1200 Murchison Road
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Department of Chemistry and Physics
SYLLABUS
Course Number: Geology 311
(3 credits)
Instructor: Marlina Duncan
Phone Number: 413 204-5630
Email Address: mduncan3@uncfsu.edu
Semester: Fall 2015
Course Location: Online Course
Office Hours: BY APPOINTMENT
Course Credit Hours: 3
Course Description and Leaning Outcomes
An introductory course in physical geology concerned principally with the composition of the earth's crust and the processes that act to change its upper surface. The course is designed to give you an introduction to geology and geologic processes. By the end of this course, you will have an improved understanding of topics such as the formation of the Earth, its inner structure, movement of the plates, the materials that make up our planet, the various landscapes on the surface, and the way the planet has changed through time. In addition, you will become experienced in critical thinking. The first several weeks of class will focus mainly on the basic geologic principles, such as the Earth’s formation, plate tectonics, the rock cycle, major rock-forming minerals. Later on in the course, we will discuss natural hazards and water resources and their impact on the landscape and society
Disabled Student Services: In accordance with Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ACA) of 1990, if you have a disability or think you have a disability to please contact the Center for
Personal Development in the Spaulding Building, Room 155 (1 st Floor); 910-672-1203.
Title IX – Sexual Misconduct
Fayetteville State University (University) is committed to fostering a safe campus environment where sexual misconduct — including sexual harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking - is unacceptable and is not tolerated.
The University encourages students who may have experienced sexual misconduct to speak with someone at the University so that the University can provide the support that is needed and respond appropriately. The Sexual Misconduct policy can be found at the following link: http://www.uncfsu.edu/Documents/Policy/students/SexualMisconduct.pdf
Consulting with a Health Care Professional - A student who wishes to confidentially speak about an incident of sexual misconduct should contact either of the following individuals who are required to maintain confidentiality:
Ms. Dionne Hall
Licensed Professional Counselor
Ms. Linda Melvin
Director, Student Health Services
Spaulding Building, Room 167
(910) 672-2167 dhall9@uncfsu.edu
Spaulding Building, Room 121
(910) 672-1454 lmelvi10@uncfsu.edu
ISBN-13: 978-0393935189

Course Outline and Calendar - The Instructor reserves the right to adjust the course outline as deemed necessary by students’ needs.
Week 1—
Week
August 17 th -22 nd
Assignments/ Due Date
All assignment descriptions and requirements will be listed on Blackboard
Introductions and Birth of the Earth
Read Just what is geology and Chapters 1 and 2
Complete Chapter 1 and 2 questions / due 8/22
Week 2—
August 24 th
Week 3-
August 31 st
Week 4—
-29 th
September 7 th
-September 5 th
-12 th
Week 5
September 14 th -19 th
Week 6
September 21 st -26 th
Read Chapters 3 and 4
Complete living on another planet assignment/ due 8/29
Birth of the moon assignment
Rock cycle webquest / due 9/5
Exam I
(Chapters 1-4)/ due 9/12
Read chapter 5
Birthstone research paper/ due 9/19
Read chapters 6 - 8
Review Questions 5&6/ due 9/26
Review questions 6 and 7/ due 11/3
Week 7
September 28 th -October 3 rd
Week 8-
October 5 th -10 th
Week 9
October 12 th -17 th
Week 10
October 19 th -24 th
Exam II (5-8)/ due 10/10
No Assignments
Midterm Break
Read chapters 9 and 10/ due 10/24
Weeks 11 and 12
October 26 th -November 2 nd -7 th
Week13
November 9 th 14
Weeks 14
November 16 th - 21 st
Week 15
November 23 rd -28 th
Week 16
November 30 th -December 4th
Read chapters 11 and 17 http://www.appstate.edu/~marshallst/GLY1101/lectures/17-
Streams&Floods.pdf
Create a lesson plan or info video on one of the chapters covered/due 11/7
Exam III (chapters 9, 10, 11, and 17)
Due 11/14
Read seeing inside the earth Interlude D
Human Impact on the earth
Human impact on the earth
Final project
Due 12/4
2

