Introductory Earth System Science Lab

15-30

Lab only

University with graduate programs, including doctoral programs

This is an introductory lab course with the pre or co-requisite of the introductory lecture course. There are other introductory lecture courses that we offer online that can also serve as a pre or co-requisite (e.g. Natural Hazards). Typically less than 10% are majors, this course meets the GE requirement for a natural science lab course necessary for graduation

This course covers major Earth System Science themes including: Earth materials, plate tectonics, earthquake and volcanoes, hydrologic systems and processes, climate change and pollution. The lab and field activities are structured to introduce students to, and have them practice, the scientific methods of: observations and interpretations, collecting and analyzing data (qualitative and quantitative), making and using models (digital and physical), and making and testing hypotheses.

Goals for this course are listed in three parts: 1) learning outcomes, 2) science skills, and 3) career dispositions.

Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. Use models to portray and experiment with various aspects of the Earth system (tectonic cycle, groundwater, ocean circulation, water pollution, and climate change)
2. Identify basic methods geoscientists use to gather, validate, and interpret data
   1. Demonstrate basic data interpretation skills including formulating hypotheses, detecting patterns in data, testing hypotheses and drawing conclusions
   2. Practice and apply quantitative measurements and estimation in Earth system sciences;
3. Describe major tectonic settings and basic geologic structures and relate each to the type of stress involved
4. Describe Earth's fresh water resources; how these interact within Earth's systems, and how human activities have impacted water resources
5. Explain the fundamental drivers of ocean circulation and climate change and how these processes interact within Earth's systems

Science Skills you will Practice

This course has been intentionally designed for the development and practice of scientific skills that transfer across disciplines. You will see one or more of the following science skills identified within the lab learning objectives.

1. Documenting observations
   1. With sketches
   2. With description
2. Collecting data
   1. Qualitative (sketches, observations)
   2. Quantitative (rates, quantities, etc.)
3. Analyzing and interpreting data
   1. Making graphs
   2. Identifying patterns
   3. Comparing values
4. Using models
   1. Physical models simulating Earth's processes
   2. Digital models simulating Earth's processes
   3. Digital models built from real data to analyze and interpret Earth's processes
5. Making and testing hypotheses

Workforce Dispositions you will Develop

Workforce dispositions are a sort of "soft skill" that are increasingly becoming part of the critical skill list desired by employers. You will practice several of these key dispositions throughout our course as you progress through the course material. I am listing these here for you because these dispositions may be important items that you can highlight in a cover letter or discuss with a potential employer if you are aware of them and have had time to reflect on them during your academic journey.

1. Desire to learn: Maintaining curiosity, valuing knowledge, and actively pursuing personal and professional growth
2. Attention to detail: Demonstrating meticulousness, thoroughness, and accuracy
3. Work Ethic: Demonstrating accountability, consistently meeting deadlines, prioritizing tasks effectively, and showing a commitment to responsibility and effort
4. Initiative: Self-driven motivation to take proactive action and responsibility in solving problems or achieving goal
5. Flexibility: Adapting to challenging circumstances and being open to new concepts or ideas
6. Positive Attitude: An optimistic and constructive mindset characterized by empathy, and respect towards others

Labs are sequenced in an order purposely to align with developing the students' science skills. The early labs emphasize making and documenting observations as well as using those observations as evidence to make interpretations. Then models (digital and analog) are used, along with collecting data (qualitative and quantitative) to examine and interpret Earth's processes, then testable hypotheses are used to design experiments using models.

This course was designed to be broad enough spectrum of content that it would complement our introductory Earth Systems Science lecture or any of our other rotating online introductory level courses within the Geosciences. It was also designed to scaffold the practice of science across the semester within the various lab activities.

80% of the final grade for this course comes from the labs, each of which are assessed using the same criteria.

1. General description/introduction plus or minus hypothesis: this is a paragraph that introduces the objectives of the lab and explains the context of where the activity fits within the curriculum. If your lab activity includes making or experimenting with a model, you should explain what the components of the model represent in the real world. If (when) you are "practicing" scientific methods (e.g. observations, hypotheses, interpretations, predictions), you should explain what techniques of science you are practicing. If (when) you are asked to make a hypothesis or prediction for your experiment, you should include your hypothesis in this section as well. Note that you should always try to make a testable hypothesis that you can either support or refute with the observations and data that you gather during your lab time.
2. Observations: these are a description of what you see - and only what you see. Be descriptive and explain. Depending on the lab activity, your observations may require annotated sketches, data tables, or graphs.
   1. Annotated sketches: These can be used to document an overview and a detail of what you are examining or modeling, or to document before-during-after observations. Regardless, a good sketch must always be annotated (labeled). This means that they should always have a scale (what size is the thing you are sketching?) and be neatly labeled (what are the key components within your sketch?).
   2. Data tables: Sometimes you will be tasked with collecting data and recording it in a table. Your table should have neatly labeled column and row headers and be sure to include units where applicable.
   3. Graphs: Sometimes you will be tasked with making a graph of data that you have collected or that has been provided to you. Use a ruler to draw neat axes and label them, including units where applicable. Consider what you should use for your x and y axes. Ask yourself if the story of your data is best told with multiple data sets on a single graph? Or with multiple graphs?
3. Interpretations and discussion: Interpretations should (attempt to) explain the observations that you made. Each interpretation should be clearly connected to an observation. Frequently you will be asked to discuss connections, questions, or related ideas within the lab activity – that is you should "think big" or at least beyond the literal example or model you have just completed. What questions do you now have? What applications can you see? What do you want to investigate further? For many activities you will be provided specific discussion or interpretation questions to answer for this section.

Earth System Science Lab Syllabus (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 33kB Jul25 24)