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Johannes Koch Department of Geology The College of Wooster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| GEOLOGY 110 ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY
Links:As said today in class, I recommend reading the Ethanol Scam article that was published in Rolling Stone last summer and the Clean Energy Myth article published in Time Magazine earlier this month. Proof that we're still learning about plate tectonics all the time, so Geology is always evolving still. Interesting read. I posted Meagen's lecture for you to download here. The snowfall since last night is somewhat influenced by the lake snow effect we talked about on Monday. More info here. I'm a huge fan of Antarctica and anything concerned with it, so I thought this would make interesting reading. As a follow-up to our short discussion about how life first formed on our planet, you should read this article. Student presentations:Volcanoes General:Environmental Geology is an introductory course that investigates the relationship between society and the earth. There are three broad areas of study: 1) geologic hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, and landslides; 2) geologic resources such as metals, stone and water; and, 3) environmental challenges such as waste disposal, ground water contamination, and climate change. First we examine the evolution and structure of our planet's atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere, and how these systems naturally interact. From this perspective we can better evaluate the effects of anthropogenic perturbations in the systems such as the introduction of pollutants in groundwater or land degradation associated with agriculture. At the end of the course, you should be able to use what you have learned to make informed decisions related to personal safety, real estate purchases, selecting insurance coverage, and intelligently vote on important issues related to earth and environment. Text: Montgomery, C.W., 2008. Environmental Geology , 8th edition. McGrawHill, New York, 556 pp. ISBN: 978-0-07-282691-3.
Exams The exams will be primarily objective in nature with questions coming from the reading material and lectures. No make-up exams will be given unless an acceptable medical certificate is presented. Mid-Term I ( Feb. 18th, 9 – 10 am ) will cover material from weeks 1 through 5, Mid-Term II ( March 31st, 9 – 10 am ) materials from weeks 6 through 9. The Final Exam (May 5th, 9 am ) will be comprehensive. Environmental Geology Log I borrowed the idea for this log from Stephen Nelson , Tulane University for a natural hazard course I taught last year, and the oceanography course in the previous semester. Throughout the semester ( January 14 - May 02, 2008 ), students will be asked to collect information about environmental geology that is reported in the news. The log should include everything related to oceanography as covered in class (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, air and water pollution, climate change, etc.). The typewritten log will be handed in every 3 weeks (due dates are in bold below) throughout the semester and compared with a log kept by the instructor. The log should be submitted by email as electronic file no later than 4pm on the due date. The final typewritten oceanography log should include the following information: • Topic (earthquake, pollution, etc.) Entries in the log should be in chronological order and part of the grade will be based on its organisation. Make the instructor's life easy... appearance will count! While team work is encouraged, the log must be yours, written in your own words. Logs that are exact copies will not be marked. Cutting and pasting information straight from the Web is not acceptable!! Here is an example of a possible disaster log. This is just one possible format for the log, so feel free to be creative. Just remember, that the easier it is to read and mark, the better the final grade will be! Entry 1 Entry 2 Entry 3 Grading the log In order to grade the logs, I will go through each log and identify all entries. Every entry will count if there was enough information for me to reasonably assume that the entry is valid, or if you provided a source that I could go to verify the information. Up to 80% will be awarded for the number of events; up to 5% each will be awarded if you give a description for each entry, the source for each entry, the date and location of your entries, and 5% for the neatness of your log.
Student responsibilities: • Students are expected to attend every class and to have read the assigned readings before class. Acceptable medical certificates: Medical documentation must be submitted on letterhead from your doctor with signature and date and addressed to the instructor. Students requiring accommodations as a result of a disability are requested to contact Pam Rose, Director of the Learning Center (ext. 2595) AND notify the instructor within the first 2 weeks of classes. All discussions will remain confidential. Schedule - Spring 2008
Environmental Geology logs are due on dates in bold (February 04, 25, March 24, April 11, and May 02). Topics in italics are topics you can sign up for for your in-class presentation. These are scheduled for February 13, 29, March 26, April 02, 04, 09, 11, 21, 23, and 25. There are 10 topics, so this will be group work. Please sign up on the sheet besides my office door. There is a mandatory, full-day fieldtrip on Saturday, April 5, 2008. We will leave at 9am with the College of Wooster bus and head to the Lake Erie shores west and east of Cleveland to talk about coastal processes, hazards, etc. We will return sometime around 7pm. It will be a great experience to actually see what we will have talked about in class. If you cannot partake in this fieldtrip due to other obligations, please inform me within the first two weeks of the semester. There will be more information as we approach the date. I also plan a second fieldtrip to get a guided tour of the coal plant on campus. This trip will most likely take place on a weekday, so I understand if not all can come along. As soon as I get a choice of dates from the coal plant I will discuss the dates with you in class and set a date. This will probably take less than an hour, maximum of two hours I assume, but more information is forthcoming as soon as I know more. |
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