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GSC 102

I.  TITLE:  Earth Through Time

II.  CATALOG DESCIPTION: An inquiry based course that allows students to develop a history for the planet on which they live.  This history is chronicled in the rocks and the fossil record which reveals that: the earth’s atmosphere has evolved from one which was deadly to the present atmosphere that is hospitable to humans, in the past continents drifted to form and reform
into shapes, sizes, and locations that in no way resemble the present continents that we think of as stable and permanent features, the record of life contains many forms less well known than dinosaurs that like them are not a part of today’s world and the total time involved in the earth’s history far exceeds the record of human history.

III. PURPOSE: This course is designed primarily for students with an interest in science.  The purpose of this course is to develop through mature and independent thought the basic skills that can be used to decipher the history of planet earth.  Lecture and lab are integrated to allow students to understand the critical and scientific methodologies this discipline employs
to discover knowledge and ascertain validity.  Accurate and precise observations of mineral, rock and fossil specimens are necessary before one through critical thinking constructs a model for the geologic history for any areas of the earth.  They will learn through the application of geologic principles and scientific data presented and manipulated through computer technology why the natural resources of the earth are not equally or randomly distributed and assess how this impacts many world problems that result from the struggle to obtain the best quality and largest quantity of resources such as oil industrial metals and
drinking water.  Students will assess the discovery of new data and conclude from the assessment if they will validate, reject or modify their previous model.   Students will see how culture influences observations in the collection of data and thus influences the conclusions drawn from this data.  Students will express through oral and written communications the conclusions they have drawn about geologic phenomena or the geologic history of an area such as the coal fields of Kentucky and other coal fields of the world.

IV.  COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon successful completion of this course students will:
A. use the knowledge and skills mastered through achieving the course objectives to better understand the approximately 4.5 billion years of global earth history.  For instance earth history explains when the earth’s energy and mineral were formed and where these resources are presently located.  Earth history also gives clues to where and why the land surface has been unstable in the past and thus under natural conditions where and why it will continue to be unstable in the future.  Specifically oil is “necessary” for our society to function now and in the foreseeable future.  Oil is the reason that the very smal country of Kuwait, less than the size of the Jackson Purchase, was able to marshal the armies of most of the worlds leading industrial nations to come to its aid.  On the other hand Mali has no oil and few natural resources except sand.  Mali is 70 times larger than Kuwait, but Mali can not marshal consideration for anything.  In California today even without having to worry about earthquakes, the people who’s homes are slip/sliding away were built on material that was unstable in the past.  Since your home is probably the largest financial investment you will make in your lifetime, it would be prudent not to build on material that has been unstable in the past regardless of the view one has

B. Through the process of conducting tests, identify and learn the rock forming minerals and be able to relate specific minerals to their environmental limits of stability e.g. temperature and pressure stability ranges.

C.  Develop through observations and simple testing the ability to identify various types of igneous, sedimentary, and tamorphic rocks

D.  Recognize the general environmental significance of the three general types of rocks as well as specific rocks such as vesicular basalt that always forms at the surface of the earth, or rock salt which indicates arid conditions under which evaporation takes place

E.  Develop the skills necessary to identify fossils to the taxonomic level of class

F.  Relate certain types of fossils such as corals and bryozoa to specific environments, marine as opposed to terrestrial or fresh water environments

G. Display the ability to relate selected index fossils to a global chronology, the global intervals of geologic time.

H.  Developed through experimentation the basic universal geologic laws, Original Horizontality, Lateral Continuity, Superposition and Cross-cutting Relations, that are used to decipher the relative chronology of rock sequences at any position of the earth as well as geological events on other planets such as Mars

I.  Display the ability to integrate the information from the previous objectives into a geologic history for an area any where in the world

J.  Use their knowledge gained through the study of earth history to be able to predict which    broad areas of the world are most and which are least favorable for the discovery of vital     mineral resources such as oil, coal, copper, and nickel

