At the completion of this course, the successful student will be able to do the following:
In Geology:
- Differentiate between minerals and rocks and identify many of the common rocks.
- Classify types of rocks and draw the rock cycle.
- List causative agents and products of various types of erosion.
- Describe the causes and results of diastrophism.
- Classify earthquake waves, faults and types of unconformities.
- Use the laws of geology to determine the relative age of rock structure.
- Describe the gross structure of the Earth, i.e., crust, mantle, core.
- Sort and identify a mixture of minerals according to their physical properties
- Identify geological land forms and describe their origin.
- Relate diastrophism and land forms to tectonic plate motion.
In Meteorology:
- Describe the structure and composition of the atmosphere.
- Describe atmospheric circulation patterns.
- Read simple weather maps and identify fronts, air masses and wind direction.
- Describe the movement of air about high and low pressure centers.
- Use principles of air mass and frontal movement to predict weather in various parts of the U.S. using maps and weather satellite information.
In Astronomy:
- Give evidence of the sphericity, rotation and revolution of the Earth.
- Use latitude and longitude to identify geographical and time zones on Earth.
- Describe the motions of the Earth and the Moon in their orbits
- State and explain the various cosmological models.
- List Kepler's Laws.
- Use scale models as they relate to astronomical systems.
- List types of stars and describe the process of stellar evolution.
- Describe composition, structure, and possible origin of the solar system.
- Describe the structure and evolution of the universe.
Generally:
- Use laboratory equipment to perform experiments and demonstrations.