Instructor: Dr. Carol Thompson
Office: 117 Science--ext. 9739
Office Hours:, W 8:30-9:30, Th, 1-3, other times email to set
up an appt
cthompson@tarleton.edu
Required Text: Earth: An Introduction to Physical
Geology 9th ed. - Tarbuck and Lutgens
The CD supplied with book also has a lot of useful information,
study help etc.
Required Supplies: Index cards
Required Lab Manual: Physical Geology, TSU (in a brown
paper envelope)
Book Web Site: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/mygeoscience/books_geology.html
The 9th edition of the book has a password-protected web site,
access with every new book. The site contains concept review,
quizzes, chapter tests.
Academic Honesty:
Tarleton State University's Academic Honesty Policy, outlined
in the student handbook, states that each professor is responsible
for determining academic honesty policy in his or her classroom.
In this class, each student will be expected to do his or her
own work on all exams, labs, and other assignments. If a student
is observed cheating on any assignment, or in any other way represents
someone else's work as his own, he or she will receive a grade
of 0 on the work and will be referred to the Dean of Students
for disciplinary action.
Intended Knowledge, Skill, and Value Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
identify common rocks and rock-forming minerals, and determine
how each major type of rock was created; read topographic maps
and recognize landscape characteristics on these maps; read geologic
maps and interpret geologic structures on the maps; recognize
faults and folds; compute plate velocities from tectonic data;
understand the processes that drive earth's global cycles; identify
potential for and causes of natural disasters; and understand
where and how natural resources are found. At the conclusion of
this course, students will appreciate the complexity of the earth's
natural systems and human impact on these systems, as well as
the importance of geology in our everyday lives.
Class Information, Notes, Announcements:
Information for this class can be found on the web at:
http://www.tarleton.edu/~cthompson/pg/index.html
Announcements of exam times, homework, review sessions, grades
and other pertinent information will be posted at this web site
as appropriate.
Claim your Tarleton email account. All official information will be sent using that email.
Grading:
Grades will be posted on my website by University ID.
Exams: 50%
There will be four exams. Exams will be multiple choice. For
exams you will need a purple scantron and a No. 2 pencil. Exams
cover material in lecture and in the text. There usually will
be between 50-60 multiple choice questions.
Make-ups for authorized school functions (athletics, class
outings) should be scheduled in advance of the test.
Other make-up exams must be scheduled within 2 school days after
the exam is missed. All make-up tests done after the test date
are short answer not multiple choice.
Final: 15% comprehensive, usually about 120+ multiple choice questions.
Homework: 5%
The review questions are in the back of each chapter. I will assign
these for each chapter as well as the due date. Turn these in
at the beginning of the class on the day due. You need
to do 10 of the assignments. I will not give these back, but grades
will be posted. Put the answers in your own words, not the book's
nor your friends. Copying is not tolerated.
They will be graded on the following scale:
2 complete answer, shows understanding
1 somewhat of an answer, but incomplete or poor understanding
0 incomprehensible and/or can't be read
In-Class Quizzes and Other Exercises 5%
There are multiple choice questions embedded in the PowerPoint.
These will be graded. That's what the index cards are for.
Put your answers on the card and your name and turn them in.
If I can't read your name I can't grade them.
We will spend some time in class on conceptests, concept sketches
and other engagement activities. This will help learning and
the same things may appear n later quizzes or tests. However
it also means that I may not finish lecturing on everything in
a chapter. That puts more of the responsibility on you to read
the chapter and ask questions about what you don't understand.
Learn how to study for a large class. This web link has some
tips for a large class http://www.ns.msu.edu/cisgs/CISGS/Newsletters/succeeding.fs01.html
Laboratory: 25%
Labs will not meet the first week.
This is a lab class. Therefore you must attend lab in order to
pass the class. If you miss more than three regular labs, or fail
to take either of the two lab exams you will have this semester,
you will automatically fail the course. Not just the lab, but
the entire course. It is imperative that you attend your scheduled
lab every week.
Labs meet on M, T, W, at 1:00 and 3:00 PM, Th at 1 PM and W at 6:00 PM. After the holiday labs will start on T, so the "lab week" will be T-M.
You must go to your assigned lab. Do not sign up for a time you cannot make. If you miss a lab you should come to the office, Room 117, and get a green sheet for a replacement lab. It is up to the instructor of the replacement lab whether you can stay or not. The green sheet must be presented at the beginning of the class. Make-ups have to be done while the same lab is being done. Occasionally the lab instructor may let you work on a previous week's lab.
Make sure you pick up your graded labs each week. These are
your proof that you did the lab if a grade gets lost. Check your
posted grades.
Extra Credit: Extra credit is not a solution to not studying. If you are getting bad grades on your tests, extra credit assignments only take away from your study time. However I will allow 6% extra credit to be handed in during the semester based only on the time schedule below and only for the assignments shown. (3% each assignment)
Extra Credit 1: Due by 10/8 Go to the library and read an article in Geotimes published during the last two years. This should be one of their featured articles which are about 3-5 pages, not the shorter News Notes. Write a two page double -spaced report in your own words (Times New Roman, 11, 1.25 margins). What was it about? What did you learn? I will grade grammar as well as content.
