Earth Materials GEOL 110

Transcription

1 H Earth Materials GEOL 110 Spring Semester 2016 Instructor: Dr. Julia Perdrial, Office: 213C; Tel: (802) ; Teaching Assistant: John Gilbert, Office hours: MW 10:30-11:30 and by appointment; Meeting Time: Lecture TR 1:15-2:30; Lab either T or R 2:50-5:40 Credits: 4, Pre/co-requisites: GEOL 001, GEOL 005 or GEOL 055. Book: Earth Materials: Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology, Cornelius Klein and Anthony Philpotts, Cambridge University Press Welcome to Earth Materials! Human history is closely coupled to Earth materials. For example early cultural evolution is classified based on Earth Materials (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age) and we would not have buildings, toothpaste or I-phones without minerals and assemblages of minerals (rocks). The exploration and use of Earth Materials, especially since the industrial revolution, confronts us with important issues of social, environmental and economic sustainability. But Earth materials go much further back in time than the ~ 2 million years of human history: they can tell us about Earth processes over the last billion years and provide us with a window into the fascination history of our universe. Whether we want to explore the Earth s history of sea-level change, rise and fall of mountain ranges, or the occurrence of gold, we need to be able to identify minerals and rocks and place them into the local and regional context. In this course we will therefore introduce basic concepts of mineralogy (chemistry, structure and properties of minerals) and petrology (composition, structure, origin and distribution of rocks) in lab and lecture. Course Goals: at the end of this course you will be able to -identify samples of the common rock-forming minerals in hand samples and thin sections of common rocks.

2 -synthesize mineralogical data (visual inspection, petrographic microscopy) to make inferences on the (plate tectonic) setting producing selected rocks. - Critically evaluate how the use of specific Earth materials impacts social, environmental and economic sustainability. Lectures: We will use lecture class meeting times to explore the necessary background across time and spatial scales ranging from molecular scale structures to plate tectonic settings and the history of our solar system to challenges of the Anthropocene. Using group work, discussions and paper presentation, everybody will be engaged during class meeting times. Please get a copy of Earth Materials from Klein and Philpotts to follow along. We will also use lecture meetings for a paper presentation from each of you. For this you will be asked to choose a scientific paper dealing with Earth materials and their importance for human life (as a power point) to the class. Your presentation will be evaluated by me (50%) and by your class mates (50%) but also your classmates understanding of the paper will be assessed. We ll have a dry run so that you ll know what to expect and can prepare accordingly. Labs: You will spend most of the lab meeting times in the petrology lab working with rocks and minerals but we will also use the computer lab occasionally. You will receive training in the identification minerals and rocks in hand specimen and thin sections. You will also work towards structured, easy to read writing using language appropriate for different audience. Peer feedback will be one of the tools we will use to improve your writing skills. Make it to the labs, it will be hard to make up for missed sessions and more that 2 missed labs result in the failure of the course! Transferable Skills: During this course you will also learn the following skills that are helpful outside the scope of this course: You will train you 3-D visualization You will learn how to synthesize observations and data into a process interpretation You will practice comprehensive, concise scientific writing You will learn to solicit/use feedback to improve your own performance Learning assessment: I will assess your learning in the following principle ways (you will have rubrics for each of these):

3 Assignments: In two writing assignments you will synthesize you knowledge (lecture) and skills (labs) to provide a fact sheet on rocks and minerals of your choice (2*15% of the grade). Your final group poster will synthesize knowledge and skills you improved in labs and lectures and include selected aspects of sustainability (20% of the grade). Quizzes on reading and material covered in lab and lecture will test your preparation throughout the semester (25% of the grade) Oral presentation of a paper of your choice (20 minutes and discussion) will contribute 10% to the final grade Your knowledge base document (see below) as well as contribution to lab and lecture discussions, group work etc. contributes 15% to the final grade. Teaching and Learning Style: It s always helpful to know about your own learning style and know what you can do to support your own learning. Please take the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire following this link: The results are for yourself only, but this very simple test will help you to better understand your learning (and probably my teaching). Rules: Make it to class: you can miss class twice, more missed classes will impact you grade. If you miss classes more than 6 times you may fail the class. If you miss more than 2 labs you will fail the course. Please turn in your assignments in time; it will decrease your grade by 10% if you turn it in late. Please complete your reading, we will have graded quizzes in lab and lecture. Please mute cell phones during class and don t text. Adhere to the Code of Academic Integrity (no plagiarism, fabrication, collusion, and cheating). Deliberate offense against the code will be forwarded to the Center for Student Ethics and Standards (see for more information). Student learning accommodations: Any student with a documented disability interested in utilizing accommodations should contact ACCESS, the office of Disability Services on campus. ACCESS works with you to create reasonable and appropriate accommodations via an accommodation letter to their professors as early as possible each semester. Contact ACCESS: A170 Living/Learning Center access@uvm.edu. Reading:Earth Materials, Klein and Philpots, Cambridge University Press