Grading Procedures: Please refer to the scoring rubric that accompanies each assignment for the specific criteria that will be used to evaluate that assignment.
Grading Scale Letter Grade
600-500 A
499-400
399-200
B
C
199-99 D
Institutional Guidelines
Academic Integrity - Dishonesty in Academic Affairs
Acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. Such acts include cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation, fabrication of information, and abetting any of the above. Plagiarism in particular presents pitfalls to be avoided: failure to document any words, ideas, or other contributions that do not originate with the author constitutes plagiarism. Widespread use of the World Wide Web (Internet) requires particular attention to proper documentation practices. Individual course syllabi offer additional clarification about requirements for proper documentation. Actions outlined in the Fayetteville State
University Student Handbook under Disciplinary System and Procedures will be followed for incidents of academic misconduct. The handbook may be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs located in the Collins Administration Building.
Please note that the WN grade is no longer in effect. Students must follow university protocol and announced deadlines (see calendar on www.uncfsu.edu) to withdraw from a class.
Grade of Incomplete
A grade of incomplete will only be assigned upon mutual agreement between instructor and student and in the case of extremely extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances might include significant health issues or death in the immediate family. A contract will be developed between student and instructor outlining a plan for course completion and deadline for work to be submitted.
Withdrawal from Class
Complete the form available on the registrar’s website http://www.uncfsu.edu/registrar/forms.htm
, obtain signatures from instructor and advisor, then return completed form to Registrar's office. You will not receive any refund of tuition and fees for withdrawing from a class. You should strive to earn credit for any and all classes you are enrolled in. If you are withdrawing from all the courses in which you are enrolled, even if you are enrolled in only one course, you must withdraw from the university. Excessive withdrawals will jeopardize your financial aid. Ask Financial Aid about the 67% rule. Effective fall
2009 you will be permitted five no-penalty class withdrawals only. After 5 they will be calculated as "F".
Withdraw from the University
Withdraw from University means you are withdrawing from all classes for the semester due to circumstances that prevent you from being able to complete classes. Locate the deadlines for the drop/add period and withdrawal at the Office of the Registrar’s website: http://www.uncfsu.edu/registrar/index.htm
Also, in addition to your instructor, contact the Center for Personal Development at (910) 672 1203/1222 for additional support and information regarding special circumstances that prevent you from being able to complete classes
Disability Statement: “Fayetteville State University is committed to equality of educational opportunity an does not discriminate against applicants, students, or employees based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, or disability. Moreover Fayetteville State University values diversity and actively seeks to recruit talented students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds.” FSU Undergraduate Catalog, 2011-2012
FSU Policy on Electronic Mail
Fayetteville State University provides to each student, free of charge, an electronic mail account ( username@uncfsu.edu
) that is easily accessible via the
Internet. The university has established FSU email as the primary mode of correspondence between university officials and enrolled students. Inquiries and requests from students pertaining to academic records, grades, bills, financial aid, and other matters of a confidential nature must be submitted via
FSU email. Inquiries or requests from personal email accounts are not assured a response. The university maintains open-use computer laboratories throughout the campus that can be used to access electronic mail. Rules and regulations governing the use of FSU email may be found at http://www.uncfsu.edu/PDFs/EmailPolicyFinal.pdf
Inclement Weather
We will follow the Fayetteville State University inclement weather schedule. Please consult the university webpage, local radio and television statements for announcements. Blackboard Announcements with accompanying email will be the mode of correspondence this instructor uses to alert students to changes due to extenuating circumstances.
Bibliography
Allmon, W.D., Smrecak, T.A., and Ross, R.M., 2010, Climate Change - Past Present & Future: A Very Short Guide , Paleontological Research Institution:
Ithaca, New York, 200 p.
Committee on the Importance of Deep-Time Geologic Records for Understanding Climate Change Impacts, 2011, Understanding Earth’s deep past lessons for our climate future. 2011, Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. Available online at http://www.nap.edu/download.php?record_id=13111 .
Drexler, K. (2002). Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology. New York, NY: HarperCollins
3

