Syllabus for Earth & Space Science for Middle School Teachers
GEOL 2650K-194

Georgia Perimeter College
Clarkston Campus Online Course
Summer 2007 (May 21- July 20, 2007)

Instructor's name: Dr. Edward F. Albin
Instructor's e-mail address: ealbin@gpc.edu
Instructor's phone number: 678-874-7121
Office hours : by appointment

Submit assignments to instructor by mail to:
Dr. Edward Albin
Science Department
Georgia Perimeter College
555 North Indian Creek Drive
Clarkston, GA 30021

KEEP A COPY OF EVERYTHING YOU TURN IN!

Catalog description:

Fundamentals of Earth Science for Middle School Teachers. This course covers basic principles from the fields of Geology, Astronomy, Oceanography, and Meteorology. Map interpretation, minerals and rocks, processes acting at the Earth's surface and within the Earth, plate tectonics, geologic time and dating, composition and motions of the earth, solar system, phases of the moon, origin and life cycles of stars, galaxies, water movements, ocean floor, weather, and climate. Laboratory exercises supplement the lecture material.

Prerequisites:

Course designed for Georgia Middle School Teachers. Exit or exemption from all Learning Support and ESL requirements, and EDUC 1603, or students with degrees.

Note: This course may be useful for those considering teacher education at the middle school level. However, there is no assurance that this course will count towards the degree requirements of an education major at a four-year college or university.

Required textbook:

Tarbuck, E. J. and Lutgens, F. K., 2003, Earth Science, 11th edition, Prentice Hall.

Lab manual: Tarbuck, E. J.,Lutgens, F. K., and Pinzke, K. G., 2003, Applications & Investigations in Earth Science, 5th edition, Prentice Hall. Sprial-bound.

Click here for list of other required materials for lab activities

Publisher's Web Site: http://www.prenhall.com/tarbuck/

WebCT Vista Information

For basic information on online classes at GPC, see the WebCT at GPC page at the following address: http://www.gpc.edu/webct/

Get your Vista login at http://gpc.edu/getmylogin.

You must check your web browser with the GPC WebCT Personal Computer Analyzer to determine whether your computer and web browser will function properly with WebCT, the course management software. 

See also the University System of Georgia Browser Checker http://www.usg.edu/usgweb/browserchecker/.

You must also work through the required Online Orientation, which will introduce you to WebCT. The link to the Orientation is on the WebCT at GPC page, or go directly to http://www.gpc.edu/~gpcwebct/VistaOrientation/.

Technical Assistance:

For technical assistance, see http://help.view.usg.edu.

Class schedule:

Please be sure you have set aside adequate time!!!

What is WebCT Vista?

WebCT Vista is the delivery system for online courses at Georgia Perimeter College.

WebCT courses also offer student tracking, allowing the instructor to determine at a glance how many times a student has accessed the course materials, which course materials a student has accessed, and times of first and last access.

WebCT offers many course tools for the student such as:

This particular course may or may not choose to utilize any or all of these features.

Accessing your course notes using WebCT course software

WebCT class notes (password protected):

http://www.gpc.edu/webct/

Once WebCT passwords are assigned, you must log into WebCT, which counts as class attendance.

Passwords will be available on or around the first day of classes.

Communicating with your Instructor

All students must provide the instructor with your private (not shared with anyone) e-mail address, phone numbers and address. This may be done by e-mail.

Regular communication is a very important part of this course. Please feel free to ask questions of your instructor at any time, either by e-mail, on the bulletin board, by phone, or in person during office hours (if available).

E-mail response time:

Your instructor will generally reply to your e-mail within 24 hours unless they are out of town (which should be announced on the WebCT Bulletin Board, e-mail, or calendar). Your instructor may or may not check e-mail on weekends, depending on their schedule, so do not expect a prompt reply if you post late Friday afternoon or Friday night. Your instructor may not see your message until Monday morning.

Basis of Grading

33% Proctored Midterm Exam

33% Proctored Final Exam

33% Homework assignments, reports, projects, online quizzes, movie question sheets, posting to class bulletin board (you must post as assigned or as requested on the bulletin board).

The weekly course schedule outlines the time frame in which all assignments and quizzes are to be completed in order to stay on schedule and insure course completion by the end of the summer term. All assignments are to be completed during the week they are assigned, and submitted to the instructor by the end of that week. There may be some flexibility, but late assignments will lose points. No assignments will be accepted after they are two weeks late or after the instructor has returned corrected and graded assignments to students, which ever comes first.

Assignments will be returned to students by mail several times during the semester, or you may pick them up from the office. Grades will be available through WebCT.