4 Schedule (subject to changes): Week 1: Introduction to Earth Materials (reading Chapter 1) (No lab) Week 2: Introduction to Earth Materials (reading Chapter 2) Lab: Mineral identification (reading Chapter 4) Week 3: Crystal structures (reading Chapter 4) Lab: Crystal maker Week 4: Crystallography (reading chapter 5) Lab: Crystallography Week 5: How do igneous rocks form? (Chapter 8) Lab: optics, igneous rocks and minerals under the microscope (Chapter 6) Assignment due: Mineral fact sheet Week 6: Occurrence, classification and setting for igneous rocks (Chapter 9) Lab: optics, igneous rocks and minerals under the microscope (Chapter 6) Week 7: Occurrence, classification and setting for igneous rocks (Chapter 9) Lab: optics, igneous rocks and minerals under the microscope (Chapter 6) Week 8: Spring break Week 9: Formation of Sedimentary rocks (Chapter 11) Lab: sedimentary rocks Week 10: Occurrence, classification and setting of sedimentary rocks (Chapter 12) Lab: sedimentary rocks Week 11: Metamorphic rocks and minerals (Chapter 14) Lab: metamorphic rocks under the microscope Assignment due: fact sheet of your favorite rock type under the microscope Week 12: Metamorphic rocks and minerals (Chapter 14)

5 Lab: metamorphic rocks under the microscope Week 13: Earth Materials and sustainability (Chapter 15, 16, 17) Lab: Earth materials of environmental, economic and social importance Week 14: Environmental, social and economic aspects of Earth Materials (Chapter 15, 16, 17) Lab: open lab Week 15: Work shopping the final Poster Lab: open lab Building a Record of Core Knowledge and Skills (RoCKS) in Geology: UVM Geology is moving to integrate its courses through Knowledge Base learning: We will be expecting you to recall information and skills from any geology course you ve already taken and apply it to subsequent courses. Some of this material will be geology specific (the geologic time scale) but some will be broadly transferrable (scientific writing). Faculty in each course will tell you what concepts need to go into your personal RoCKS document but you are responsible for articulating and/or illustrating the specifics. What: The RoCKS document (RoCKS-Doc) is a document that you will fill with key knowledge (factual) and skill contents of each of your geology courses beginning with GEOL 062 and GEOL 110. While you will create a RoCKS-Doc document for each geology class you take, this document will increase in volume as you go along. Each course will add approximately 5-15 pages. Your instructor will review and grade your document at the end of each semester. You will store your growing RoCKS-Doc on your zoo folder. For example, in order to observe and interpret the relationship between different rock formations of an outcrop (GEOL 101), you will need to combine mineralogy tools (GEOL 110) and geology thinking (GEOL 062). In other words: the knowledge and skills that you learn in one course are necessary for the next course. Why:

6 Introducing the RoCKS-Doc as a continually growing document for each student arose out of the observation that knowledge and skills learned in one course were not readily recalled by students in subsequent courses. For example, you learned how to distinguish between observations (what you see) and interpretation (what you think it means) in GEOL 055, 001 or 005, but faculty noticed that many student failed to make this distinction in later courses. In GEOL 062 and GEOL 110 you will practice this concept and learn new ones which you will add to your RoCKS-Doc. At the start of Field Geology (GEOL 101), you will be asked to review your RoCKS-Doc, making it easier for you to retrieve already acquired knowledge and skills as you learn new material. How: Your instructor will let you know what key topics you should add to your RoCKS-Doc but it will be your responsibility to add the content (in the form of text and/or illustrations) in a complete yet concise form. The goal is for you to create a document that is understandable to you in years to come. A rule of thumb is that if another geology major can follow and understand your RoCKS-Doc, you will be able to do so as well in a year. Take this seriously! Use visualizations and step by step instruction. For example, your instructor tells you that silicate classes should go in your RoCKS-Doc. You will then add this knowledge using class notes, your textbook and peer reviewed publications (internet sources are ok only if you use other information sources as well). Format: The RoCKS-Doc is structured into chapters (courses) and sections (knowledge, specific skills and transferable skills): Chapter 1: Earth History (GEOL062) 1.1. Knowledge 1.2. Specific skills 1.3. Transferable skills Chapter 2: Earth Materials (GEOL 110)

