Professor: Dr. Emily Walsh
Office: 204 Norton (x 4302)
E-mail: ewalsh@cornellcollege.edu
Office Hours: 11:00-11:30 M-F, by appointment, or whenever you catch me in my office.
*I do not have email at home, so I will NOT be able to answer your email over the weekend or at night.
Textbook: Earth: Portrait of a Planet by Marshak, 2nd edition
*Students must also purchase a hand lens of their own, available at the bookstore.
Grading:
| 15% | Weekly assignments |
| 25% | Lab |
| 20% | Quizzes |
| 10% | Final project |
| 25% | Final Exam |
| 5% | Attendance/participation |
Course schedule: Topics may be reorganized as the term progresses. The course will meet 9-11 am and 1-3 pm daily.
| Week #1: | Readings in Textbook | ||
| Monday | 9:00 | Course intro; Earth's structure | Ch. 1-2 |
| 1:00 | TBA | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Plate Tectonics computer exercise | Ch. 3-4 |
| 1:00 | Plate Tectonics continued | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Minerals; Sedimentary rocks | Ch. 5, 7 |
| 1:00 | Sedimentary rocks & minerals lab | ||
| Thursday | 9:00 | Fieldtrip | |
| 1:00 | |||
| Friday | 9:00 | Geologic time; Relative & absolute ages | Ch. 12-13 |
| 1:00 | Geologic time lab | ||
| Week #2: | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Igneous rocks and processes | Ch. 6 |
| 1:00 | Igneous rocks & minerals lab | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | ERUPT computer exercise; volcanoes | Ch. 9 |
| 1:00 | video | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Metamorphic rocks and processes | Ch. 8 |
| 1:00 | Metamorphic rocks & minerals lab | ||
| Thursday | 9:00 | Fieldtrip | |
| 1:00 | |||
| Friday | 9:00 | Class presentations | |
| 1:00 | Class presentations | ||
| Week #3: | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Mountain building; Geologic structure | Ch. 10-11 |
| 1:00 | Cross-section lab | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Streams & flooding | Ch. 17 |
| 1:00 | Local fieldtrips | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Karst & groundwater | Ch. 19 |
| 1:00 | Groundwater exercise | ||
| Thursday | 9:00 | Fieldtrip | |
| 1:00 | |||
| Friday | 9:00 | Paleoclimates | Ch. 20, 22 |
| 1:00 | Paleoclimates computer lab | ||
| Week #4 | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Special topics | TBA |
| 1:00 | Lab Exam | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Poster Session | Study for final! |
| 1:00 | |||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Final Exam | |
Quizzes: To help you learn the material throughout the term (and in place of a midterm exam), I will give about 6 pop quizzes. Each quiz will address material covered in lecture, lab, readings or fieldtrips at least one day prior to the quiz. Quizzes will generally be given at 9 am and will last approximately 10 minutes. There are no make-ups, and no extra time will be given for latecomers; however, I will drop the lowest quiz grade.
Assignments: Both in-class and homework assignments will be given. Late assignments will be docked 25% for each day late and at least 10% for lateness on the due date.
Lab: Labs are designed to give you hands-on experience to help you learn the course material. It is very important that you each do your own work and understand the lab, as the lab material may show up on exams. Fieldtrips and their write-ups will be included in the lab grade. Fieldtrip attendance is mandatory--if you miss a fieldtrip for other than a school-sanctioned reason that you have discussed with me at least a day before the trip, you will write a 10-page paper on a topic of my choosing. This paper will be due one week from the fieldtrip date, or by the last day of class, whichever comes first.
Exams: Both lab and lecture exams will be closed book, closed notes and cumulative. A missed exam will result in a 0 for that exam. Emphasis will be on testing your understanding of concepts; however, some memorization (especially for lab exams) of terms, definitions and rock and mineral ID will be required.
Attendance: I will take attendance regularly. Please notify me ahead of time of any impending absences. To drop on the 15th day, you may have no more than 2 excused absences; you must have completed all your work, and you must have participated in class. I reserve the right to decide which excuses are valid and to determine whether you have been participating actively in class.
Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism. (Plagiarism is the act of claiming someone else's work as your own.) You must always cite data, ideas, interpretations, quotes from others that you use in your own work. I do not tolerate academic dishonesty. If you cheat or plagiarize even once, you may receive an F in the course. Check The Compass online (the student handbook) for a more detailed discussion of academic dishonesty. For citations in this class, you may use the APA Citation Style (found under the Natural Sciences page on the Cole Library website). If you have questions, please see me!
Last Update: July 15, 2008 8:41 am