Fortey, R. (2004) Earth: An Intimate History. New York, NY: Knopf Publishing Group
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Geology and Mineralogy (2002). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Melillo, J.M., Richmond, T.C., and Yohe, G.W. (eds.), 2014, Climate Change Impacts in the United States. The Third National Climate Assessment. US Global
Change Research Program, 841 p. Available online at http://www.globalchange.gov/nca3-downloads-materials .
Murray, R.C. (2004) Evidence from the Earth: Forensic Geology and Criminal Investigation. Denver, CO: Mountain Press Publishing Company, Inc.
Plummer, C., D. McGeary, and D. Carlson (2004). Physical Geology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Ruddiman, W.F., 2014, Earth’s Climate: Past and Future , W.H. Freeman and Company: New York, NY
Tarbuck, E.J., F.K. Lutgens, and D. Tasa (2004). Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology (8th ed.). New York, NY: Prentice Hall.
Wicander, R. (2003). Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time. New York, NY: Brooks/Cole
Winchester, S. (2005). Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers
WebLinks:


The Nine Planets by Bill Arnett. Good, thorough, up to date information on the Solar System with great pictures.
The Physical Characteristics of Minerals .

The Geologic Time Scale .

The This Dynamic Earth - U. S. Geological Survey's plate tectonics resource.

The University of Texas Department of Geological Sciences CT scan facility .

The U. S. Geological Survey's Geologic provinces of North America .

Paleomap: Chris Scotese's top notch Maps of the ancient Earth .


Climate Impacts in the Midwest, EPA, 2013. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/midwest.html
Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN). (A rich collection of resources for educators.) http://www.cleanet.org

Envisioning Climate Change Using a Global Climate Model, by Youngman, B., Chandler, M., Sohl, L., Hafen, M., Ledley, T., Ackerman, S., and
Kluge, S., SERC Earth Exploration Toolkit, http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/envisioningclimatechange/index.html

Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet, NASA. (Climate data particularly from satellitebased remote sensing)

 http://climate.nasa.gov
Global Warming and Hurricanes, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, 2013. http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). http://www.ipcc.ch/

National Climate Assessment. (Reports summarizing impacts of climate change) http://nca2014.globalchange.gov



National Hurricane Data Center, NOAA. (News on current hurricane forecasts.) http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
National Weather Service, NOAA, http://www.weather.gov
Regional Climate Trends and Scenarios for the US National Climate Assessment, NOAA. http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/technical_reports/142_Climate_Scenarios.html

Weather Base. (Weather and climate data by country, state, and city.) http://www.weatherbase.com
Resources for Science Educators:
AAAS, 1993, Benchmarks for Science Literacy , Oxford University Press. (AAAS is American Association for Advance of Science.)
Available online at http://www/[rpkect2-61.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php
.
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., and Cocking, R.R. (eds), 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition , National Academies
Press: Washington, DC. Available online at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853 .
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (While not focused on science education directly, standards on math and non-fiction reading impact are importantly related.) http://www.corestandards.org
.
NCSE, 2013, Evolution and climate change in the NGSS , National Center for Science Education. http://ncse.com/news/2013/04/evolution-climate-changengss-0014800 .
NGSS@NSTA website, National Science Teacher Association, http://ngss.nsta.org/ .
NRC, 1996, National Science Education Standards . National Academies Press: Washington, DC. (NRC is National Research Council, and body of the National
Academy of Sciences) Available online at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962 .
4

NRC, 2011, Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics . National Academies
Press: Washington, DC. Available online at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13158 .
NRC, 2012, A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas , National Academies Press: Washington, DC.
Available at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13165 .
NRC, 2013, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States . National Academies Press: Washington, DC.
Available online at http://www.nextgenscience.org/ .
Wysession, M., 2013, The Next Generation Science Standards and the Earth and Space Sciences, The Science Teacher , April/May issue. (Duggan-Haas, author of this Appendix, worked with Wysession on NRC’s Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards.) Available at http://nstahosted.org/pdfs/ngss/resources/201304_NGSS-Wysession.pdf
.
5