College of Mount St. Joseph
GEO 135
("Environmental Geology")
SYLLABUS
Spring Semester, 2012
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College of Mount St. Joseph |
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SYLLABUS
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Course description
Preface
Instructor
Texts and other publications
Materials needed
Course web-site
Materials in the College library
"Blackboard"
Electronic-mail
Important dates and times
Topics to be covered
Attendance (and tardiness)
Athletics and other College-sponsored activities
What about bad weather?
Field-trips
If you miss a field-trip
Assignments and preparing for class
Format to be used in materials submitted in this course
At test-time ----- And before
Grading
Academic honesty
Electronic devices in class -- Computers, telephones, radios, and such like
Recording class-sessions
For students with disabilities
Relationship of this course to your liberal-arts education
About this web-page -- Caveat lector !
An introductory course in geology as it relates to human activities and well being. Students are introduced to the Earth's materials and processes, geologic hazards, resources, consumption of those resources, and health- and environmental-problems associated with natural disasters, waste disposal, pollution, energy use, and other, related topics.
Lecture, lab. 4 credit-hours.
(The above is mostly from the Undergraduate Catalogue.)
Even as every course is a living thing, this syllabus is a living document. In the course of the term, it might be advisable (or even necessary) to make modifications in it. (Of course, proposed changes will be discussed in class prior to going into effect.)
A Note on Format:
This syllabus is designed for "The Web". Hence, some parts of of it are below, whereas others are reached by following links. If you choose to print out the syllabus, please, be certain to print out the documents reachable by links.
office: SC 304A (SC = Science Building) mail-box: the office of the Department of Biology, SC 205 'phone: ext. 4699 (full number: 513-244-4699) electronic-mail: r_a_davis@mail.msj.edu office hours: [Please, schedule an appointment
on the sign-up sheet outside SC 304;
if no available slot works for you, please, contact me,
and we'll find a time of mutual convenience.]
REQUIRED PUBLICATIONS
Montgomery, Carla W., "2011", Environmental Geology [ninth edition]: McGraw Hill, Boston, xvi + 511 p. [+ some separately paginated appendicular matter] [ISBN 978-0-07-352408-5].
RECOMMENDED PUBLICATIONS
Haneberg, William C., Mary M. Riestenberg, Richard E. Pohana, and Sharon C. Diekmeyer, 1992, Cincinnati's Geologic Environment: A Trip for Secondary-school Teachers: Ohio Division of Geological Survey, Guidebook No. 9, iii + 23 p.
Hannibal, Joseph T., and Richard Arnold Davis, 1992, Guide to the Building Stones of Downtown Cincinnati: A Walking Tour: Ohio Division of Geological Survey, Guidebook No. 7, iv + 44 p.
There are some other materials that you will find useful in the class-room. Please, do not go out and buy these before we discuss them in class:
1. pocket-knife (the blade of which you won't mind getting scratched) 2. iron nail 3. copper coin 4. small porcelain tile (white; unglazed) 5. small glass bottle or jar or small piece of window-glass with edges sanded (to remove sharpness) 6. hand-lens
(wait until after first day of class to acquire)7. lanyard or cord for your hand-lens 8. two sharp pencils ("lead" not too hard) 9. good eraser for same 10. straight edge with metric and English units (30-cm length) 11. stapler and staples 12. other items (In other words, if you have any of these, bring them, but you don't need to go out and buy them, unless you really want to do so.) a. a compass (the kind that points north)
Note: You should make it a habit of carrying your hand-lens with you at all times (and not just for lab.-sessions). You might need it unexpectedly some time.
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS
I strongly recommend that you acquire what you need to make back-ups of documents you generate on computer. For example, you could have a stock of CD-R discs and cases for them. Or you could use one of the so-called "flash-drives" or "thumb-drives".
In any case, you will need, from time to time, to submit material on disc. When you do so, the disc must be in a protective case, and the disc itself must be labelled with your name and with the name of the course, the number of the course, or both. (Please, do not label the protective case.)
There is a web-site specifically for this course. In fact, if you are reading this, you are at that web-site, because this is a part of it. The URL of the home-page is:
http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/davisr/geo135/index.htm
The publisher of the principal text-book maintains a free, interactive web-site; its URL is:
http://www.mhhe.com/montgomery8e
MATERIALS IN THE COLLEGE LIBRARY
There are a number of books that are "on reserve" in the College library.
In addition, the College Library owns a number of other geology-related items that are not “on reserve”.
"BLACKBOARD", ELECTRONIC-MAIL, and so on
In this course, we will be using a soft-ware package called "Blackboard" to provide you access to information pertinent to the course and the subject-matter of the course.
