Principles of Geology
Alan Whittington
University of Missouri (University with graduate programs, including doctoral programs)
Summary
Introductory Physical Geology with lab. Three 1-hour lectures per week plus one 2-hour lab per week (taught by TA's).
Course URL: http://www.missouri.edu/~agw526/Courses/Principles/GS1100F05syllabus.htm
Course Type:
Entry Level:Physical Geology
Course Size:
greater than 150
Course Context:
This is an introductory course with no pre-requisites, and is one of two possible prerequisites for other Geology courses (the other is "Environmental Geology" which is actually quite similar). Typically, more than 90% of the students take the course to satisfy a general education requirement, and only a handful plan to be Geology majors. The course has a required lab. About 50% freshmen, 25% sophomores, 12.5% juniors and 12.5% seniors. Class size varies with lecture time (two sections taught every semester) but is always more than 200 and sometimes as big as 330, in a single auditorium.
Assessment:
75% from two midterm and one cumulative final exam, all multiple choice.
25% from three lab quizzes and one cumulative lab exam, variety of questions but mostly short answer / calculation / fill-in-the-blank type.
25% from three lab quizzes and one cumulative lab exam, variety of questions but mostly short answer / calculation / fill-in-the-blank type.
Syllabus:
Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 159kB Jun25 06)
Teaching Materials:
List of rocks and minerals to be identified for lab (Acrobat (PDF) 33kB Jun25 06)
Sample lecture handout posted online (this one is for the first lecture) (Acrobat (PDF) 228kB Jun25 06)
Topic Outlines posted online (all 16 topics combined into one file) ( 44kB Jun25 06)
Sample lecture handout posted online (this one is for the first lecture) (Acrobat (PDF) 228kB Jun25 06)
Topic Outlines posted online (all 16 topics combined into one file) ( 44kB Jun25 06)
References and Notes:
Textbook: Earth: Portrait of a Planet (with CD-ROM), 2nd edition, by S. Marshak [W.W. Norton], ISBN 0-393-92502-1
Web site: http://www.wwnorton.com/earth/earth/ (more info)
Lab manual: Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology, 7th edition, edited by Richard M. Busch [Prentice Hall] ISBN 0-13-149745-6
Web site: http://www.prenhall.com/agi/
Web site: http://www.wwnorton.com/earth/earth/ (more info)
Lab manual: Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology, 7th edition, edited by Richard M. Busch [Prentice Hall] ISBN 0-13-149745-6
Web site: http://www.prenhall.com/agi/
