SCI 3410—EARTH SCIENCE
ÒThe One They Warned You AboutÓ
CRN #12772
Fall 2012
Dr. Ben Waggoner
020 Lewis Science Center
Cell phone: 472-2854
Department phone: 450-3146
Department FAX: 450-5914
E-mail: ediacara@cyberback.com
Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:25-10:40 AM: LSC 101
Lab: Thursday, 2:40-5:20 PM: LSC 152
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00-11:00 AM; or by appointment
Prerequisites: Biology 1400 (Biology for General Education); Physics 1400 (Physical Science for General Education)
Optional Textbook: Edward J. Tarbuck and Frederick K. Lutgens. Earth Science. (The 11th, 12th, and 13th editions are all acceptable.)
Other Books: You will select three books on earth science topics and write reports on them during the semester. See the list at the end of this syllabus.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
You are directed to familiarize yourselves with all policies listed in the Student Handbook (http://uca.edu/student/student-handbook/ ), including but not limited to:
Harassment: Sexual harassment of any faculty member, staff member, or student, by any faculty member, staff member, or student, is a violation of both law and university policy and will not be tolerated at the University of Central Arkansas. Sexual harassment of employees is prohibited under Section 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual harassment of students may constitute discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Non-sexual harassment based on race or ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, or age will be treated in an equivalent fashion by the professor.
The University's official definitions of sexual harassment, and the steps to be taken in case of harassment, are on-line at http://uca.edu/board/files/2010/11/511.pdf . Any incidents should be reported to the professor in charge of the class; to the department head (180 LSC); to the academic dean (104 LSC); or directly to the Office of the General Counsel (http://uca.edu/legal/; 205 and 206 Wingo Hall; 852-2659) or the Associate VP of Human Resources (Graham Gillis: ggillis@uca.edu; 103 Wingo; 450-5051).
Disabled students: The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need an accommodation under this Act due to a disability, contact the UCA Disability Support Services office in suite 212 of the Student Health Center, by phone at 450-3613, on the Web at http://www.uca.edu/disability/ , or by e-mail to the director, Crystal Hill, at crystalh@uca.edu.
Statement on academic misconduct: The University of Central Arkansas affirms its commitment to academic integrity and expects all members of the university community to accept shared responsibility for maintaining academic integrity. Students in this course are subject to the provisions of the university's Academic Integrity Policy, approved by the Board of Trustees as Board Policy No. 709 on February 10, 2010, and published in the Student Handbook. (http://uca.edu/board/files/2010/11/709.pdf) Penalties for academic misconduct in this course may include a failing grade on an assignment, a failing grade in the course, or any other course-related sanction the instructor determines to be appropriate. Continued enrollment in this course affirms a studentÕs acceptance of this university policy.
Academic misconduct includes plagiarism (presenting material from another printed or Internet source as your own work), cheating (for example, copying another studentÕs exam or assignment and presenting it as your own), and fabrication (falsifying the results of an experiment or other records). The official definition of academic misconduct used at UCA is found in the current Student Handbook. More information, including examples of these types of academic misconduct, is at http://www.uca.edu/integrity/index.php .
Penalties for academic misconduct in this course will include, at minimum, a failing grade on the affected assignment(s). For egregious cases, the instructor reserves the right to drop the offender with a grade of WF, or take other course-related sanctions determined to be appropriate. Also please note that under current UCA policy, your professors are now required to file reports on instances of academic misconduct. These go into your permanent academic record. For repeated offenses, further penalties may be applied, up to and including expulsion.
Children on the UCA campus: According to UCA Board Policy 518, students should not bring children into classrooms, as a rule. (ÒChildrenÓ are defined as persons under the age of 18 who are not enrolled as students at UCA.) In the event of an emergency, a professor may allow limited exceptions to the rule. However, children should not be attending class routinely; a UCA classroom is not an alternative to childcare.
Children must be supervised at all times, and must not interfere with teaching and learning. If your child disrupts the class for any reason, I will have to ask you to leave and take your child. Board policy also states that children must not be brought to UCA at all if they have an infectious disease. Finally, children must not be allowed into potentially hazardous areas. For that reason, I cannot allow children to attend labs, even with parental supervision. The labs that we do are generally safe for adults, but there are still hazards for children—glassware could break, chemicals could be toxic, and so on. Field trips are also not safe—many of the places we will visit are roadcuts, and the risk of a child wandering into oncoming traffic is too great.
