survey of geology

Survey of Geology
GEOL 111G
Spring 2007

Well, we made it! I enjoyed having you all in this class! Have a great summer.

Here are the grades for the final and the class.

Clicker #	Exam 3	Grand Total	Percent	Class Grade
2	60	644.8	72.2	C
3	38	661.2	74.0	C
4	76	764.4	85.6	B
5	48	710.8	79.6	B-
6	94	759.6	85.1	B
7	88	813.6	91.1	A
8	86	774.5	86.7	B
9	84	809.3	90.6	A
10	58	801.2	89.7	A
11	86	844.4	94.6	A
12	68	696.9	78.0	B-
13	76	781.9	87.6	B
14	96	802.3	89.8	A
15	88	783.2	87.7	B
16	70	733.3	82.1	B
17	72	659.8	73.9	C
18	94	845.3	94.7	A
19	72	720.6	80.7	B
20	78	788.6	88.3	B
21	86	827.2	92.6	A
22	62	654.5	73.3	C
23	78	822.0	92.0	A
24	96	853.1	95.5	A
25	74	773.6	86.6	A-
26	62	611.5	68.5	D
27	86	824.9	92.4	A
28	70	709.5	79.4	B-
29	66	758.2	84.9	B
30	82	608.7	68.2	D
31	70	672.4	75.3	C
32	48	741.7	83.1	B
33	66	664.5	74.4	C
34		287.3	32.2	F
35	86	796.2	89.2	A
36	68	687.6	77.0	C
37	82	746.3	83.6	B
38	74	744.0	83.3	B
39	68	586.1	65.6	D
40	34	431.9	48.4	F
41	78	700.2	78.4	B-
42	48	711.8	79.7	B-
43	72	634.6	71.1	C
44	82	807.4	90.4	A
45	94	795.0	89.0	A
46	92	681.1	76.3	C
47	76	758.6	84.9	B
48	82	743.9	83.3	B
49	50	725.4	81.2	B
50	82	804.4	90.1	A
51	78	651.4	72.9	C
52	62	749.6	83.9	B
53	64	590.7	66.1	D
54	30	344.3	38.6	F
55		58.0	6.5	F
56	90	720.4	80.7	B
57	80	778.3	87.2	B
58	76	702.0	78.6	B-
59	72	727.7	81.5	B
60	60	672.2	75.3	C
61	64	606.8	67.9	D
62	74	675.6	75.6	C
63	78	717.2	80.3	B
64		421.5	47.2	F
65	64	592.8	66.4	D
66	68	592.1	66.3	D
67	66	687.8	77.0	C
68	66	667.3	74.7	C
69	84	689.4	77.2	B
70	60	657.8	73.7	C
71	64	595.4	66.7	D
72	66	475.7	53.3	F

Survey of Geology

Syllabus

Nancy J. McMillan, Ph.D., AOJN

Office: 120 Breland Hall

Phone: 646-5000

Email: nmcmilla@nmsu.edu

Office Hours: 9:30-10:30 MWF

And by appointment

What to Purchase at the Bookstore

The textbook: Understanding Earth, 5^th Edition, by Grotzinger, Jordan, Press, and Siever ($103 new, $72 used)
The lab book: Laboratory Exercises in Physical Geology, by Harder ($26 new)
A CPS RF clicker (see information on enrolling your clicker in this class at the end of the syllabus) ($22 to purchase, $15 to enroll)

Goals

The goals of this course are simple:

To provide a general understanding of our planet, its history, the processes that shape it, and how earth resources are used in our everyday lives;
To help you understand science as a method of knowing.

How We Will Reach Those Goals

As we explore the Earth system, you will learn in three ways:

through reading selected pages from the text;
through interacting with me during lecture;
through hands-on learning in lab (you need to register for one lab section GEOL 111G M5A – M5T).

