Syllabus: Summer 2015: Planet Earth
Planet Earth 460: 100: Section A1/A2
Summer 2015
Dr. Mark Feigenson; email: feigy@rci.rutgers.edu, Room 339b, Wright Labs
Date
Weeks 1, 2
Subject
Marshak
Introduction, Earth and Planets
1, 2
The Elements
1, Box 5.1
Minerals
5, Appen 2
Igneous Rocks
Volcanism, Sedimentary, Metamophics
6, Int A
9, 7, 8
***Smartwork reading quizzes (chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 9) due May 31***
***Smartwork reading quizzes (chapters 7, 8, 12, 13, 3) due June 7***
***First Exam: June 4-7 Online ***
Weeks 3, 4
Geologic Time
12, 13, Int E
Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics
3, 4
Seismology, Earthquakes
10, Int D
Mountain Building
11
Structural Geology
11
Weathering and Erosion
16
Water
17
Shorelines, Groundwater
18, 19
Deserts, Glaciers, Earth Systems
21, 22
***Smartwork reading quizzes (chapters 4, 10, 11, 16, 17) due June 14***
***Smartwork reading quizzes (chapters 18, 19, 21, 22, 23) due June 21***
***Second Exam: June 18-21 Online ***
***All Smartwork GeoTours exercises due June 21***
Notes:
No cumulative final exam is given
Textbook: Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition (ebook or paper text) by Marshak; required with Smartwork
enrollment key EARTH48036
Lecture notes, powerpoints, youtube lectures (links), study aids available online (Sakai).
Final grade (total points recorded/400): Smartwork reading quizzes (100); Smartwork GeoTours exercises
(100); exam 1, 2 (Sakai: tests and quizzes: 100 pts each)
Please see Resources tab in Sakai for information on obtaining the ebook and Smartwork (reading
quizzes and GeoTours)
Smartwork reading quizzes are easy, and you get several tries to get the answers correct. If you get a message
from Smartwork telling you that you have "unanswered" questions and you are certain you submitted properly,
then it means you have one or more questions incorrect, so try again. Each week, five chapter reading quizzes
are due (Sunday midnight) as listed above in this syllabus.
Smartwork GeoTours exercises are more challenging. Take the time to read the instructions carefully because
you only get one chance for these exercises. You must first download Google Earth, then add on the Planet
Earth kmz files to attach the relevant exercises. All GeoTours exercises are due on June 21.
Google Earth will take you on virtual field trips to explore real-world examples of the geology you're learning
about from the ebook and online materials.Go to: www.wwnorton.com/college/geo/earth4/geotours.kmz after
you have installed GoogleEarth.
To download and install Google Earth, go to: www.google.com/earth/
Exams 1 and 2 can be taken any time within the date ranges given above. The exams can be taken twice, with
the higher score recorded. You can find the exams in Sakai, under the "tests and quizzes" tab. Norton has
resources to help study for the exam through Smartwork Study Space, and I have provided powerpoints from
the in-class course, as well as lecture notes and links to youtube videos on each topic (see "resources" tab in
Sakai).
Please obtain the text (or ebook) and Smartwork access as soon as possible. No late assignments are
permitted, and it is best to get started right away. Do not wait until just before the deadline to attempt an
assignment, because there are occasional technical problems that crop up, and neither the Norton help center
nor I can help you at the last moment.