EARTH
AND LIFE THROUGH TIME
GEOL 11042 a distance-learning course
at
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
Outcrops show the Jurassic-aged Morrison Formation in southern Capitol Reef National Park. The Morrison Formation is world-famous for its dinosaur fossils. Images courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA
In this web page you will find information to help you succeed in Earth & Life Through Time
COURSE SYLLABUS WITH IMPORTANT DATES | |
Academic Calendar | |
CLICK HERE FOR A STUDY GUIDE FOR THE FIRST MIDTERM | CLICK HERE FOR A STUDY GUIDE FOR THE SECOND MIDTERM |
What kind of course is Earth and Life Through Time, anyway? | Tips on Communication in a dl course! |
Welcome and General Guide
Welcome to Geology 11042 –Earth
& Life Through Time, a 3 credit course
designed for the Spring
semester.
This
course is entirely on line,
including the 2 Midterms and Final Exam.
You will be listening and
viewing the lectures, and taking
the quizzes on line.
The
Midterms and Final Exam are open
book/open notes multiple choice
exams.
The course syllabus,
grading plan, and useful links are all
here on this course webpage and
in your course materials folder. Required Texts are: Benton, Michael J., 2008. The History of Life-A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-922632-0, AND Redfern, Martin, 2003. The Earth-A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-2803007-8. Each paperback is about $12.00, and both are also available as Kindle downloads. Total cost is about $24.
In
the syllabus, you will find the
lecture schedule, lecture topic
summaries, assigned readings, and the
course grading plan.
You will find that each
week is packaged as a module,
and each module typically contains
2 lectures and a quiz, or some
combination of lecture, and quiz.
There are 11 quizzes,
(lowest quiz score will be
dropped) and and these count for 30% of your
grade in the course.
The two midterms are each worth 20%
(total = 40%) and the final exam
is worth 30% of the final grade,
and it is a comprehensive final
exam.
Instructor cyber-office hours
and email address are posted at
the top of the syllabus webpage.
A discussion page
dedicated to this course
provides you with an opportunity
to post questions about the
material or alert the instructor
to any technical issues.
We will review and answer
those questions periodically
each week, and so everyone will
benefit from seeing the answers
to questions raised by class
members.
|
USEFUL LINKS
U.C. Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Web Page: Interactive Geologic Time Scale with Great Fossil images! |
The Paleontology Portal: Explore the Fossil Record of the U.S.A., State by State |
Explore the Solar System on NASA's web page |
Find about about active research in Paleoclimatology on this NOAA web page |
See Photo Images of Meteorite Craters with Age Dates at this Lunar & Planetary Society Web Page |
Read about Gas Hydrates (Clathrates) and their role in abrupt climate change on this U.S.G.S. web page |
Read about the Snowball Earth Hypothesis here in this online Geotimes article |
See plate tectonic maps of the world with the continents in past positions at this University of Northern Arizona website. |
Visit the Virtual Fossil Museum-See Gorgeous Fossils and Learn How They Track the Record of the Diversity of Life on Earth |
Take the Virtual Fly-Through Tour of the Grand Canyon, courtesy of The National Park Service and NASA |
Love Pterosaurs? Here's the Pterosaur Website! |
Interested in Petrified Wood? Here's a website devoted to it: The Virtual Petrified Wood Museum! |
Rationale and Learning Objectives
The Earth has a long natural history and a rich record of that history. The processes and events of Earth's Past drive legacy effects that reach us now, and that the modern world experiences daily. The physical and biological history of the Earth are strongly linked, with each area influencing the other to produce distinct patterns through time, which can be observed. By understanding these processes in play through time, you can become informed with a planetary view. An informed society, knowing about Earth history, has a better chance of making wise decisions about how to manage, develop, protect, and preserve critical features of the planet. An informed society can become a successful steward of the planet's resources; its members can live enriched lives and will be better able to hand those resources onward to their children.
Learning Objectives: The student will, upon completion of this course, come away with...
1) a general understanding of the sequence of events in the development of life on Earth, and how this can be observed.
2) a general understanding of the physical processes driving the changing position of the continents through time, and how these can be observed.
3) a general understanding of evolution, and the links between biological and physical changes on Earth through time, and how these can be observed.
4) some knowledge of the principles of stratigraphy and correlation, which are the underlying rules governing the field of geology, and how these can be observed.
Student Accessibility Policy
University Policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that
students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations
to ensure their equal access to course content. If you
have a documented disability and require accommodations, please
contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make
arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments.
Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these
through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391
or visit
www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration
procedures). For students registered with
SAS, Student Accessibility
Services, please let me know by
email if you need to make
arrangements to have extra time
on quizzes and exams- a separate
download can be arranged for
you.
If you wish, a standard paper
copy of a final exam can be
taken in the SAS office on the
Kent Campus.
Registration Requirement
Registration Requirement: The last day to add a full term class or change sections of a class is January 22nd. The last day to withdraw from any or all courses before a grade of "W" is assigned is January 29th. University policy requires all students to be officially registered in each class they are attending. Students who are not officially registered for a course by published deadlines should not be attending classes and will not receive credit or a grade for the course. Each student must confirm enrollment by checking his/her class schedule (using Student Tools in FlashFast) prior to the deadline indicated. Registration errors must be corrected prior to the deadline. The last date to drop this course and receive a "W" is March 26th.