Course Details

Physical geology is a course designed to provide you with a broad picture of geological processes operating on and within the earth. We will be studying plate tectonics and how these global scale processes create, alter, and are responsible for the world around us. A wide range of individual topics will be covered including minerals, rocks, fossils, weathering/erosion/sedimentation, earthquakes, volcanism, and map reading.

1. Identify the dynamics of the Earth’s interior and its relationship with Plate Tectonics and the formation of plate boundaries.

2. Identify the rock forming minerals by their physical properties.

6. Recognize 20–30 of the most common earth minerals by applying only their easily discernible physical properties.

3. Identify the three major rock types and their geologic processes.

7. Classify rock samples representative of some of the most common varieties of the three major rock families. It is expected that students will identify with at least 60% accuracy.

4. Analyze geologic deep time and the geologic time chart.

5. Demonstrate map scale and location.

Practice your metacognition, not just checking off boxes

As mentioned in the Ungrading page of the liquid syllabus, you and I will be working together to identify where your learning is at and set a grade together. However, I know that this is new and many students don't have much (or any) practice at actually pausing to reflect on their own learning. There will be several opportunities for you to do this, but below you will find some guidelines for helping you identify where you are in the class.

IMPORTANT: I am a little worried about putting this out there because I want your focus to be on the LEARNING not just on checking boxes. Please only use this to start practicing really reflecting on what you've been doing and how well you can discuss the various concepts.

Due Dates:

Initial Submission

All assignments are due on their due date. Since I know that all of you have a life that includes more than just school, there is a ONE week grace period in which you can still submit the assignment. Should there be an extraordinary situation, please communicate with me as soon as possible so that we can identify a plan that will work for both of us.

After the grace week, I will not accept them. This is NOT meant to punitive, it is merely to help you move through the class in a stepwise manner that will facilitate more solid and engaged learning. Trying to do everything at the end leads to shallow learning and overwhelm, neither of which is helpful to your mental health!

However, I want you to realize a couple of things: 

1) I gave the assignment for a reason. It teaches you the material, so it is still valuable for you to complete it for your own learning. 

2) Use this missed opportunity as an experience to learn what you could change in your planning or schedule to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Resubmissions

All assignments may be resubmitted. In an effort to help you understand the material the best you can, a resubmission within a week is best. However, I will give you 2 weeks to resubmit.