Instructor: William Hirt
hirt@siskiyous.edu
Office: LS-15
Phone: (530) 938-5255
Office hours: MWF 10:00-10:50AM, TTh 1:00-1:50PM, and by appointment
Meeting times: online
Meeting place: online
Units: 3.0
Textbook (required): Parks and Plates by Robert Lillie (ISBN 0-393-92407-6)
CD-ROM (required): Hazard City: Assignments in Applied Geology, 3rd ed. by King,
Carpenter, and Wilson (ISBN 0-13-156682-2)
Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course a student will be able to:
2008 Course Schedule:
| Dates | Lesson topic(s) | Reading | Exercise |
| 1/15-1/18 | Orientation | websites | --- |
| 1/22-1/25 | Plate Tectonics | 1 : 1-20 | plate boundaries |
| 1/28-2/1 | Geologic Processes I: geologic time and crustal deformation | 2 : 22-30 | relative dating |
| 2/4-2/7 | Geologic Processes II: rocks and minerals | 2 : 30-34 | absolute dating |
| 2/11-2/15 | Geologic Processes III: earthquakes and volcanoes | 2 : 34-45 | earthquakes |
| 2/19-2/22 | Continental Rifting | 3 : 49-70 | outline 1 |
| 2/25-2/29 | Passive Margins I: modern margins and coastal processes | 4 : 72-81 | shoreline hazards |
| 3/3-3/7 | Passive Margins II: ancient margins and facies changes | 4 : 81-86 | abstract 1 |
| 3/10-3/14 | Subduction Zones I: Cascade and Aleutian arcs | 5 : 89-123 | volcanic hazards |
| 3/25-3/28 | Subduction Zones II: Sierra Nevada and alpine glaciation | 5 : 123-125 | snowpack monitoring |
| 3/31-4/4 | Collisional Mountain Ranges: collision dynamics and streamflow | 6 : 129-146 | river discharge |
| 4/7-4/11 | San Andreas Fault and Transform Boundaries | 7 : 149-164 | earthquake damage |
| 4/14-4/18 | Oceanic Hotspots: Hawaiian Islands | 8 : 167-190 | tsunami/storm surge |
| 4/21-4/25 | Continental Hotspots: Yellowstone and the Snake River Plain | 9 : 193-206 | outline 2 |
| 4/28-5/2 | North American Craton I: undeformed regions and groundwater | 10 : 209-228 | groundwater contamination |
| 5/5-5/9 | North American Craton II: deformed regions | 10 : 228-236 | abstract 2 |
| 5/12-5/16 | Accreted Terranes: continental growth and landslide hazards | 11 : 239-254 | landslide hazards |
| 5/19-5/22 | Final exam | all | --- |
Evaluation: Grades will be based on total scores for: 17 weekly quizzes (170 points); 12 homework assignments (120 points); two writing assignments (30 points total); and a comprehensive final exam (30 points). The final grade will be computed from the total of 350 points, and will be scored as follows: ³90% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; and < 60% = F. The instructor reserves the right to adjust these percentages if such an adjustment is warranted by the class average, but under no circumstances will a student who earns a score of <50% or fails to turn in any part of the writing assignment be assigned a passing grade.
For each writing assignment, a student will read an article of their choice from several assigned and write: (1) a typed, sentence-level outline of their article's key points, and (2) an abstract based on the outline in a modified AGU format. The outline and abstract will be graded about one third on form (organization, grammar, and spelling) and two thirds on content (clarity, thoughtfulness, and originality of answers) according to rubrics that will be posted in advance.
In addition to class time, a student should expect to spend about 6 hours per week reading, taking notes on the text, working on homework assignents, and studying for quizzes and the final exam. Preparation of the writing assignments will also require about 8 hours over the course of the semester.
Attendance/withdrawal/incomplete statement: Punctual completion of assignments is required for satisfactory completion of this course. A student may withdraw before the end of 14th week (April 25, 2008) without receiving a grade, and is responsible for notifying the student services office and completing all necessary forms. Arrangements for an incomplete must be made with the instructor; an "I" will be granted only in the case of an unforeseen family or personal emergency.
Cheating policy: If a student is found to be cheating on a quiz he or she will be dropped from the class unless it is after the end of the 14th week, in which case the student will receive an F regardless of accumulated points. Cheating on any other assignment (including handing in outlines or abstracts that are identical or very similar to another student's) will result in a score of zero for that assignment.
Make-up policies for missed work: A weekly quiz may be made-up with the instructor's prior approval, and must be completed within one week of its original due date. The final exam may not be made up.
Late assignment policy: Homework and writing assignments will be penalized 1 point for each day they are late (excluding weekends), and will not be accepted more than one week after their original due dates.
Date and time of final exam: This exam will be available online during finals week (May 19-22, 2008) and may be completed any time during those four days. It must, however, be submitted no later than 5:00PM on May 22, 2008.
|
Here is a link to a full-page version of this syllabus that can be printed without its navigation bar and footer. |
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
