Physical Geology (Hybrid) (GEOL 1403)

The purpose of this course is to enable students to use fact and observation to make interpretations about geologic processes operating today and in the past. Key questions to be addressed: What are the major elements of plate tectonic theory? How do Earth systems modify the landscape? What impact do geologic processes have on our local environment? Global environment? Students will learn to interpret data from a variety of resources including topographic maps, rock and mineral collections, personal observation, and the World Wide Web. The fundamental assumption behind this course is that entry level students who may have little previous exposure to the sciences can learn interpret geologic data from a scientific point of view. What you will discover is that Geology is an eclectic science and in this course you will be exposed to chemistry, biology, and physics. And, yes, even some mathematics. A basic understanding of principles from these fields underlies many of the concepts that you will learn in this course. We will review, for example, the basics of atomic structure and chemical bonding as an introduction to Minerals.