I hope that this course will be your introduction to the wonder and fascination of geology. Have you ever wanted to know how old a rock is? Wondered why there is sand at the beach? Or, asked why there are no real mountains in Pennsylvania? Do you know why California gets major earthquakes and Pennsylvania doesn't? Do you know that the greatest mountain chain in the world is hidden beneath the Earth's oceans? Are you aware of the great changes in life that have evolved over the last 4 billion years? Understanding rocks, earthquakes, rivers, mountains, and Earth history is geology. This course should let you begin to see the world with the eyes of a geologist and to ask and answer questions about the geology you experience everyday.

About the course:

Geoscience 020, Planet Earth is designed to introduce the students to both the amazingly interesting world of geology and to methods of science. Geology is the study of the earth, the materials of which it is made and the processes that shape and reshape its surface. A science is a body knowledge and a way to use knowledge to draw logical conclusions that increase our understanding of the natural world. To do a "science" like geology, one must learn both the factual material of the course and how to interpret geologic information in a logical way. Because this is a course given for college credit, you will be asked to demonstrate both your knowledge and and your ability to use it scientifically.

To achieve this end, you will be offered readings in the text, lab exercises and experiments, and lectures. All are important and are meant to build on and compliment each other. In lecture, I will focus on a particular question, observation or data set and use geologic principles to derive a scientific understanding of the topic being considered. Each lecture will be related to the reading assigned for that day, but I will not attempt to fully cover the material that is covered in the text. To best understand the material to be covered and to be able to participate in the class, it is important that you read the assigned material before class and work hard to understand the material included in the reading. I will be glad to answer any questions that emerge from the reading or from a review of a previous lecture as class begins. A word of caution, there is a lot of jargon in geology. I do not want this to become a science vocabulary course and will not test you directly on your geology word power. However, if you hear me use a term in lecture or I include a term on a lecture outline, it is your responsibility to know the geologic meaning of the word which may be different from the common usage meaning of the word.

The text provides depth and background information. There is no way that I can cover all of physical geology in a few weeks, so you will have to teach yourself much of the material by reading carefully and thinking about what your read. I'll try to give some pointers to help you use the text. One suggestion is to pay special attention to the wonderful illustrations and drawings that are very important to the story. Geology is a visual science and if you want to understand it, study the pictures.

The labs are intended to give you experience in thinking about and investigating problems like a geologist. There will be two kinds of exercises: Those that are designed to improve a particular skill like rock identification or map reading and those that will ask you to collect, examine and interpret data. Lab exercises will be organized as cooperative projects involving groups of 3 or 4 students.

Computer literacy will be expected of all students. Communication will be handled using the ANGEL course management system. ANGEL will also include posts of lecture slides that students can use for review and some lab assignments will be posted on the ANGEL site.  Students should register for ANGEL immediately. (http://cms.psu.edu)

Grades: (Please note that the grading system used in this course is probably unlike any system you have encountered.)

Grades will be based on weekly quizzes that give the student an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of material covered.  Quizzes will be graded as 5 (A), 4 (B), 3 (C), 2 (D) or 1 (F). Each quiz will be of equal weight.  Recognize that all written work is expected to be grammatically correct. A poorly written response cannot be considered A work. Certain assignments and labs will be treated as a quiz for grading purposes.

A student's final grade will be the average of all assignments counting for 95% of the grade and 5% for class participation. 

Students may compute their in-semester average (not including participation) by averaging their quiz grades and using the following formula: Grade = 60 + (average-2) * 13. For example, if the quiz grade average were 3.5, the grade would be 60 + (3.5 - 2)*13 or 79.5.  This should then be multiplied by .95 before adding the grade for class participation.

An improved demonstration of mastery will be allowed on 50% of the quizzes (chosen by the student) if the additional work is completed within two weeks of the original quiz. To demonstrate improved understanding, the student must submit a correction of the original with typed corrected answers stapled to the original quiz.  Students will then schedule a meeting with the instructor to discuss information covered in the quiz to ensure that mastery has been achieved.  Students are urged to contact the instructor for suggestions on how best to improve an assignment or response before resubmission of the corrected work.  The highest grade on a make-up assignment will be an A for an original B or C and 1 letter grade improvement for either a D or F.  Make-up work necessary because of lateness or absence will be handled as above.  Documentation of excused absences should be stapled to the completed quiz that is done as make-up.  Make-up of unexcused absences are also allowed, but the highest possible grade will be a C.

Attendance: Regular attendance does not guarantee success in the course, but consistent absenteeism is likely to result in failure.

Cell Phones:  Cell phones must be turned off during class. If you are experiencing an emergency that requires you to be available by cell phone, then let me know before class and I will be understanding.

Intellectual Integrity

Intellectual Integrity: I will expect all students to follow university policy   regarding intellectual integrity. I also expect all students to represent as their work only the work that they themselves do. I understand that group work requires sharing ideas and effort, however, when you sign a completed assignment as your work, it implies that you, as an individual, have made a significant contribution to the completion of the exercise.

Students should also ask themselves about the hidden costs of academic dishonesty. We read that cheating is rampant and that cheaters rarely pay a price for their activity. I think that this is not true. First the most important lessons you will learn in college are not those that are taught in the classroom. More important will be your learning and growth as an individual. If you decide to reduce yourself by cheating, your growth will be less. Second, real education demands trust between student and teacher. If that trust is loss, do not expect a teacher to give as fully of himself as he would for a student he respects. And, finally ask yourself what it is you hope to gain from the four years and thousands of dollars you are spending to complete your degree. If it is simply a piece of paper, then you are wasting your time. You must have more important goals, dreams of who you want to be and what you want to do when you are finished. The diploma will not make you successful, that depends on who you are and how committed you are to developing every bit of your potential. Cheating can only interfere.

Students with Disability

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities.  If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have a question about disability services, please contact Anne Prior, Room 315 Sutherland, 215-881-7537. She will notify me of any accomodation that I should make.