Student Resources | Syllabus | Grading | Learning Outcomes
| Dates | Topic | Text Reference |
|---|---|---|
Introduction to Earth Science | ||
Mon Aug 26th | Introduction: Overview of the Course, Syllabus, Grading Policy, Classroom Etiquette, Technological Skills | |
| Lecture One: Introduction to Earth Science What is Earth Science? Earth's Spheres. Deep Time. Scales of Measurement. Earth's Systems. The Nature of Scientific Inquiry, The Scientific Method Featured Rock: Granite Book Recommendation: The Story of Earth by Robert Hansen | Chapter 1 | |
Geology | ||
| Fri Aug 30th Wed Aug 28th | Lecture Two: Matter and Minerals Definition, Atomic Structure, Properties, Abundance, Mining Featured Rock: Amethyst Book Recommendation: The Elements We Live By by Anja Royne | Chapter 2 |
| No Class Monday, September 2nd: Labor Day | ||
| Fri Aug 30th Wed Sept 4th | Lecture Three: Rocks; Materials of the Solid Earth The Rock Cycle, Igneous, Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Ores Featured Rock: Rock Salt Book Recommendation: The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks by Donald Prothero | Chapter 3 |
| Fri Sept 6th Mon Sept 9th | Lecture Four: Plate Tectonics Continental Drift, Plate Boundaries, Hot Spots, Mechanisms Featured Rock: Blue Schist Book Recommendation: Into the Heart of Our World by David Whitehouse | Chapter 4 |
| Fri Sept 6th Wed Sept 11th | Lecture Five: Earthquakes and Earth's Interior Faults, Foreshocks and Aftershocks, Seismology, Scales, Tsunamis, Subsidence, Earth's Layers Featured Rock: Fossiliferous Limestone Book Recommendation: After the Quake by Haruki Murakami | Chapter 5 |
| Fri Sept 13th Mon Sept 16th | Lecture Six: Volcanoes and Other Igneous Activity Flows, Gases and Pyroclastics, Types of Volcanoes, Volcanic Landforms, Plate Tectonics and Vulcanism Featured Rocks: Scoria, Pumice Book Recommendation: Volcano Watch by Toni Dwiggins | Chapter 6 |
| Fri Sept 13th Wed Sept 18th | Lecture Seven: Crustal Deformation and Mountain Building Folds, Faults, Types of Mountain Ranges, Isostasy, Joints Featured Rocks: Obsidian and Basalt Book Recommendation: A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko | Chapter 7 |
| Fri Sept 20th Mon Sept 23rd | Exam One (Geology) | Chapters 1 to 7 |
| Fri Sept 20th Wed Sept 25th | Lecture Eight: Weathering, Soil, Mass Movement Soil Formation, Soil Classification, Soil Erosion, Mass Wasting - Controls and Triggers Featured Rock: Shale Book Recommendation: A World Without Soil by Jo Handelsman | Chapter 8 |
| Fri Sept 27th Mon Sept 30th | Lecture Nine: Running Water and Ground Water The Hydrologic Cycle, River Systems, Work From Running Water, Erosion, Deposition, Floods, Groundwater: Storage and Movement of Groundwater, Springs and Wells, Contamination, Subsidence, Latitude, Longitude, Topological Maps Featured Rock: Sandstone Book Recommendation: Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner | |
| Fri Sept 27th Wed Oct 2nd | Lecture Ten: Glaciers, Deserts, and Wind Glacial Erosion, Landforms, Glacial Deposits, Ice Ages, Evolution of a Desert, Dunes Featured Rock: Rock Flour Book Recommendaton: Atlas of a Lost World by Craig Childs | Chapter 10 |
| Fri Oct 4th Mon Oct 7th | Lecture Eleven: Geologic Time Relative Dating, Law of Superposition, Cross-Cutting Relationships, Inclusions, Principle of Original Horizontality, Unconformities, Disconformity, Fossils, Radiometric Dating, The Geologic Timescale Featured Rock: Morton Gneiss Book Recommendation: Timefulness by Marcia Bjornerud | Chapter 11 |
| Fri Oct 4th Wed Oct 9th | Lecture Twelve: Evolution of Earth What Makes Earth Habitable?, Birth of a Planet, Origin and Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans, Geological Timescale Featured Rock: Banded Iron Formation Book Recommendation: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte | Chapter 12 |
| No Class Monday, October 14th: Indigenous Peoples' Day | ||
| Fri Oct 11th Wed Oct 16th | Exam Two (Geology) | Chapters 8 to 12 |