Scholarships: Students who are on academic scholarships should be aware that most scholarships require full-time enrollment (at least 12 hours) and a minimum GPA of 2.5. If you are on scholarship, please keep your requirements in mind when making or altering your schedule. See http://www.uca.edu/scholarships/, or contact the Division of Enrollment Management at (501) 450-3125 or scholarships@uca.edu.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance: Attendance will not be taken after the first few meetings. You are presumed to be adults, responsible for the consequences of your own actions, and able to cope with the results of missing any fraction of this course. For your own benefit, please make every effort to attend class.
You cannot make up missed labs or exams in this course, but if you miss a lab or exam for an acceptable reason, your grade will be prorated. Acceptable reasons for missing class include:
¥ death (your own)
¥ death of a family member or close friend
¥ personal injury or illness, if serious enough to require professional medical treatment
¥ injury or illness of a family member or close friend, if serious enough to require medical treatment
¥ serious unforeseen personal emergency (e.g. car breakdown, court appearance, etc.)
¥ participation in a sanctioned intervarsity athletic event
¥ participation in an event sponsored by a registered student organization or recognized professional organization.
Medical, dental, and legal appointments may be excusable, as may employment responsibilities, but please do all you can to avoid scheduling them in conflict with your class. Participation in non-emergency family activities, or in organizations that are not registered student organizations or athletic teams, are not usually excusable.
Barring truly extraordinary circumstances, excusable absences must be documented—by an official note on letterhead from your doctor, dentist, car mechanic, arresting officer, parole board, etc. as the case may be. I wonÕt ask to keep your documentation, but I will need to examine it.
Also, just because your absence is excused does not exempt you from learning the missed material. You will still be held responsible for whatever you have missed. Make arrangements with your fellow students to get copies of lecture notes and handouts.
Exams: There will be two midterm exams (100 pts.) and a final exam (200 pts.) The final exam will be cumulative, but will focus mostly on material from the second half of the course. Exam format will include mostly fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and short essay questions. The textbook readings are intended to reinforce and clarify the lecture material—but lectures will be the primary source for everything on the exams.
Inclement Weather Policy: If the weather is bad, check the UCA main website (http://www.uca.edu/), KUCA (91.3 FM) radio, or local TV (Channel 4, KARK, is usually on the ball; or check http://www.kark.com/) for announcements. If the campus is officially closed, classes will be canceled and you donÕt have to be here.
If the campus isn't closed, then classes will be held as normal—but use your own judgment in deciding whether to attend. Some students have to commute a long way and may not be able to reach campus safely. I expect everyone to make a reasonable effort to show up—but don't risk your life, health, or property to get here! Severe weather counts as an excusable reason for absence. Assignments that you miss due to bad weather may be prorated, postponed, or canceled at the instructor's discretion.
Labs: Handouts for each lab will be provided to you in advance. Most of the labs will have instructions for completing the accompanying lab write-up that you will turn in for a grade. Each of the thirteen labs will be worth fifteen points, for a total of 200 points.
Trips: Three of our labs will be scheduled as field trips to points of geological interest in the Conway and Little Rock areas. The trips will depart from UCA at the beginning of the lab period, and will be timed to return everyone to UCA by the end of the lab period (although sometimes adverse traffic conditions make us a bit late; please take this into account when planning your schedule). Two Saturday field trips are also on the schedule; this will depart the UCA campus early in the morning and return by mid-afternoon.
I reserve the right to cancel or reschedule these trips depending on weather conditions, if necessary, although I will try not to do so unless there is a pressing need. Participation in these trips is mandatory, and the usual absence policy applies. You will need to provide their own transportation, and you are strongly encouraged to share rides, both to save fuel and money, and because parking is limited at some of the locations.
Book Reports: At the end of this syllabus you will find three lists of books on earth science topics. I have ordered one book through the campus bookstore; the others should be easy to find in local bookstores, online retailers, or the UCA or other libraries. You are to pick one book from each list, read it, and write a report on it. Each report is worth 50 points and is due on the date specified in the schedule below. More information on the format of the report will follow soon.
Electronic Devices: A number of psychological studies have shown than multitasking interferes with the brainÕs processing ability. In other words, even though you think you can learn from my lectures while checking your Facebook page, e-mailing your mom, texting your significant other, and playing Angry Birds. . . you really canÕt. Not as well as you think. Still, if you want to pay money to go through this class in an electronically induced purple haze, thatÕs not my problem. I get paid the same.