Grading

Your grade in this course will be determined by how many points you earn, out of a total 905 possible points. You will earn points during each lecture (380 points, or 42%), on three lecture exams (300 points, or 33%), and in lab (225 points, or 25%). Here are the details…..

Earning points during lecture

We will be using the clicker system to interact during class. A typical class period will be split into three sections:

a short quiz on the reading assignment using the clickers;
a discussion/lecture on the day’s topic;
an individual or group activity that also uses the clickers.

Each class you will have the opportunity to earn 10 points, starting on Wednesday, 24 January 2007. There will be 38 classes like this; so you can earn up to 380 points during class. That’s 42% of the total 905 points, so don’t miss class! On the other hand, any one day (10 points) is only 1.1% of the total points (905), so if you miss one class for any reason, your grade won’t suffer.

Earning points on lecture exams

There will be three multiple choice lecture exams, on Friday, 16 February, Wednesday, 4 April, and the final exam on Monday, 7 May. The final is not cumulative. Each test is worth 100 points; so you can earn up to 300 points on exams. This is 33% of your grade.

Earning points in lab

You need to sign up for one lab section for this course (GEOL 111G M5A – M5T). The points you earn in lab will count for 225 points in the course. In other words, if you earn 50% of the lab points, you will earn 50% of 225 points, or 113 points. If you earn 80% of the lab points, you will earn 80% of the 225 points. The lab points are 25% of your grade.

Schedule

Date	Day	Topic	Reading Assignment
19-Jan	F	Introduction to Survey of Geology, Origin of the Earth	none
22-Jan	M	Science and Geology	none
24-Jan	W	Plate Tectonics: The Basics	p. 20-22 Continental Drift, Seafloor Spreading, The Great Synthesis
26-Jan	F	Minerals: What are they and what good are they?	p. 45-46 What are Minerals?
29-Jan	M	Minerals: Symmetry	p. 49-50 How Do Minerals Form?
31-Jan	W	Igneous Rocks: Plate Tectonic Connection, Melting, Classification	p. 78-80 Texture
2-Feb	F	Igneous Rocks: Differentiation	p. 85-88 Magmatic Differentiation
5-Feb	M	Volcanism	p. 277-282 Eruptive Styles and Landforms
7-Feb	W	Sedimentary Rocks: Weathering and Transportation	p. 101-102 Introduction, Sedimentary Rocks are Produced by Surface Processes in the Rock Cycle
9-Feb	F	Sedimentary Rocks: Desposition, Sedimentary Structures, and Reading Earth History	p. 111-114 Sedimentary Structures
12-Feb	M	Metamorphic Rocks: Classification and Types of Metamorphism	p. 113-134 Causes of Metamorphism
14-Feb	W	Metamorphic Rocks: Reading Earth History	p. 144-147 Plate Tectonics and Metamorphism
16-Feb	F	Exam One	none
19-Feb	M	Structural Geology: Strike and Dip, Stress and Strain, Types of Deformation	p. 152-154 Mapping Geologic Structure
21-Feb	W	Structural Geology: Faults	p. 156-157 Faults
23-Feb	F	Structural Geology: Folds	p. 158 Folds
26-Feb	M	Structural Geology: Maps and Cross-sections	p. 152-154 Mapping Geologic Structure (Review)
28-Feb	W	Geologic Time: Stratigraphy, Principles, Relative time	p. 172 Principles of Stratigraphy
2-Mar	F	Geologic Time: Absolute Ages, Radiometric Age Determinations	p. 183-184 Geologic Time Scale: Absolute Ages
5-Mar	M	Geologic Time: Deciphering Geologic History	p. 176-177 Earth Issues 8.1 The Grand Canyon
7-Mar	W	Geologic Time: Deciphering Geologic History	p. 179 Figure 8.10 Deciphering Geologic History
9-Mar	F	Class cancelled unexpectedly: no key for computer
12-Mar	M	Geologic Time: Paleomagnetism	p. 342-344 Paleomagnetism
14-Mar	W	Plate Tectonics: Anatomy of a Continent	p. 221-223 Tectonic Provinces Around the World, Types of Tectonic Provinces, Tectonic Ages
16-Mar	F	Plate Tectonics: Continental Growth and Change	p. 232 Figure 10.18 The Wilson Cycle
19-Mar	M	Spring Break	none
21-Mar	W	Spring Break	none
23-Mar	F	Spring Break	none
26-Mar	M	Earthquakes	p. 298-301 What is an Earthquake?
28-Mar	W	Earthquakes and plate tectonics	p. 309-311 The Big Picture: Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
30-Mar	F	Earth interior: layers and evidence	p. 326 Basic Types of Waves
2-Apr	M	Isostacy	p. 329-330 The Crust & p. 331 Earth Issues 14.1 Uplift of Scandinavia
4-Apr	W	Exam Two	none
6-Apr	F	Holiday	none
9-Apr	M	Climate and the Carbon cycle	p. 348-352 Components of the Climate System
11-Apr	W	Mass wasting	p. 384-385 Mass Wasting
13-Apr	F	Soils	p. 381-383 Soils as Geosystems
16-Apr	M	Hydrologic Cycle	p.402-403 The Hydrologic Cycle
18-Apr	W	Groundwater	p. 408-409 How Water Flows Through Soil and Rock, Porosity and Permeability
20-Apr	F	Streams and Floods	p. 428 Stream Valleys, Channels, and Floodplains
23-Apr	M	Earth and Mars Deserts	p. 464-466 Where Deserts are Found
25-Apr	W	Meteorite impact and Mass extinction	p. 261-263 Extinction of Life: The Demise of Dinosaurs
27-Apr	F	Earth Resources: Fossil Fuels	p. 557-558 How Oil and Gas Form
30-Apr	M	Alternative Energy Resources: Nuclear, Solar, Wind, Hydroelectric, Geothermal	p. 564-569 Alternative Energy Sources
2-May	W	Earth Resources: Minerals	p. 68-73 Minerals Occur in Rocks as Valuable Resources
4-May	F	Earth: the future	p. 552 Civilization as a Global Geosystem
7-May	M	Final Exam: 10:30-12:30	none