From time to time you will be sent electronic-mail messages; you will be expected to be aware of the contents of these messages. You also will be expected to communicate with the instructor by electronic-mail on occasion and with other members of the class, too. In short, if you are not already familiar with how to use the College's electronic-mail system, you should become so. Moreover, you should develop the habit of checking your electronic-mail on a daily basis.
(As an aside: The official medium of communication at the College is electronic-mail, by way of your College electronic-mail account. In other words, you are expected to be aware of anything sent by the College to you at your College electronic-mail address. To repeat: You should develop the habit of checking your electronic-mail on a daily basis.)
Being a paleontologist, I am, in some ways, a captive of the past and of the slow pace of geologic time. For example, commonly I do not check my electronic-mail except once a day, nor do I generally check electronic-mail on week-ends. Thus, if you send me an electronic-mail message at 9 a.m., for example, you may not get a reply from me until the next day or, if I am desperately overwhelmed, with other classes and other commitments, the day after that. By the same token, if I send you an electronic-mail message, I'll understand if you do not get to it until the next day or so.
Unless otherwise announced, class meets from 1100 until 1150 (= 11:00 - 11:50 a.m.) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and 1215 - 1455 (= 12:15 - 2:55 p.m.) 17 January through 04 May 2012, with the exception of Friday, 24 February ("Mid-Semester Holiday"), 12-17 March ("Spring Break"), and Friday and Monday, 06 and 09 April ("Easter Break").
Tests will be administered on the following dates, unless otherwise announced:
| Wednesday, | 15 February: | in class | |
| Wednesday, | 07 March: | in class | |
| Wednesday, | 11 April: | in class | |
| Wednesday, | 09 May: | 0800 - 0950 [= 8:00 - 9:50 a.m.] | -- "the final" |
(Here is a link to the official College "Exam Schedule" for this semester of this Academic Year .)
(The actual URL, as of 18 January 2012, is: https://mymount.msj.edu/ICS/icsfs/Exam_Schedule_S212.doc?target=52cda3cd-15d8-4d7f-a04a-37a3c340fcf7.)
(Here is a link to the official College policies and deadlines regarding withdrawals.)
(The actual URL, as of 08 January 2011, is: http://www.msj.edu/view/academics/catalogs--class-schedules/undergraduate-catalog/registration.aspx#withdrawal.)
(Here is a link to the official College "Dates to Remember", including those referring to withdrawals ----- see page 2 of the file.)
(The actual URL, as of 18 January 2012, is: https://mymount.msj.edu/ICS/icsfs/Spring_2012_S212_PP_REV_1-18-12.pdf?target=cbf34c88-0723-40cc-b4bd-ead9be209e9c.)
The "Celebration of Teaching and Learning" is on Tuesday, 17 April 2012.
Depending on the background and interests of the members of the class and on natural events that may take place during the term (for example: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami), any number of topics might be covered. The list presented on the indicated WEB-site is one possible agenda. We will discuss in class what we want the actual schedule to be.
(The actual URL, as of 24 January 2012, is: http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/davisr/geo135/geo135_to_cover.htm.)
You will not be graded formally on whether you attend class. Having said that, I must point out that folks who attend class almost always do better in a course than do those who do not attend class. I very strongly urge you to attend each and every class- and laboratory-session.
I will be monitoring attendance in class and the lab. The purpose of taking attendance is not to keep tabs on you for the grading, but, rather, to provide information to aid in my helping you, in the case that you find you have trouble in the course.
Because people coming in late disrupt the class, you are expected to be in the class-room and ready to begin work at the scheduled start of each class- and laboratory-period. Your not being so may result in loss of points or your exclusion from the class-room.
Please, follow this link for further information, details, and advice on attendance in this course. Included there is information on excused absenses, and so on
There will be field-trips during the course. On field-trip days, you should report to the specified location suitably attired and equipped for the announced subject and nature of the field-trip. Use of radios, telephones, other communication devices, and such like is not permitted on field-trips without the prior, specific permission of the instructor.
All of the field-trips will take place during regular class-time.
Because it is so important actually to see and experience geology, rather than just to hear or read about it, attendance on field-trips is required.
If you miss a field-trip, it will have an effect on your cumulative score for the course. Moreover, you still are responsible for the material covered on the field-trip, and you will be assigned to prepare a lengthy paper on that material.
ASSIGNMENTS and PREPARING FOR CLASS
Because you are mature adults, I will not make specific reading assignments in the texts. After all, authors and editors go to considerable time and trouble to compile tables-of-contents and indices for their books. There may be specific reading assignments in sources other than (and in addition to) the course texts. You should come to class familiar with everything available in the texts, course web-site, etc., on the announced subject or subjects of the class.
A well-known guide-line is that a student should work two hours outside of class for every hour in class ----- reading, studying, organizing and rewriting notes, answering the questions at the ends of chapters and in any published study-guide available, and so on. Thus, in this course, which consists of a bit under six hours of in-class time per week, you should expect to spend a minimum of some 12 hours of genuine work outside of class each week.