7 2.1. Knowledge 2.2. Specific skills 2.3. Transferable skills Specific skills these will be skills such as constructing a bivariate graph in Excel. Your instructor will identify these as being useful for your RoCKS-Doc. Transferable skills these are skills widely applicable outside of the sciences, for example, constructing a paragraph with a thesis statement, explanatory text and a transitional phrase. You ll be asked to identify which skills you ve developed in this course that might be applicable beyond geology, i.e., your instructor will not say by the way, this is a transferrable skill, add it to your RoCKS-Doc. You will need to think about how you can apply what you learn in geology to other areas of your intellectual life. It is ok to divide the sections further if you find this helpful. For example, transferable skills can include quantitative skills but also writing skills. If in doubt discuss with your peers and ask your instructor for guidance (in this order). The first few entries for each course will be provided to you by your instructor as guidance. The following example below may also be of help: Examples for GEOL 062: Char mentions in class The times of the five mass extinctions in Earth history and which major fossil groups were most impacted needs to go into your RoCKS-Doc. IDEA: You could make a list: 1.1. Knowledge Five mass extinctions in Earth history and which major fossil groups a. the end of the Ordovician: trilobites, brachiopods and graptolites b. the end of the Devonian: stromatoporoids, bivalves, coral, brachiopods c. the end of the Permian: trilobites, brachiopods, molluscs, vertebrates d. the Triassic-Jurassic: sponges, marine vertebrates, large amphibians, reptiles e. the end of the Cretaceous: dinosaurs, ammonites, many flowering plants IDEA: instead of a list, you could construct or find a chart. The example below is from an internet resource.

8 Note: if you use a chart from another source other than one you create, you need to include its source. Examples for GEOL 110: Julia indicates that silicate classes should be included in the RoCKS-Doc Knowledge Silicate classes Example 1: show a list Nesosilicates (Island Silicates): Olivine (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. Sorosilicates (Double Island Silicates): Epidote - Ca2(Fe +3,Al)Al2(SiO4)(Si2O7)(OH). Cyclosilicates (Ring Silicates): Beryl - Be3Al2Si6O18 Inosilicates (Single Chain Silicates): orthopyroxenes (Mg,Fe)SiO3 or the clinopyroxenes Ca(Mg,Fe)Si2O6 Inosilicates (Double Chain Silicates): Amphibole group for example the tremolite - ferroactinolite series - Ca2(Mg,Fe)5Si8O22(OH)2 Phyllosilicates (Sheet Silicates): Biotite - K(Mg,Fe)3(AlSi3)O10(OH)2. Tectosilicates (Framework Silicates): Quartz (SiO2) Source: ttp://

9 Figure modified from Klein and Philpotts (2013). Earth Materials: An Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology, Cambridge Press.

10 Assessment: Your RoCKS-Doc will be assessed at the end of the semester. Although your instructor will tell you what concepts need to be included you will be assessed as to the relevance and accuracy of the descriptive material you use. Each instructor will apply variable weight to the RoCKS-Doc in your final course grade. Instructors will clarify this at the beginning of the semester The assessment of your RoCKS-Doc is based on the following rubric: Exceed expectations (A): the content represents a complete and detailed summary of the contents of this part of the course. Tables and Figures are original or taken from textbooks and other reliable sources and cited correctly. Example (3) for silicate classes would get an exceed expectations because the information is presented in a comprehensive yet concise fashion and a reliable information source is used and cited. Meets expectations (B-C): the content, although it includes the important concepts, could include more detailed summaries. Figures and tables are taken mostly from the internet using correct citations. Example (1) would fall under this category because the information is correct but a visualization in this case would be helpful. Also, the content is taken from the internet and not a peer-reviewed resource. Falls short (D): the content is missing important concepts or does not correctly summarize it. Figures and tables are missing or are not cited. Example (2) could fall under this category because the source of the figure is not cited and no examples are provided.