Attendance and All Other Concerns

Attendance: Your attendance and participation in lecture is vital to your grade!

Make-up work: There is no make-up work for missed lectures. If you have a legitimate reason for missing a block of lectures, please see me. If you miss a lab for any reason, there is a make-up lab on Friday afternoons (see your TA for details).

Students with disabilities: Please see me.

Plagiarism: NMSU’s definition of plagiarism is found on this web page: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/plagiarismforstudents.htm. I encourage you to think your own thoughts, take your own tests, and do your own labs during this course!

Any other concern: Please see me.

The Clickers

Class Name: Survey of Geology

Class Key: G26581D172

You will need:

the class key (above)
an internet connection
enrollment code/coupon (from the bookstore)
method of payment (credit/debit card, personal check)

Enrolling through CPSOnline

First, set up a CPSOnline account:

Go to www.einstruction.com
Click on the Students link at the top left of the window.
Select NMSU from the drop-down menu.
Ignore Choose Site.
Enter your clicker’s serial number. You can find the serial number when you turn on the clicker.
Click Create Your Account.
Create a CPSOnline Username and Password and fill in your contact information. Click Submit to create your account.

Now, enroll in Survey of Geology (this costs $15):

Click Yes to enroll immediately.
Enter the class key in the space provided. The class key is G26581D172. If you have an enrollment code, enter it in the Code box (the code is not required, kind of like in Pirates of the Caribbean…more like a recommendation.)
Fill in your billing information and click Continue.
Click Submit and choose your payment options. Click Continue.
If you are taking more than one class that uses CPSOnline this semester, click the Enroll in a Class button from the main menu.
Once you have finished enrolling in all your classes, click Log Out. It’s important to use the Log Out feature.