SYLLABUS 2009
Instructor: Allan Ashworth, Room 130, Stevens Hall
E-mail: allan.ashworth@ndsu.edu
Class time: 1:00 - 1:50 p.m., Stevens Auditorium
Text: Levin, H.L.,The Earth Through Time. Saunders - 8th Ed.
Additional instructional materials:
Earth Through Time Outlines (Ashworth)
Web instructional page: http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~ashworth/webpages/g106/
| W | JAN | 14 | The Geological Time Scale | |
| F | 16 | Uniformitarianism v. Catastrophism | ||
| M | 19 | MARTIN LUTHER KING HOLIDAY | ||
| W | 21 | Superposition and cross-cutting relationships | ||
| F | 23 | Stratigraphy and the age of strata | ||
| M | 26 | Fossils and the age of strata | ||
| W | 28 | Isotopes and the age of strata | ||
| F | 30 | TEST 1 | ||
| M | FEB | 2 | Radiocarbon dating | |
| W | 4 | Evolution and the fossil record | ||
| F | 6 | The age of the Earth | ||
| M | 9 | Plate Tectonics - Visitor | ||
| W | 11 | Plate Tectonics | ||
| F | 13 | The oldest crustal rocks - Archean | ||
| M | 16 | PRESIDENTS DAY HOLIDAY | ||
| W | 18 | TEST 2 | ||
| F | 20 | Archean and Proterozoic | ||
| M | 23 | The oldest fossils | ||
| W | 25 | The oldest fossils | ||
| F | 27 | The origin of life | ||
| M | MAR | 2 | The Cambrian explosion | |
| W | 4 | TEST 3 | ||
| F | 6 | The Burgess Shale fossils | ||
| M | 9 | Vertebrate Origins | ||
| W | 11 | Paleozoic Vertebrates | ||
| F | 13 | Paleozoic Vertebrates | ||
| M | 16 | SPRING BREAK HOLIDAY | ||
| W | 18 | SPRING BREAK HOLIDAY | ||
| F | 20 | SPRING BREAK HOLIDAY | ||
| M | 23 | Paleozoic Plants | ||
| W | 25 | Mesozoic paleogeography | ||
| F | 27 | HOLIDAY | ||
| M | 30 | HOLIDAY | ||
| W | APR | 1 | TEST 4 | |
| F | 3 | Mesozoic plants | ||
| M | 6 | Dinosaurs | ||
| W | 8 | Dinosaurs | ||
| F | 10 | Dinosaurs | ||
| M | 13 | Cretaceous seas | ||
| W | 15 | Birth of the Rocky Mountains | ||
| F | 17 | North Dakota Badlands | ||
| M | 20 | North Dakota Badlands | ||
| W | 22 | TEST 5 | ||
| F | 24 | The rise of the mammals | ||
| M | 27 | The evolution of horses | ||
| W | 29 | The evolution of whales | ||
| F | MAY | 1 | The origins of hominids | |
| M | 4 | Ice Ages | ||
| W | 6 | Ice Ages | ||
| F | 8 | Ice Ages - Global warming | ||
| M | 11 | FINAL EXAM 1:00 -3:00 p.m. |
TESTING:
There will be five tests and a final exam. All tests will be of the multiple choice type. There will be 25 questions on each of the tests and 50 questions on the final. Final letter grade will be based on the sum of the scores of the final (40%) and the average of the best four scores of the five tests (60%). ALL tests and THE FINAL must be taken on the DATES and TIMES shown in the syllabus. There will be NO MAKE-UP TESTS. Maximum grade boundaries A = 90, B=80, C=70, D=60.
SPECIAL NEEDS:
Students requiring special accommodation for learning, or who have special needs, should visit with the instructor as soon as possible
ACADEMIC CONDUCT:
Students are responsible for submitting their own work. Students who cooperate on oral or written examinations or work without authorization share the responsibility for violation of academic principles and the students are subject todisciplinary action even when one of the students is not enrolled in the course where the violation occurred (from <http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm>)
BULLETIN DESCRIPTION:
Introduction to the Earth through time;it's origin, history,and evolution of animal and plant life
LABS:
General Education Science labs that are associated with Geology 106 are Geology 106 (Spring Semester) and Geology 304 'Eastern North Dakota Field Course' (Fall Semester).
GENERAL EDUCATION:
Intended Course Outcomes and their Relationships to General Education Geology 106/106L have been approved for the following general education categories:1. Science and Technology – students will learn to comprehend concepts and methods of inquiry in science and technology, and their applications for society.
2. Global Perspectives – students will better understand worldwide issues illustrating the interdependence of the world and its peoples. These outcomes will be met through the following student learning objectives.
The student learning objectives for the course are used to support Outcomes 3, 5 and 6:
Outcome #3: “Comprehend the concepts and perspectives needed to function in national and international societies.”
Major issues with societal implications discussed in the course include:
the origin of the Earth, the origin of life, evolution, mass extinctions,
plate tectonics, climate change, with associated impacts on global societies
the future of the Earth and its biota
Outcome #5: “Students will learn to comprehend concepts and methods of inquiry in science and technology, and their applications for society.”
Scientific ideas are presented as a result of scientists’ generating and testing hypotheses, not as a series of facts that need to be learned. Lectures stress the importance of questions in the process of scientific inquiry, from the formulation of an initial hypothesis, to the iterative testing of improved versions.Concepts of the evolution of species and the societal implications of understanding its scientific basis are discussed. In lab, students interpret paleoenvironments and the age of strata by identifying fossils and by integrating paleoecological and chronological data learned in earlier labs. Also, students interpret geological history from geological maps using methodologies they have learned in earlier labs
Outcome #6: “Students will learn to integrate knowledge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner.”
The geological timescale is used as the framework to which all lecture and lab information is related. In lecture, students are encouraged to systematically organize lecture material and information from assigned readings. In lab, students are required to write short answers showing the steps they have taken in making interpretations.