To make it easier for all of us, I have put together some guide-lines for papers and other submissions. Please, follow them in preparing anything you submit in conjunction with this course.
Do make it a point to turn assignments and other matter in on time, lest you lose points for lateness.
Please, follow this link for further information, details, and advice on assignments and preparing for class in this course.
For example, note that, unless otherwise indicated in class, all material is to be submitted both in digital format on CD and on paper. Your failure to do so will result in a loss of points.
Grades in this course are based on evaluation of tests, home-work assignments, laboratory work and assignments, participation in field-trips, and, potentially, pop-quizzes.
There will be four tests, including that designated "the final"; all four will have equal weight. In order to allow everyone to "have a bad day" without penalty, the lowest test-score of the first three will be dropped and not used in determination of the course-grade (in other words, the score of the fourth test may not be dropped). However, except for an excused absence, if you miss a test, the score for that test, a zero, will not be dropped. (Unless prior arrangements to the contrary have been made with me [the instructor], you are expected to be present for all tests, and make-up tests will NOT be administered on a routine basis. If you miss a test due to illness or genuine emergency, bring suitable documentation [for example, a letter from a medical doctor] and consult with me.)
Because information on any given subject is cumulative, thus also will be each test; however, unless otherwise announced, each will emphasize the material covered since the previous test.
Tests will include both "objective" questions involving definitions of technical terms, important names, dates, etc., and "essay-questions" and such like to test your understanding of ideas and how to manipulate and use them, the terms, etc.
In addition to tests, there will be some required home-work/laboratory assignments, with the total points to be derived being equivalent to those of a test (unless announced otherwise).
Depending on how the term goes, there might be some other, additional activities assigned points. For example, there might be one or more "pop-quizzes" to see how folks are keeping up in reading the text-book. The total number of points for such things will be less than those for one test (unless announced otherwise).
Because it is so important actually to see and experience a subject, rather than just to hear or read about it, attendance on field-trips is required.
Unless other arrangements have been made with the instructor, lack of attendance on a field-trip will result in a deduction of 50 points from your cumulative score for the course.
If an acceptable medical or other appropriate excuse is received by the instructor, 25 of the points deducted will be restored.
In any case, unless other arrangements are made with the instructor, you will be expected to prepare and submit a lengthy, original paper on the subject of the field-trip. Said paper will be worth 25 points.
Arrangements for both of the above must be made with the instructor within one week after the field-trip. Otherwise, the deduction in points stands.
Letter Grades
Letter grades will be assigned on the basis of the pattern of distribution of cumulative scores.
As indicated previously, the score of one test of each student will be dropped in the calculation of the final scores upon which the letter grades in the course are based. This poses a dilemma. Because one score will be dropped, and because there is no way to know until the end of the course just which score will turn out to be the lowest, a given student's cumulative score is definitive only at the end of the course. Hence, if a "letter grade" were to be estimated at any point before the end, it would be misleading. The result is that, although a given student will know his or her cumulative score at any given point in the course, that student will not know just what his or her letter grade is prior to the end.
In a recent term, the total cumulative-score possible was 600 points. As they will be done this year, letter grades were assigned on the basis of the pattern of distribution of cumulative scores. That pattern yielded the following scheme:
| letter grade |
per cent |
points |
| A | 90.0 + | 540 + |
| B | 78.5 - 89.9 | 471 - 539 |
| C | 69.3 - 78.4 | 416 - 470 |
| D | 51.7 - 69.2 | 310 - 415 |
The above table is given to help you estimate how your letter-grade might be assigned. However, the actual scheme that ends up being used this year may not match last year's or those of the year before ----- depending on the actual distribution of the cumulative scores this year.
Please, follow this link for further information, details, and advice on grading in this course.
The goal of this course is to add to your individual knowledge, perceptions, skills, etc. Thus, in order to evaluate your, individual progress, I need to be certain that what I see of your work really is yours.
The College has adopted the policy on academic honesty printed in the College Catalogue. Please, familiarize yourself with it ----- and conduct yourself accordingly.
[The URL of the on-line version of the Honest Policy is: http://www.msj.edu/view/academics/catalogs--class-schedules/undergraduate-catalog/academic-policies/student-responsibility.aspx]
Please, follow this link for further information, details, and advice on academic honesty in this course.
TELEPHONES, AND SUCH LIKE are not to be used in class or on field-trips, except in cases of genuine emergency.
Whilst you are in class or on a field-trip, any telephone (or comparable device) in your possession:
a. is to be set so as not to "ring" audibly b. is not to be within your sight
(thus, you are NOT permitted either to receive or send "text-messages")
Out of respect for the privacy of others, you are not to record the sound or image of another person without obtaining his or her specific, prior permission.
