Sign above a door at Texas A&M University that reminds folks of an essential virtue that makes education (and geoscience) possible. Photo by Vince Cronin.
Science and Geoscience
"The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And, of course, a false statement of fact made deliberately is the most serious crime a scientist can commit."
--physicist and author C.P. Snow, as written in
The Search
(1934)
"Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty—some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely sure."
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts."
"Science alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers of the preceding generation."
--Nobel-laureate physicist Richard Feynman, as written in
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
(1999)
"Truth is what stands the test of experience."
--Nobel-laureate physicist Albert Einstein, as written in
The Laws of Science and the Laws of Ethics
(1999)
Assignments For This Topic...
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The reading assignments are in the required textbooks listed on the main course syllabus (https://croninprojects.org/Vince/Course/PhysGeol/Geo1405-Spring2021.html.
-
View
the "welcome" video on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-V7ELKGnBU
. Please do not to make any rude comments about Dr. Cronin or his messy home office.
-
If you have not already done so,
register for
Mastering Geology
from within the
Canvas
Learning Management System (LMS).
To register for
Mastering Geology
, read and follow the directions provided on the PDF document
https://croninprojects.org/Vince/Course/PhysGeol/Student-Reg-Instruct-Spring2021.pdf
and follow the links embedded in that document.
-
Read
the study questions for this section, listed at
https://croninprojects.org/Vince/Course/PhysGeol/Geo1405-Intro-Q.html
and keep them in mind as you read the following assignments. Most, if not all, of the answers will be in the reading assignments you will have over the first few days of the course.
-
Read
:
Earth
, chapter 1, section 1.3
The Nature of Scientific Inquiry
-
Read
:
Earth
, chapter 1, section 1.4
Earth as a System
-
Scan
:
Earth
, chapter 1, section 1.5
Origin and Early Evolution of Earth
-
Read
:
Earth
, chapter 1, section 1.6
Earth's Internal Structure
-
Complete the assigned work in Mastering Geology
via Canvas (course 202110 GEO 1405 01 - The Dynamic Earth)
-
Complete the lab assignment
as described below
Important Notes
- A video conference will begin at the starting time each week for the lab section in which you are a registered student. You can ask questions related to the lab assignments during the weekly video conference. Each weekly conference will be accessible via a Microsoft Teams channel associated with your lab section. You can learn how to access your Microsoft 365 subscription as a Baylor student via https://www.baylor.edu/its/index.php?id=871490.
- The completed laboratory activities assigned below must be submitted via the Canvas
learning management system (LMS) before 11:59 PM Central Time on the day after the day on which your laboratory section is scheduled to meet (e.g., due before Wednesday night at 11:59 PM for a lab scheduled on Tuesday). Instructions for submitting your lab work are provided HERE.
- The end-of-lab quiz must be completed via the Canvas LMS before 11:59 PM Central Time two days after the day on which your laboratory section is scheduled to meet (e.g., due before Thursday night at 11:59 PM for a lab scheduled on Tuesday).
Lab Assignment to be largely or entirely completed before your weekly lab meeting
- View the video introducing the material in the first chapter of the AGI/NAGT Lab Manual at https://goo.gl/c3zAzr.
- View the pronunciation guide for nerdy geoscience terms used in the first chapter of the AGI/NAGT Lab Manual at Pronouncing Terms from the Intro Chapter.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, section Introduction and all of its subsections, Pages 2-3.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, sections Earth System Science and How Is Each Laboratory Chapter Organized?, Pages 4-6.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, Pages 6-9, Getting to Know Your Planet: Geographic Coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) and Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Coordinates
- Do: Download the free app Google Earth Pro onto your computer from https://www.google.com/earth/versions/ .
View the YouTube video FindingPtsWithGeogCoords-GoogleEarthPro at https://youtu.be/PWxcEOQMBxE to familiarize yourself with using Google Earth Pro.
Play. Look around your planet. Find where you live right now (use your address in the search window) and places you have visited. Have good nerdy fun. But come back to Earth eventually, because we have more work to do.
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, Activity 1.1, Pages 17-18. If you get stuck, contact your Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) or Dr. Cronin and they'll try to help you get unstuck. Submit a PDF of your completed activity sheet to the Intro assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
- Read: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, Basic Number Management, p. 15-16
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, Activity 1.6, Unit Conversions, Scientific Notation, and Rates, p. 25-26, and submit it to the Intro assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
- Do: AGI/NAGT Lab Manual, chapter 1, Activity 1.7, Graphing and Interpreting Data, p. 27-28, and submit it to the Intro assignment in Canvas — submission instructions HERE.
Summary of Assigned Lab Activities for This Week: Activities 1.1, 1.6, and 1.7
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