V.  CONTENT OUTLINE:
The content of the course focuses on the following major topics:
A. Earth materials and general principles of Historical Geology
B. Earth’s internal structure-how does it relate to earthquakes and volcanic activity
C. Plate tectonics-evidence supporting the fact that earth’s continents and ocean basins are moving beneath man’s feet is evaluated-how does this influence mans concept of his importance and his place in the grand scheme of things
D. The Precambrian history of the earth-changes in the earth’s atmosphere and the beginnings of life-bulk of the world’s metallic ores are found in the rocks of this age
E. The Paleozoic history of the earth-age of the invertebrates and the time interval in which most of the worlds best quality coal deposits were formed
F. The Mesozoic history of the earth-age of the reptiles-dinosaurs ruled but are now extinct-possible explanations for this extinction and plausible implications for other organisms-start of the Rocky Mountains
G. The Cenozoic history of the earth-age of the mammals, the continued formation of the Rocky Mountains, the formation of the Alps and Himalaya Mountains and the age of the largest portion of the worlds oil and gas production and reserves

VI.  INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES:
A.  Background content will be provided by lectures, slides, and video tapes

B.  Outside readings will be required

C.  Students will be required to integrate and apply the background material and outside readings to problem solving in class room discussions and written assignments.  Students will respond orally to questions so the professor and the students can assess their readiness to take a written quiz or test on the material in question.  No point value will be given to the oral responses.  Point value for the written test or quiz will be indicated and will constitute their respective % of the 75% of the class grade for the lecture portion of the course.  Each written test will have from 15 to 25% essay questions or questions that can be answered in a single well constructed sentence.  This work will be evaluated on  the basis of the content and clarity of the answer.  This does not establish a ridged number of points for the course rather it allows flexibility depending on the success of the class in mastering the material that is covered.  From year to year some students/classes may require more quizzes that other students/class, one size does not fit all classes.  This course only has a single session each semester thus the flexibility does not present a consistency problem between concurrent section because there are none.

D. Computer based interactive internet activities will require students to relate present day geologic processes such as volcanic activity, earthquakes or hurricanes to examples of similar processes that have been preserved in the rock record.

E.  Hands on lab exercises and a field trip which are integrated with lectures are active learning processes that involve students making observations and drawing conclusions from samples and real world situations which represent different aspects of the history of the earth

VII.  FIELD AND CLINICAL EXPERIENCES: 10% of the lab grade which is 25% of the course grade.
A.  A field trip will be required.  This trip will allow students to gather evidence and offer explanations for real world examples of earth history that is derived from the rock record rather than from selected samples that have been collected for their interpretation by some third party.  5% for making the field trip
B. A report on the evidence gathered and conclusions derived from this evidence will be required.  5% for the written report

VIII.  RESOURCES:
A.  Text and lab manual
B.  Rock samples, slides, video tapes, library resources
C.  Dept. of Geosciences Computer Lab

IX.  GRADING PROCEDURES:
Lecture 75% of grade to be composed of quizzes, lecture tests, written discussions and class room discussions
Lab 25% of grade to be composed of rock and mineral exam, fossil exam field trip report and quizzes
A=100-90%; B-89-80%; C=79-70%; D=69-60%; E=below 59%
See VI. C Section

X. ATTENDANCE:
A. Attendance in the real world is an important part of ones job performance thus attendance will be taken
B. The instructor will reserve the right to fail a student (terminate employment) who is absent for more than 20% of the class and lab sessions for this course

XI. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY: Cheating and plagiarism (submitting other materials or work that are not one’s own as one’s own, or doing work for another person who will receive academic credit for this work) are all impermissible.  This includes the use of unauthorized books, notebooks, or other sources in order to secure or give help during an examination, the
unauthorized copying of examinations assignments, reports, or term papers, or to the presentation of unacknowledged materials as if it were the student’s own work.  A grade of zero will be given for the assignment which has been fraudulently submitted.  A second offense will result in a failing grade for this course.

XII. TEXT AND REFERENCES:
A. Lecture Text: The Earth Through Time, Harold L. Levin
B. Lab Manual: Earth Through Time

XIII. PREREQUISITES:
GSC 101 The Earth and the Environment or
GSC 199 Earth Science and permission of the instructor

Last updated February 14, 2000. Designed and maintained by Kyosung Koo