RADIOS, AND SUCH LIKE, are not to be used in class or on field-trips.
COMPUTERS:
If you bring a lap-top computer to use in class, please, be certain it is fully charged before you arrive in the class-room. Because of the danger of cords strung across aisles, you may NOT connect your computer to an electrical outlet in the class-room.
If you use a computer in class or on a field-trip, it is to be used only in a way directly relevant to the class. If you are at all in doubt as to what constitutes "directly relevant", check with the instructor beforehand. ("Non-relevant" use may result in your being denied the use of a computer in the class-room.)
The following activities are not allowed during class or while on field-trips ----- unless you are specifically instructed to do so by the instructor:
a. text-messaging b. checking, receiving, or sending electronic-mail messages c. "surfing the WEB" d. use of ear-phones or similar devices e. use of a camera or other photographic capability f. use of a microphone or other sound-recording device
Recording of class-sessions without prior, specific permission of the instructor is not allowed.
Even when such permission is given, the student must agree that the recordings are for the personal use of the student and will not be shared with anyone else either by means of the original recordings, copies of the recordings, or any kind of transcription of the recordings. Moreover, the student must agree to erase or otherwise destroy the recorded matter upon the completion of the course or upon withdrawal from the course.
RELATIONSHIP OF THIS COURSE
TO YOUR LIBERAL-ARTS EDUCATION
"Learning Outcomes" and "Performance Indicators"
On 10 April 2007, the Faculty Assembly at the College of Mount St. Joseph adopted the following "learning-outcomes" and "performance-indicators". The lettered items are "learning-outcomes", and the "performance indicators" are numbered thereunder.)
A. Citizenship Recognize your responsibility to the community and the world.
1. Define your responsibilities as a citizen of the local community. 2. Define your responsibilities as a citizen of the global community. 3. Describe the relationship between community and world issues. 4. Evaluate your own involvement as a citizen.
B. Ethics Understand ethical responsibility from the perspective of duty, consequences, or virtue.
1. Define your personal ethical responsibilities. 2. escribe your professional ethical responsibilities. 3. Explain how Catholic teaching emphasizes social justice and social responsibility. 4. Illustrate how values inform your ethical decisions.
C. Interdisciplinarity Solve a problem by integrating the perspectives of multiple disciplines.
1. State the views of multiple disciplines on an issue. 2. Compare views from multiple disciplines. 3. Create a solution to a problem by integrating the perspectives of multiple disciplines.
D. Sociocultural Relationships Understand the nature of human cultures.
1. Describe the influence of cultural diversity within a society. 2. Identify bias within a culture. 3. Explain how religious values influence a society. 4. Describe causes of cultural change.
E. Communication Write and speak effectively.
1. Speak using language appropriate to the audience. 2. Write using language appropriate to the audience. 3. Document sources properly. 4. Construct a message that is relevant to its purpose.
F. Critical Thinking Develop an appropriate response to a problem or question.
1. Describe the ambiguous nature of a issue. 2. Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information. 3. Use data to evaluate a problem or question. 4. Support a position with appropriate evidence.
Course Objectives in the Context of the LA & S "Learning Outcomes" and "Performance Indicators"
Successful completion of this course requires that students:
1. demonstrate a knowledge of and an understanding of: a. how planet Earth works ----- physically and chemically b. the materials of which Earth is made and their geographic and geologic occurrence (C1-C3) 2. demonstrate a knowledge of and an appreciation for: a. the sources of earth-materials critical to everyday human existence ----- fuels, water, minerals, building-material, soil and on so b. geologic hazards ----- earthquakes, tsunami, floods, volcanic eruptions, coastal erosion, landslides, and so on c. waste-disposal and pollution (A1-A4, B1-B4, C1-C3) 3. demonstrate proficiency in locating and evaluating information (E1, E-2, E4) 4. develop and refine their abilities to make accurate and precise observations and measurements of earth entities and phenomena (F1-F4) 6. Demonstrate an understanding of and an appreciation for the effect of the physical and chemical aspects of Earth on human activities and vice versa (A1-A4, B1-B4, C1-C3, D2, F1-F4)
ABOUT THIS WEB-PAGE -- Caveat lector !
This web-page was constructed using MS-FrontPage and its version of html. The results have been previewed by way of MS Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, things that look fine when viewed with Internet Explorer sometimes look rather peculiar when viewed with some other WEB-browser. For example, there can be unexpected and unpredictable changes in the size, shape, style of type, or some combination of these. Moreover, sometimes different versions of Internet Explorer do not present the same web‑page in the same way; for example, hyphens in one version can mutate into empty rectangles in another. Alas!
(To return whence you came,
please, use the "Back" feature of your web-browser.)
[17, 18, and 25 January 2012; 08 February 2012]