University of Washington ESS 101D (Into to geological sciences)
Course Information 2013-14
Instructor: Lehman
Lab 551, Tahoma High School
Required Text:
Chernicoff, Geology 2nd or 3rd edition
Chiras, Essential Study Skills for Science Students
The objective of this course is to nourish your interest in geo-science by opening your
eyes to the forces and processes that shape our planet. You are fortunate that the
University of Washington is offering this course on a high school campus! It is my
intent to use this unique opportunity to inspire in all of you a passion for geology.
One of the reasons that geology is interesting to study is that you can see it around you
every day. The outdoors truly is our classroom; during this course you will no doubt
notice in yourself a heightened appreciation of nature and gain new respect for our planet,
Earth.
How is this course different from a high-school class? To begin with, be assured that
several hundred Tahoma students have passed this class (and enjoyed doing so!). You
will be given the tools you need and will be shown how to be successful. With that in
mind, you will want to budget more time for this college class than you do for your high
school classes. Plan on spending a minimum of 30 minutes of studying for each course
session. Be prepared for each class by reading and studying the assigned topics in your
text. If you aren’t prepared for class, you will find that you won’t know what everyone
else is talking about and won’t enjoy the course as much. Class time will be spent using
and applying background knowledge through lab and lecture. (The typical high school
instructor presents a concept five or six times to students, in college, concepts are
presented once!) Finally, in ESS 101, expect that the instructor will do less of the
thinking for you, and that you will be spending more time thinking on your own. That is
a very good thing!
EVALUATION
ASSIGNMENTS: GENERAL POLICIES
It is required that you complete all assignments for this course. Assignments submitted
on the due date receive 100% credit. Assignments received after the due date but before
the exam on that topic receive 50% credit. Those assignments not submitted by the topic
exam receive 0% credit, but must be completed anyway.
LABS Count as approximately 30% of your course grade. Lab work is evaluated on
process (the way you and your team approach the work as measured through the Husky
profile) and on content (the accuracy of your results.) Lab grade is standards based. That
means that you may need to spend extra time on lab work until you meet standard on that
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particular lab. Students who are struggling in lab will want to come in during open lab (in
the mornings.)
FIELD WORK Counts as 40% of your course grade- (Wow!) You will do the same
fieldwork as students enrolled at the Seattle campus, plus an overnight camping field trip
to the Columbia Plateau. The Columbia Plateau trip is the final exam for this course.
Field exercises are evaluated on the quality of your observations and the insight in your
interpretations. Field grade is standards based. That means that you may need to do
extra work-or even revisit the field site-until you meet standard on that particular field
work.
TESTS Count as 30% of your course grade. You will be given the same exams as
students enrolled at the Seattle campus. Exams test core concepts from the course. Be
aware that a great deal of test material comes from lecture (this is standard policy at the
university level.)
HOMEWORK University students are responsible for completing homework
assignments through their own motivation. It will be glaringly obvious in discussion if
you have not thoroughly mastered homework assignments.
RECORDING YOUR THINKING
 Labs are written in the UW lab notebook
 Field work is written in your yellow field notebook
 Everything else is written in your science/engineering notebook (similar to
a composition book but with girds instead of lines.)
AGENDA
Students are expected to be recording the agenda when the class bell rings. The agenda
will be displayed and explained at the start of each class period.
EXIT QUIZZES
There will be exit quizzes following lecture summarizing daily concepts. Quizzes are
graded pass/fail.
COURSE POLICIES
ATTENDANCE
Assisting Students in establishing lifelong habits of reliability and promptness is an
instructional objective of this course. Progress toward this goal will be measured, in part,
by tracking student attendance. Therefore, a student’s grade or credit for this class may
be adversely affected by reason of tardiness or absence.
The University of Washington has minimum attendance requirements. Students who miss
more than six course sessions per semester may lose credit for this course.
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As this is a college course, you are expected to attend each class session driven by your
own motivation. (Remember that you are paying money to hear what I have to say and
that missing a session will put you behind academically. There isn’t “makeup” work in
college.)
Missed Exams: If you are gone the day of an exam, the exam will be administered during
class the day you return. Return prepared to take it!
Extra Lab Hours: The geo lab is open 7:00-7:45 daily. Note that the lab is usually
closed after school (it is being used for high-school courses during that time.)
RECORDS
You will want to monitor your course progress through the MyUW portal. Tests and
grades for this course are administered through the UW Catalyst system.
BATHROOMS
Use the 500 building bathrooms at appropriate times.
ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Personal electronic devices are not allowed in UW classes except when specifically
requested by the instructor (for educational use.)
FOOD AND DRINK
For safety reasons, eating and drinking is prohibited in all University geology labs.
STUDENT SUPPLIES
You can get the following (required) items in class after paying the cashier $33.00:
1.Geologic Field Notebook
2. Hand lens
You will need to buy the following items
 Essential Study Skills for Science Students by Daniel Chiras (small textbook)
 Field clothes and rain gear (appropriate for 1+ hours outdoors in inclement weather)
The following will be provided for you by the UW CIHS program
 Chernicoff, Geology 2nd or 3rd edition (text)
 UW ESS 101 Field Manual
 UW ESS 101 Lab Manual
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KEEPING IN TOUCH. My office hours are 7:00-7:30 daily in lab 551. If you wish to
contact me, I may be reached at lehmand@u.washington.edu
University student access with specific links to your ESS 101 course, field trip
information, transcripts, and general info can be accessed through the myuw portal:
http://myuw.washington.edu/
ESS 101/Tahoma Course website is full of handy information to help you with your
assignments, course documents, geology resources, etc. Check here for field trip
pictures after each trip! http://swift.tahoma.wednet.edu/ths/dlehman/index.php
.
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University of Washington CIHS
ESS 101 STUDENT CONTRACT
I, _______________________ understand that I am enrolled in a University of
Washington course through the Department of Earth and Space Sciences and that
this course will be taught with the same student expectations as those at the Seattle
UW campus. I understand that when I attend this course, I am a college student
and will be expected to respect the collegiate environment by being responsible to
myself , the instructor, and to other students. I have read and understand the
policies of UW ESS 101 as outlined above in the document “ESS101 Course
Information”. Furthermore, I understand that this is a formal binding agreement
between myself and professor Lehman.
Signed_______________________________ date _____________________
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