Geology 1403 – Physical Geology

Class Schedule

Lecture: Rm 1217  7:00-8:20pm M/W

Lab: Rm 1216 5:30-6:50pm & 8:30-9:50 M/W

Instructor: Dr. Joseph Mills

Office – 1214 usually arrange a meeting before or after class.

Telephone: 281-334-7905 (leave msg)

email: joseph.mills@sjcd.edu

web site: http://www.uh.edu/~jmills2/sjcd.html

or http://faculty.nhmccd.edu/jomills/index.html

Course Description:  Geology 1403 is an introduction to the scope of Geology, the concepts involved, and the several branches of the science.  Emphasis is placed on the physical composition of the Earth and the processes modifying the Earth’s crust.  This course meets for 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of lab per week and carries 4 semester credit hours.

Textbooks

Press, Siever, Grotzinger, & Jordan, Understanding the Earth, 4^th ed.

Recommended Lab Manual: Richard M. Busch, Editor, Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology

• Students will identify principal rock forming minerals
• Students will describe and classify igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks
• Students will identify glacial features, desert landforms, and mountain types.
• Students will identify geologic structures, including synclines, anticlines, faults, and unconformities.
• Students will identify processes involved in mass wasting, plate tectonics, volcanism, weathering and erosion
• Students will identify processes involved in stream erosion and deposition, underground aquifers, and marine environments.

Student Learning Outcomes – Laboratory:

• Students will use the scientific method to identify minerals using their physical properties.
• Students will identify and describe rocks using their physical properties.
• Students will interpret geologic maps.
• Students will interpret topographic maps.
• Students will interpret relationships between crystal size and cooling rate in igneous rocks.

Exam Schedule

Exam 1 – Ch 1,2,17,20,3 – Building a planet, plate tectonics, minerals

Exam 2 – Ch 4,5,6,19,21 – Igneous rocks, volcanism, earthquakes, Earth’s interior

Exam 3 – Ch 7,8,10,11 – Weathering, sedimentary rocks, geologic time scale, folds, faults, and deformation

Exam 4 – Ch 9,12,15,18 – Metamorphic rocks, mass wasting, deserts, glaciation

Exam 5 (final) – Ch 13,16,14,22,23 – Groundwater, streams, ocean processes, energy, environment

Final Exam will be given in class as Exam 5.

Last Day to WITHDRAW with a W is on the San Jacinto College Academic Calendar on the school website: http://www.sjcd.edu/

• All make-ups will be separate and different from the scheduled class test; a makeup exam will be comprised of 100 questions combining both lecture and assigned readings.
• Makeups will not be part of any class curve assigned to a scheduled exam; make-ups will be graded on a straight line progression.
• Out of 5 lecture exams, the lowest grade of the first 4 exams will be dropped; the final exam, however, may not be dropped under any circumstances.
Your total performance in lecture will count for 2/3 of your course grade for a total of 400 possible grade points.

Lecture Requirements

• There will be a total of 5 Lecture Exams.
• Lecture tests will be based upon information in lecture as well as assigned readings.
• Lecture tests will be approximately 50-80 objective-type and essay questions.
• The last lecture test will count as your final exam.  It will be given during the scheduled week of final exams.
• Students may be required to provide justification for taking any makeup exams; it remains at the discretion of the instructor as to whether or not a makeup exam will be given.  Proof of illness is required.

• Class attendance is required.
• There will be a total of 4 lab practicals.
• Lab practicals are based upon the classification and identification of rocks and minerals as they have been presented in lab.
• Each lab practical will be comprised of approximately 100 objective-type questions.
• Students are required to turn in a formal lab chart, according to the specifications given by the instructor, for each lab practical.
• Lab charts will contain all information required for the classification and identification of minerals and rocks.
• Lab charts must be done on a computer-generated spread sheet.  Handwritten or typewritten charts will not be accepted.
• There are no make-ups on lab practicals.  If you miss a lab for any reason, it will be recorded as a zero in the grade book.
• Only under exceptional circumstances can a student drop a lab practical.  If a student is permitted to drop a lab practical, only one of the first 3 practicals may be dropped.  The last lab practical may not be dropped under any circumstances as this is considered to be your final exam in lab.  A modified point chart will be followed for students who elect to drop a practical.
• Your total performance in lab will count for 1/3 of your course grade for a total of 200 possible grade points.

Grading

• Each Exam is worth 100 grade points – 4 exams = 400 points
• Each Lab Practical is worth 50 grade points – 4 lab practicals for 200 points
• Quizzes are available in BlackBoard - you are expected to take quizzes over material in each chapter covered.
• Student’s scores in lab and lecture are added to give a total number of grade points.  Points from Quizzes are added at 1/10 point per correct answer.
• Your final grade will be determined by the total number of grade points:
Grading Scale: A: 500+, B: 450-499, C: 400-449, D: 350-399, F: 0-350
Option: You may drop a practical if you take 5 exams + use the above grading scale with 50 points added to each range
Grades Books – Please keep all exams, quizzes, etc since it is your record of your performance if any question arises regarding grades.  I will attempt to return exams promptly – usually a graded exam or practical will be returned a week after the test is taken.  Grades are also available in Blackboard for quizzes over material from the textbook.

• Do not telephone me or the department secretary.  Discuss before or after class.
• If you are absent, do not expect me to arrange dates of tests or practicals around your home, work, vacation, travel or other schedules.  When you make a decision to return to college you make a commitment to follow the rules and guidelines of the course.  If school is not your primary goal perhaps it is time for you to reevaluate your commitment.
• In case you miss a test, it will automatically become your dropped grade.  If you need to makeup another test after that, you will have to take it online (blackboard) and it will consist of about 100 questions with 60 minutes to complete it.