INTRODUCTION TO EARTH SCIENCE
Dr. Ben Waggoner
020 Lewis Science Center
Office phone: 450-5037
Department phone: 450-3146
FAX: 450-5914
E-mail: benw@mail.uca.edu
Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:25-10:40 AM: LSC 025
Lab: Thursday, 2:40-5:20 PM: LSC 025
Office Hours: Mon-Wed., 2:00-5:00 PM; or by appointment
Course Web Page: http://faculty.uca.edu/~benw/sci3410/.
If you're reading this, then you've figured this much out.
Prerequisites: Biology 1400 (Biology for General Education); Physics
1400 (Physical Science for General Education)
You are encouraged to familiarize yourselves thoroughly with all policies listed in the Student Handbook, including but not limited to:
Sexual harassment policy: Sexual harassment by any faculty member, staff member, or student is a violation of both law and university policy and will not be tolerated at the University of Central Arkansas. Sexual harassment of employees is prohibited under Section 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual harassment of students may constitute discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The official definitions of sexual harassment, and the steps that one should take in the event of harassment, are available on-line here. Incidents should be reported to the professor in charge of the class, or if that is not possible, to the department head or academic dean, or directly to the University's legal counsel.
Disabled students:
The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the requirements
of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need an accommodation,
or would like more information, contact Disability Support Services
in person in Room 1A of the Student Center, by phone at 450-3135,
by FAX at 450-5664, by e-mail at msmith@uca.edu,
or on the WWW
at http://www.uca.edu/divisions/student/disability/.
Statement on academic misconduct: The University defines academic misconduct as follows:
Scholarships: All students on academic scholarships must be enrolled full-time (at least 12 hours) in order to receive their scholarships this fall. This includes students in their final year. Many individual scholarships also require that students complete a total of 15 hours each semester in order for the scholarship to be renewed. If you are on scholarship, please keep your scholarship requirements in mind when setting or making changes to your schedule. For more information, contact Marylynn Borengasser in Undergraduate Studies.
Inclement Weather Policy: If the weather is bad on a scheduled class day, check the UCA main website (http://www.uca.edu/), KCON (1230 AM) or KUCA (91.3 FM) radio, or local TV for announcements. If the campus is officially closed, classes will of course be canceled. If the campus isn't closed, then classes will be held as normal, but use your own judgment in deciding whether to attend. Some students have to commute a long way and may not be able to reach campus safely. I expect everyone to make a reasonable effort to show up -- but don't risk your life, health, or property to get here! Severe weather counts as an excusable reason for absence; assignments that you miss due to bad weather may be prorated, postponed, or canceled at the instructor's discretion (see below).
Attendance: Attendance will not be taken after the first few meetings. You are presumed to be adults, responsible for the consequences of your own actions, and able to cope with the results of missing any fraction of this course. You cannot make up missed labs or exams in this course, but if you miss a lab or exam because of a medical or personal emergency, your grade will be prorated. Such an absence must be documented, if at all possible, by a note or other documentation from your doctor, dentist, car mechanic, arresting officer, parole board, etc. as the case may be.
Exams:
There will be one midterm exam (100 pts.) and a final exam (200
pts.) The final exam will be cumulative, but will focus mostly
on material from the second half of the course. Exam format will
include mostly fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and short essay
questions. The textbook readings are intended to reinforce and
clarify the lecture material-but lectures will be the primary
source for everything on the exams.
Labs:
Handouts for each lab will be provided to you several days in
advance. Most of the labs will have instructions for completing
the accompanying lab write-up that you will turn in for a grade.
Each of these will be worth twenty points; there will be thirteen
labs, but the lowest three grades will be dropped, for a total
of 200 points.
Field Trips: We will be taking several field trips during this course, during lab periods. These count as labs; there will be assignments given, and you may not miss the trips unless you go through the appropriate procedures outlined in the "Attendance" section. Unfortunately, most of you will have to provide your own transportation; I will try to have vehicles available from the UCA Motor Pool, but we don't have the vehicles or the budget to transport all students. I recommend that everyone work out a carpool system with people you know.
Internet Resources: I use the World Wide Web (WWW) extensively in this course. The course WWW page is http://faculty.uca.edu/~benw/sci3410/ Electronic versions of most of the course handouts will be available here, including this syllabus, practice problems, and old tests. Web versions of the PowerPoint electronic slide presentations that I use will also be here; this will enable you to review my slides at your own pace, as often as you like.
Grading:
Midterm exam: 100 pts.
Final exam: 200 pts.
Labs: 200 pts.
Discussions / participation: 100 pts.
TOTAL: 600 pts.
Letter grades will be assigned in 10% increments: thus a score of 90-100% (540-600 pts.) is an A, 80-89.9% (480-539 pts.) is a B; 70-79.9% (420-479 pts.) is a C, 60-69.9% (360-419 pts.) is a D, and anything under 60% (0-359 pts.) is a grade of F. There will not be a curve. No extra credit or bonus points will be given. Except in the case of an arithmetic or accounting error on the professor's part, final grades will not be changed for any reason after the end of the course. Don't ask.
| DATES | LECTURE TOPICS | LABS | READINGS |
| Aug 25 | Intro, getting acquainted | Geographic Literacy | Preface |
| Aug 30, Sep 1 | Mineralogy | Mineral ID | Ch. 1 |
| Sep 6, 8 | Petrology | Rock ID | Ch. 2 |
| Sep 13, 15 | Plate tectonics | TRIP 1: Interstate 430 | Ch. 7 |
| Sep 20, 22 | Volcanoes | Volcanoes CD-R | Chs. 8, 9 |
| Sep 27, 29 | Earthquakes | Map Reading | Ch. 6 |
| Oct 4, 6 | Intro to Stratigraphy | TRIP 2: Cadron Ridge | Ch. 10 |
| Oct 11, 13 | Paleontology | Fossil Interpretation | Ch. 10 |
| Oct 18, 20 | EXAM 1 / Fall Break
| NONE - Fall Break | Ch. 10 |
| Oct 25, 27 | Evil-ution | Salute to William Smith | Ch. 11 |
| Nov 1, 3 | Oil and gas | TBA | none |
| Nov 8, 10 | Water and hydrology | Stream Tray | Ch. 4 |
| Nov 15, 17 | Oceans | TRIP: AR Geol Comm | Chs. 12, 14 |
| Nov 22 | Erosion, geomorphology | NONE - Thanksgiving | Ch. 3 |
| Nov 29, Dec 1 | Meteorology | Ionospherics | Chs. 17, 18 |
| Dec 6, 8 | Global Climate | Ancient Climates | Ch. 19 |
OTHER KEY DATES:
August 30, Tuesday: Change-of-course
period ends. Last date to register, add classes, change from credit
to audit or audit to credit
September 5, Monday: Labor Day Holiday
September 23, Friday: Final date
to make application for graduation, if completing degree requirements
at the end of the fall semester in December
October 19, Wednesday: Mid-term grade report date
October 20 - 21, Thursday/Friday: Fall Break
October 31 - November 22: Advance Registration
November 4, Friday: Final date to
officially withdraw from a Aug 25 - Dec 16 course or the university
with a W grade
November 23 - 25, Wed - Fri: Thanksgiving
Holiday
December 2, Friday: Final date to
officially withdraw from a Aug 25 - Dec 16 course or the university
with a WP or WF grade
December 9, Friday: Study Day
December 17, Saturday: Winter Commencement