CroninProjects.org/ Vince/ PhysGeoLab/ Geo1405-LabSyllabus-Fall18.html |
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Students working together on a lab activity.
We reserve the right to revise this syllabus as necessary throughout the semester. Notice of revision will generally be given via email broadcast to registered students in the course.
Revised 5 August 2018
Important note: This syllabus is not a contract.
The lab homepage is http://croninprojects.org/Vince/PhysGeoLab/
The laboratory teachers for this course are
All email communication to your teachers concerning this course should originate from your Baylor email account.
The laboratory portion of this course provides us with an opportunity to engage in active learning, and to get a close-up look at minerals, rocks, fossils, maps, and other materials that are important to the study of physical geology. This course overall is an attempt to explore and summarize the best scientific understanding of Earth's ~4.6 billion year age, evolution, composition, and major dynamic systems, as that understanding exists in the geoscience community based on published peer-reviewed scientific literature. We want you to become literate with respect to the Earth sciences (http://www.earthscienceliteracy.org).
Your goal should be mastery of the material that you are asked to learn in this course. This will take 1-2 hours of work for every lab meeting. If you are not willing to devote that amount of time to this course, you will not learn the material and, hence, there is little point in your taking this course. You need to commit to doing good work and learning the course material.
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Required lab-section text: The paper copy of Cronin and Tasa [editors], 2017, AGI/NAGT Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology [11th edition]: Pearson, 426 p. |
Dates | Topic | Pre-lab Reading | Activities We'll Complete | Pre-lab Video | Items You Must Bring to Lab* |
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August 21-23 | No Labs The First Week | | Read ahead | | |
Aug 28-30 | Intro basics | Lab 1, p. 1-36 | 1.2A, 1.3, 1.4A-B, and 1.6D-F | Video | See the list with the asterisk below this table |
Sept 4-6 | Plate tectonics | Lab 2, p. 37-54 | 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, and 2.7 | Video | red or orange pencil |
Sept 11-13 | Minerals | Lab 3, p. 69-96 | 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 | Video | cleavage goniometer cut from GeoTools sheet 1 (back of lab book), optional magnifying lens |
Sept 18-20 | Rocks types | Lab 4, p. 97-122 | 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 | Video | optional magnifying lens |
Sept 25-27 | Igneous rock | Lab 5, p. 123-138 | 5.2, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7 | Video | optional magnifying lens |
Oct 2-4 | Sedimentary rock | Lab 6, p. 149-168 | 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9 | Video | optional magnifying lens |
Oct 9-11 | Metamorphic rock | Lab 7, p. 185-196 | 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 | Video | optional magnifying lens |
Oct 16-18 | Mineral & Rock Quiz | Labs 3 & 5-7 | | | optional magnifying lens |
Oct 23-25 | Dating rocks, geologic time | Lab 8, p. 207-220 | 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6 | Video | black or blue pen |
Oct 30-Nov 1 | Topo maps | Lab 9, p. 231-252 | 9,2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5 and 9.6 | Video | protractor, colored pencils, black or blue pen |
Nov 6-8 | Earthquakes | Lab 16, p. 409-416 | 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.4, and 16.5 | Video | drafting compass** |
Nov 13-15 | Streams | Lab 11, p. 293-306 | 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, and 11.7 | Video | colored pencils, piece of string or thread about 30 cm (12 inches) long |
Nov 20-22 | | No Labs due to Thanksgiving | | | Eat too much and take an afternoon nap |
Nov 27-29 | Groundwater | Lab 12, p. 325-336 | 12.2, 12.3, 12.5, and 12.6 | Video | colored pencils |
* These items are in addition to your lab book, a pencil, a ruler with a metric scale (cm, mm), and an inexpensive scientific calculator (e.g., Texas Instruments TI-30Xa Scientific Calculator, or Casio FX-260SOLAR11 Scientific Calculator both available at big-box stores for ~$10 or less) or a sufficiently charged smartphone with a calculator app.
** A drafting compass is a device for drawing circles.
The lab grade is based on the quality of your work on laboratory activities, beginning/end-of-lab and midterm quizzes, and any homework that might be assigned. The lab grade is reported to the faculty member who teaches your lecture section as a percentage score out of a possible 100% perfect score. The lab grade comprises 25% of the total course grade, and the lecture part of the course supplies the remaining 75% of the grade.
Academic integrity refers to the "integral" quality of the search for knowledge that a student undertakes. The work a student produces, therefore, ought to be wholly his or hers; it should result completely from the student's own efforts. A student will be guilty of violating academic integrity if he/she...
(a) knowingly represents work of others as his/her own,
(b) uses or obtains unauthorized assistance in the execution of any academic work, including possessing or using a stolen copy of one of Professor Cronin's exams, or
(c) gives fraudulent assistance to another student.
After McGlynn, A.P., 2001
In the spirit of being a good steward of university resources (and Professor Cronin's personal property), you must be careful not to damage or abuse samples, maps, models, reserve materials, or other resources provided for your use in this course.
Any student needing academic accommodations as documented through the Office of Access and Learning Accommodation (OALA) should inform their lecture teacher and lab instructor immediately at the beginning of the semester. Required documentation and information regarding accommodations is available at the Paul L. Foster Success Center, 1st floor on the East Wing of Sid Richardson, (254) 710-3605. Accommodations available in the Dynamic Earth laboratory are not unlimited, and do not include taking quizzes or exams at an OALA-administered site outside of the Geosciences Department.
Baylor University asserts that it does not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender in any of its education or employment programs and activities, and it does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of sex or gender. If you or someone you know would like help related to an experience involving sexual or gender-based harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, stalking, intimate partner violence, or retaliation for reporting one of these type of prohibited conduct, please contact the Title IX Office at (254) 710-8454 or report online at www.baylor.edu/titleix.
The Title IX Coordinator for Baylor University is Kristan Tucker. The Title IX office understands the sensitive nature of these situations and can provide information about available on- and off-campus resources, such as counseling and psychological services, medical treatment, academic support, university housing, and other forms of assistance that may be available. Staff members at the office can also explain your rights and procedural options if you contact the Title IX Office. You will not be required to share your experience.
If you or someone you know feels unsafe or may be in imminent danger, please call the Baylor Police Department (254-710-2222) or Waco Police Department (9-1-1) immediately. For more information on the Title IX Office, the Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Interpersonal Violence policy, reporting, and resources available, please visit www.baylor.edu/titleix.
For an overview of Title IX, read the description available from Wikipedia.org at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX
For answers to frequently asked questions about geology and science, go to http://www.baylor.edu/Geology/index.php?id=26719
If you have any questions or comments about this site or its contents, drop an email to the humble webmaster.
All of the original content of this website is © 2018 by Vincent S. Cronin