, 554 p. ISBN 978-0-321-66264-4

Communication

Professor:   Robert (Bob) H. Blodgett, Ph.D., P.G., Professor
Office Hours:  Noon - 1:30PM on Monday, 10:30AM - Noon on Tuesday, and 11:30AM - 1:30PM on Wednesday, or by appointment, in Rio Grande Campus Room 106;  Appointments can be arranged in person, by telephone or by e-mail.
Telephone/ voice mail:  223-3892
Electronic mail: rblodget @ austincc.edu - checked daily Monday through Friday; Students are also expected to check their ACC G-mail accounts regularly during the work week.
Web page: http://www.austincc.edu/rblodget

Assessment and Grading

  Examinations

Three graded, in-class, closed-book tests will contain a combination of multiple-choice, matching, and short- and long-answer questions drawn from lectures, handouts, and reading assignments. A final lecture examination will be given on the last day of class that will emphasize material covered since the last mid-term examination. No examinations will be given early. If a single mid-term exam is missed, the final exam score will be recorded for that missed exam. Scores of 70 or greater on the final examination will substitute for the lowest mid-term examination score. Review questions will be distributed before each examination. 

  Hazard City Assignment

This assignment will be based on Hazard City: Assignments in Applied Geology (3rd or 4th edition).  You can obtain the content for this assignment with the online access code in your textbook or by using a 3rd edition CD on reserve in the RGC Library.  In this assignment you will conduct a scientific hazard assessment and make recommendations on how the community should deal with the hazard. In mid-February you will receive a list of potential hazard topics and be asked to submit your first, second, third, and fourth choices of topics by February 29.   In the following class you will be assigned a specific hazard topic and given instructions for the assignment. This assignment will be due no later than the beginning of class on Monday, April 23. Late assignments must be submitted to Professor Blodgett's mailbox in RGC Room 204 with the date stamped on them by the mail room assistant. Five points will be deducted for each calendar day that an assignment is turned in late and no late submittals will be accepted after the assignment has been returned to the class.

   Grading

Your final course average will be calculated as follows:

25%   Midterm Exam 1	15%   Hazard City assignment
25%   Midterm Exam 2	35%   Final Examination

There is no "extra credit."  You must notify the professor of any mistakes or disagreements in scoring within one week after a corrected exam or assignment has been returned to the class.  The following scale will be used to determine your course grade:

90-100%   -  A	70-79%    -  C	Below 60%    - F
80-89%     -  B	60-69%    -  D

Students whose final course average is 59%, 69%, 79%, or 89% will be advanced to the next higher grade if their final examination score shows improvement over their mid-term examination scores.

Course Policies

  Participation

You are expected to attend all classes, participate in class discussion, and work with both your professor and classmates to learn the course content. This may include distributing and collecting course materials, setting up and storing computers, participating in demonstrations, and cleaning up the classroom.

  Withdrawal

If you decide to drop this class, it is your responsibility to protect your academic record by withdrawing no later than Monday, April 23, 2012. The professor also reserves the right to withdraw a student for not complying with course/ACC policies or for not meeting course objectives. Departmental policy forbids the professor from withdrawing you after April 23, 2012. State law permits students to withdraw from no more than six courses during their entire undergraduate career at Texas public colleges or universities. With certain exceptions, all course withdrawals automatically count towards this limit. Students who enroll for the third or subsequent time in a course taken since Fall 2002, may be charged higher tuition for that course. Details on this policy can be found in the ACC Catalog:  http://www.austincc.edu/catalog/

  Incomplete Grade

An incomplete (grade of "I") will only be given if extenuating circumstances, such as illness or death of a loved one, prevent a student from completing the final examination. Incompletes must be requested in writing with documentation of the extenuating circumstances. If a grade of I is given, then the final examination must be taken no later than four weeks before the end of the first 2012 Summer Session.

See the attached "ACC Academic Policies and Services" for additional policies

Studying

Science courses generally require a different approach to studying than other courses. In this course you will need to conceptualize things in three dimensions, understand complex concepts, and learn a whole new vocabulary for describing your planet. You will improve your performance if you read each textbook chapter, review the chapter summary, take notes from both the textbook and lecture, answer chapter review questions, and learn key terms in each assigned chapter. Many students find it useful to make flash cards with the definitions and natural hazards significance of terms. You may also find it beneficial to study in groups with your classmates. Many students underestimate the amount of time needed to pass this course. At a minimum, you should spend two hours outside of class studying for every hour you spend in class. A free geology tutor may be available in several of the ACC Learning Labs; check http://www.austincc.edu/tutor/ for locations and hours.

Etiquette

You are expected to be seated and ready for class on time, and not leave your seat during lecture. Take a seat near the door if you arrive late or must leave early. Please notify the professor if you have to arrive late or leave early on a regular basis. As a common courtesy, do not interrupt the professor or classmates when they are speaking, do not carry on conversations during lectures, and turn off audible alarms on electronic equipment before the class starts. Note taking with computers will be restricted if your computer screen can be seen by others or if you are using your computer for other purposes. Texting or telephone conversations are not allowed during lecture or field activities - you are expected to focus on course content and not multi-task.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GEOL 1301 Course Schedule^*