Oceanography | ||
| Fri Oct 11th Mon Oct 21st | Lecture Thirteen: The Ocean Floor Mapping the Ocean Floor, Continental Margins, Deep-Ocean Basins, Oceanic Ridge System Featured Rock: Limestone Book Recommendation: The Bathysphere Book by Brad Fox | Chapter 13 |
| Fri Oct 18th Wed Oct 23rd | Lecture Fourteen: Ocean Water and Ocean Life Composition of Sea Water, Variations in Temperature and Density, Ocean Life, Ocean Productivity Featured Rock: Coral Book Recommendation: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt | Chapter 14 |
| Fri Oct 18th Mon Oct 28th | Lecture Fifteen: The Dynamic Ocean Ocean Circulation, Ocean Waves, Coastal Features Featured Rock: Sandstone Book Recommendation: The Wave by Susan Casey | Chapter 15 |
Meteorology | ||
| Fri Oct 25th Wed Oct 30th | Lecture Sixteen: The Atmosphere; Composition, Structure and Temperature Weather and Climate, Height and Structure of the Atmosphere, Ozone Hole, Greenhouse Effect, Earth-Sun Relationships, Mechanisms of Heat Transfer, Cloud Cover and Albedo, Electromagnetic Spectrum Book Recommendation: Treading on Thin Air by Elizabeth Austin | Chapter 16 |
| Fri Oct 25th Mon Nov 4th | Lecture Seventeen: Moisture, Clouds and Precipitation Phase Changes of Water, Relative and Absolute Humidity, Dew Point, Stability and Instabilty of Air Masses, Classification of Cloud Types, Precipitation Book Recommendation: A Cloud a Day by Gavin Pretor-Pinney | Chapter 17 |
| Fri Nov 1st Wed Nov 6th | Lecture Eighteen: Air Pressure and Wind Measuring Air Pressure, Idealized Global Circulation, Jet Streams, Local Winds, Land and Sea Breezes Book Recommendation: Braving the Elements by David Laskin | Chapter 18 |
| No Class Monday, November 11th: Vetrans Day | ||
| Fri Nov 8th Wed Nov 13th | Lecture Nineteen: Weather Patterns and Severe Storms Types of Air Masses, Fronts, Cyclones and Anti-cyclones Book Recommendation: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson | Chapter 19 |
| Fri Nov 8th Mon Nov 18th | Lecture Nineteen (cont.): Weather Patterns and Severe Storms Severe Storms: Thunderstorms, Tornados, Hurricanes Book Recommendation: Come Hell or High Water by Michael Eric Dyson | Chapter 19 |
| November 15th Last Day to Drop | ||
| Fri Nov 15th Wed Nov 20th | Lecture Twenty: World Climates and Global Climate Change What is Climate, Types of Climates, Past and Future Climate, What Causes Climate to Change Featured Rock: Coal Book Recommendation: Nomad Century by Gaia Vince | Chapter 20 |
| Fri Nov 15th Mon Nov 25th | Lecture Twenty (cont.): World Climates and Global Climate Change Human Impact on Global Climate, Climate Feedback Mechanisms, Rate of Climate Change, Climate Adaptation Book Recommendation: Fire Weather by John Vaillant | Chapter 20 |
| Fri Nov 22nd Wed Nov 27th | Exam Three (Oceanography, Meteorology) | Chapters 13 to 20 |
Astronomy | ||
| Fri Nov 22nd Mon Dec 2nd | Lecture Twenty-One: Origin of Modern Astronomy Early Greeks, Ptolemaic System, Copernican System, Kepler's Laws, Galileo, Constellations, Rotation, Revolution, Precession, Phases of the Moon Book Recommendation: Bad Astronomy by Philip Plait | Chapter 21 |
| No Class Thursday & Friday, November 28th & 29th: Thanksgiving | ||
| Fri Dec 6th Wed Dec 4th | Lecture Twenty-Two: Touring Our Solar System Terrestrial Planets, Jovian Planets, The Moon, Asteroids, Comets, Meteoroids Lecture Twenty-Three: Light, Telescopes and the Sun Nature of Light, Spectroscopy, Doppler Effect, Telescopes, Structure and Composition of the Sun Book Recommendation: Our Moon by Rebecca Boyle Featured Rock: Meteorite | Chapter 22 & 23 |
| Fri Dec 6th Mon Dec 9th | Lecture Twenty-Four: Beyond the Solar System Stellar Brightness, Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, Variable Stars, Interstellar Matter, Stellar Evolution Book Recommendation: Starry Messenger by Neil deGrasse Tyson | Chapter 24 |
| Fri Dec 13th Wed Dec 11th | Departmental Final Exam | See List of Topics |