What you donÕt have the right to do is disrupt anyone elseÕs attempt to learn from me. Even if youÕre bored sick by my blather, you owe your fellow students courtesy and respect. That means: Turn cell phones to silent. If you must take an important call during class, sit near the exit so you can leave with minimal disruption. If you absolutely have to look at something highly distracting on your laptop, sit in the back row where you wonÕt distract people behind you. In the words of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (55-135 CE), ÒWhat thou avoidest suffering thyself, seek not to impose on others.Ó
Some students like to record my lectures for audio playback later. This is generally acceptable, as long as any recordings are made for personal use only and not distributed commercially. (Unfortunately, this has happened to me before.)
No electronic devices of any kind may be used during exams—with the exception of assistive devices that have been cleared with me, well in advance, by Disability Support Services. This includes, but is not limited to, calculators (which wonÕt be necessary in this course), MP3 players or other music and sound players, cell phones, smartphones, or computers of any size and shape. Unfortunately, owing to some suspicious events in the past, I have banned the use of electronic translators and dictionaries during exams, although you may use them in normal lectures and labs.
Grading:
Midterm exam 1 100 pts.
Midterm exam 2 100 pts.
Final exam 200 pts.
Labs 200 pts.
Book reports 150 pts.
TOTAL: 750 pts.
Letter grades will be assigned in 10% increments: thus a score of 90-100% is an A, 80-89.9% is a B; 70-79.9% is a C, 60-69.9% is a D, and anything under 60% is a grade of F. There will not be a curve. No extra credit or bonus points will be given. Except in the case of an arithmetic or accounting error on the professorÕs part, final grades will not be changed for any reason after the end of the course.
|
DATES |
LECTURE TOPICS |
LABS |
READINGS |
|
Aug 23 |
Intro, getting acquainted |
NONE |
Ch. 1 |
|
Aug 28, 30 |
Mineralogy |
Mineral ID |
Ch. 2 |
|
Sep 4, 6 |
Petrology |
Rock ID |
Ch. 3 |
|
Sep 11, 13 |
Plate Tectonics |
TRIP: Igneous Rocks |
Ch. 7 |
|
Sep 18, 20 |
Volcanoes |
Volcanoes |
Ch. 9 |
|
Sep 25, 27 |
Tectonics and Landscape |
Map Reading |
Ch. 10 |
|
Oct 2, 4 |
Earthquakes / EXAM 1, Review 1 due |
TRIP: Sedimentary Rocks |
Ch. 8 |
|
Oct 9, 11 |
Stratigraphy |
Structural Geology |
Ch. 11 |
|
Oct 16, 18 |
Geologic Time |
Fossils I |
Ch. 12 |
|
Oct 23 |
Fossils and Earth History |
NONE—Fall Break |
Chs. 11, 12 |
|
Oct 30, Nov 1 |
Oil and Gas |
Fossils II. DAY TRIP Nov. 3. |
none |
|
Nov 6, 8 |
Hydrosphere / EXAM 2, Review 2 due |
Rock Permeability |
none |
|
Nov 13, 15 |
Hydrosphere II |
Stream Tray |
Chs. 13-15 |
|
Nov 20 |
Atmosphere |
NONE - Thanksgiving |
Chs. 16, 17 |
|
Nov 28, 30 |
Meteorology |
AirBear. DAY TRIP Dec. 1. |
Chs. 18, 19 |
|
Dec 4, 6 |
Global Climate. Review 3 due. |
TRIP: AGS |
Ch. 20 |
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 13, 8:00-10:00 AM.
This instructor reserves the right to modify this schedule or the assignments listed on it as he chooses, in the best interests of the course. Any changes will be announced in advance if possible.
OTHER KEY DATES
(http://www.uca.edu/registrar/academiccalendar.php)
August 29, Wednesday: Last date to register, add classes, change from credit to audit or audit to credit, drop classes with 100% tuition refund
September 3, Monday: Labor Day Holiday
September 13, Tuesday: Last date to drop class with 75% tuition refund
September 21, Friday: Final date to make degree application for December graduation and be included in commencement program
October 25-26, Thursday/Friday: Fall Break
October 29, Monday: Advance Registration for spring 2011 begins
November 2, Friday: Final date to officially withdraw from a semester course or the university with a W grade unless already dropped for non-attendance
November 21-15, Wednesday–Sunday: Thanksgiving Break
November 30, Friday: Final date to officially withdraw from a semester course or the university with a WP or WF grade unless already dropped for non-attendance
December 3, Monday: Recommended date to make degree application for December 2011 graduation
December 7, Friday: Study Day
December 15, Saturday: Winter Commencement
December 17, Monday, NOON: Final grades due
BOOK LIST 1—REPORT DUE OCTOBER 4, 2012
Feldman, Jay. When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes. ISBN-13: 978-0743242783.