Extra Credit 2: Due by 11/12 Write a two page
double -spaced report (Times New Roman, 11, 1.25 margins) about
a geologic event that occurred during the time span of this class.
What was it, where did it occur, why did it occur, if a disaster
such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption what plate tectonic
setting was it in?
Attendance Policy:
There is usually a close correspondence between attendance and
grades. Students that don't come, usually don't do very well.
Class Disruption:
Turn off your cell phones, pagers etc when you come to class.
If it is absolutely necessary that you be available, make sure
that your device is not audible. Also be courteous to both your
fellow students and me by not talking during class. You will be
asked to leave if this is becomes a problem. Please try to be
on time for class and I would appreciate your staying throughout
class. Unless absolutely necessary please don't leave and return
during class. It is distracting to me and others. Class starts
at 9:25 and ends at 10:40. Try to be on time and don't start rustling
about 10 min before the end of class.
Below is a tentative outline. We might move faster or slower or I may change my mind.
Dates |
Class Topic |
Reading |
8/25 |
Intro to class |
|
8/27 |
Scientific Method, Overview of Important Concepts in Geology |
Chp 1 |
9/1 |
Plate tectonics |
Chp 2 |
9/3 |
Plate tectonics |
Chp 2 |
9/8 |
Chemistry, Minerals |
Chp 3 |
9/10 |
Minerals, Rock types, Rock cycle, Igneous Rocks |
Chp 3, 1:25-30, Chp 4 |
9/15 |
AS lecture-Faulkner |
|
9/17 |
Igneous Rocks |
Chp 4 |
9/22 |
Volcanoes |
Chp 5 |
9/24 |
Test 1 (covers Chp 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) |
|
9/29 |
Earthquakes |
Chp 11 |
10/1 |
Earth Interior |
Chp 1:16-21, 12 |
10/6 |
Crustal deformation |
Chp 10 |
10/8 |
Crustal deformation |
Chp 10 |
10/13 |
Metamorphic rocks |
Chp 8 |
10/15 |
Test 2 (covers 8, 10, 11, 12) |
|
10/20 |
Weathering |
Chp 6 |
10/22 |
Sedimentary Rocks |
Chp 7 |
10/27 |
Mineral Resources |
Chp 23 |
10/29 |
Energy |
Chp 23 |
11/2 |
Last day to drop a class with a W |
|
11/3 |
Mass Wasting |
Chp 15 |
11/5 |
Test 3 (covers 6, 7, 23, 15) |
|
11/10 |
Fluvial systems |
Chp 16 |
11/12 |
Fluvial systems |
Chp. 16 |
11/17 |
Groundwater |
Chp. 17 |
11/19 |
Coasts |
Chp 20 |
11/24 |
Test 4 (Covers 16, 17, 20) |
|
11/26 |
Thanksgiving Holiday |
|
12/1 |
Glaciers |
Chp 18 |
12/3 |
Climate Change |
Chp 21 |
|
FINAL – Wednesday, Dec 10, 11:30 AM -2:00 PM Room 110 Science |
|
Lab Schedule
After Labor Day, Tuesday will be the beginning of lab week, last
lab for that topic is Monday
Week of 8/31-9/4 |
Minerals |
Week of 10/13-10/19 |
Topographic maps |
Week of 9/8-9/14 |
Igneous Rocks |
Week of 10/20-10/26 |
Seismology |
Week of 9/15-9/21 |
Sedimentary Rocks |
Week of 10/27-11/2 |
Structural geology |
Week of 9/22-9/28 |
Metamorphic Rocks |
Week of 11/3-11/9 |
Rivers |
Week of 9/29-10/5 |
Plate Tectonics |
Week of 11/10-11/16 |
Groundwater |
Week of 10/6-10/112 |
Lab Midterm |
Week of 11/17-11/23 |
Lab Final |
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
I. Academic Honesty: Tarleton State University expects its students
to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct.
Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating
on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion,
and the abuse of resource materials.
II. Services for Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities
may request reasonable accommodations which will enable them to
participate in and benefit from all educational programs and activities.
Students should contact the director of student Disability Services
in the Mathematics Building Room 201, 254-968-9400 or disability@tarleton.edu.
If you require special accommodation, you must make arrangements
with the faculty member.
III. Attendance Policy: Students are expected to regularly attend
all classes in which they are enrolled. Student absences are considered
by the University to be strictly between the individual student
and faculty member. The faculty member has the responsibility
and authority to determine whether make-up work can be done because
of absences. Please refer to the current University Catalog for
additional information regarding class attendance.
IV. Grading Policy: Please refer to the current University Catalog
for additional information regarding grading and course withdrawal
policies. For this course, your grade will be determined as described
previously.
V. Computer Usage Policy: Use of the computer resources at Tarleton
State University is a privilege, not a right. When using these
resources, individuals agree to abide by the applicable rules,
regulations, and policies of the University, as well as federal,
state and local laws. The University reserves the right to limit,
restrict or deny access to its technology resources, as well as
to take disciplinary and/or legal action against anyone in violation
of these regulations or applicable law. http://www.tarleton.edu/~policy/279999t101.htm