Lamb, Simon, and David Sington. Earth Story: The Forces That Have Shaped Our Planet. ISBN-13: 978-0691116624.
Lillie, Robert J. Parks and Plates: The Geology of Our National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores. ISBN: 978-0393924077.
McPhee, John. Basin and Range. ISBN-13: 978-0374516901.
McPhee, John. Assembling California. ISBN-13: 978-0374523930
McPhee, John. Rising from the Plains. ISBN-13: 978-0374520656.
McPhee, John. In Suspect Terrain. ISBN-13: 978-0374517946.
All four of the above books by John McPhee, along with an additional book-length section called Crossing the Craton, have been collected in one large volume, Annals of the Former World (ISBN-13: 978-0374518738). If you acquire this book, you may review any one of the five sections as if it were a separate book; you do not have to review the entire book.
Nield, Ted. Supercontinent: Ten Billion Years in the Life of Our Planet. ISBN-13: 978-0674032453
Officer, Charles and Page, Jake. The Big One: The Earthquake That Rocked Early America and Helped Create a Science. ISBN-10: 0618341501.
Oreskes, Naomi. Plate Tectonics: An InsiderÕs History of the Modern Theory of the Earth. ISBN-13: 978-0813341323.
Winchester, Simon. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883. ISBN-13: 978-0060838591.
Winchester, Simon. A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. ISBN-13: 978-0060572006.
Zeilinga de Boer, Jelle, and Donald Sanders. Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions. ISBN-13: 978-0691118383
BOOK LIST 2—REPORT DUE NOVEMBER 1, 2012
Beerling, David. The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History. ISBN-13: 978-0199548149.
Benton, Michael. When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time. ISBN-13: 978-0500285732.
Cutler, Alan. The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius Who Discovered a New History of the Earth. ISBN-13: 978-0452285460.
Dawkins, Richard. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. ISBN-13: 978-1416594789.
Erwin, Doug. Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago. ISBN-13: 978-0691136288.
Fortey, Richard. Earth: An Intimate History. ISBN-13: 978-0375706202.
Hallam, Tony. Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities: The Causes of Mass Extinctions. ISBN-13: 978-0192806680.
Hazen, Robert M. The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet. ISBN-13: 978-0670023554.
Knoll, Andrew. Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth. ISBN-13: 978-0691120294.
Lewis, Cherry. The Dating Game: One Man's Search for the Age of the Earth. ISBN-13: 978-0521893121.
Prothero, Donald R. Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters. ISBN-13: 978-0231139625.
Prothero, Donald R. Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs: Evolution, Extinction, and the Future of our Planet. ISBN-13: 978-0231146609.
Repcheck, Jack. The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of Earth's Antiquity. ISBN-10: 0465013376.
Shubin, Neil. Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body. ISBN-13: 978-0307277459.
Switek, Brian. Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature. ISBN-13: 978-1934137291.
Winchester, Simon. The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology. ISBN-13: 978-0061767906.
BOOK LIST 3—REPORT DUE DECEMBER 6, 2012
Alley, Richard B. The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. ISBN-13: 978-0691102962.
Archer, David. The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate. ISBN-13: 978-0691148113.
Climate Central. Global Weirdness. ISBN-13: 978-0307907301.
de Villiers, Marc. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. ISBN-13: 978-0618127443.
Deffeyes, Kenneth. Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak. ISBN-13: 978-0809029570.
Deffeyes, Kenneth. Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage. ISBN-13: 978-0691141190.
Ebbesmeyer, Curtis. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One ManÕs Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science. ISBN-13: 978-0061558429.
Glennon, Robert. Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping And The Fate Of America's Fresh Waters. ISBN-13: 978-1559634007.
Greer, John Michael. The Long Descent: A UserÕs Guide to the End of the Industrial Age. ISBN-13: 978-0865716094.
Heinberg, Richard. The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies. ISBN-13: 978-0865715295.
Kolbert, Elizabeth. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. ISBN-10: 1596911301.
MacDougall, Doug. Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages. ISBN-13: 978-0520248243.
Margonelli, Lisa. Oil on the Brain: Petroleum's Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank. ISBN-13: 978-0767916974.
McKibben, Bill. Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. ISBN-13: 978-0805090567.
Nash, J. Madeleine. El Nino: Unlocking the Secrets of the Master Weather-Maker. ISBN-13: 978-0446679923.
Ward, Peter D. Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future. ISBN-13: 978-0061137921.
Zalaziewicz, Jan, and Mark Williams. The Goldilocks Planet: The Four Billion Year Story of EarthÕs Climate. ISBN-13: 978-0199593576.