Note on online quizzes: All online quizzes are closed book, closed note quizzes. Students are not to give or receive help on the quizzes. If a student's quiz grades are substantially higher than their proctored Midterm and/or Final Exam grades, the student may be required by the instructor to retake the quizzes in a proctored setting, before the final course grade will be assigned.

THE FINAL EXAM IS CUMULATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE

A note about the final: Students who get less than 70% on the final exam will not receive an A for a final course grade, and similarly, students who get less than 60% on the final exam will not receive a B for a final grade, regardless of their overall average plus any extra credit.

The lecture grade is separate from the lab grade, if the student is enrolled in a lab.

Grading scale:

90-100% A

80-90% B

70-80% C

60-70% D

below 60% F

EXTRA CREDIT:

There will be opportunities for extra credit projects or papers during the semester. Up to five earned extra credit points can be applied to your final class average. Submit your ideas for extra credit by e-mail to your instructor for approval of topics. Extra credit exercises must be done independently from other students. All extra credit must be typed using a computer word processor.

Possible extra credit projects (one point each):

    1. Watch a geology-related television show or video (other than those required for the class). Take detailed notes (several pages) to turn in, along with the title and dates of the show. TYPE.
    2. Attend optional field trip. Type notes.
    3. Attend public geology lectures in the community (such as Atlanta Geological Society meetings) and take notes to turn in. Type.
    4. Visit a historical geology-related museum in the area and take notes on what you see (Fernbank Science Center, Red Mountain Museum in Birmingham, Anniston (Alabama) Museum of Natural History, etc.). TAKE DETAILED NOTES! TYPE.
    5. Research paper (3 pages AS A MINIMUM, typed, double-spaced, no more than 1" margin, with 3 outside references to magazine articles, Internet sites, or books other than your text.) YOU MUST TURN IN A XEROX OR PRINT OUT OF THE REFERENCES YOU USED.

Reporting of Grades

 

Grades will no longer be mailed to students' home addresses at the end of the semester. Reports of student grades are available via the web http://sis.gpc.edu/ approximately a week after the last day of final exams.

GPC WITHDRAWAL POLICY

A student who officially withdraws by the midpoint of the course will receive a grade of "W". A student who withdraws after the midpoint of the quarter will receive a "WF" unless approval as a hardship withdrawal is received from the dean.

If you choose to stop logging in to WebCT, or to stop reading and responding to e-mails from the instructor, you must complete the withdrawal process through the Registrar's Office by the specified dates, or you will receive an "F" for the course. The instructor cannot withdraw students.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students’ academic success is the major priority of the College. Because regular participation enhances the learning process, students are expected to adhere to the attendance policy set forth by the College and individual faculty members. Differences in content and teaching styles exist among courses, which can impact students’ learning. Therefore, students are strongly encouraged to attend all classes to better prepare them for assignments, tests, and other course-related activities. Students are accountable for assignments and material covered during an absence.”

POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Academic dishonesty (cheating and plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Students should read the sections on cheating and plagiarism in the Georgia Perimeter College Student Handbook and Georgia Perimeter College Catalog.

Cheating includes (among other things), use of unauthorized papers during a test (no matter what the content), copying from another student's paper during a test, allowing another student to copy from your paper during a test, unauthorized access to old exams or to an exam given to the class if you are taking it late for some reason, copying another student's homework assignments, using or turning in a photocopy of another student's assigned work, paying someone to write a paper or do an assignment for you, buying or downloading a term paper, or leaving the room during or before turning in your paper.

With online testing, it is particularly important to pay strict attention to academic honesty. Do not access a test online before you are ready to take it (soon the computer will recognize you and only allow you to access it once). Do not look at a printout of the test before you take it. Do not look at your books or notes or other papers while taking an online test. Do not have another person take the test for you. Do not have another person tell you answers to the test.

Plagiarism includes copying any phrases, sentence, or sentences verbatim from the reference source without using quotation marks and without providing a complete reference (author, date, source of material, volume, pages, etc.), or printing out an article directly from a computer database (such as Encarta or off the World Wide Web) and turning it in as your own work. Students must read, synthesize, and write their own original sentences; learn to paraphrase . Even when paraphrasing, a complete reference must be provided to the paraphrased sentences. NEVER steal words directly from any source and present them as your own.

Students are responsible for doing their own work, even if they "work together". If two papers are turned in that show great similarity such that the instructor interprets it as evidence of cheating or plagiarism, both will be penalized.

A report will be filed with the Campus Dean of Student Affairs for any alleged cheating or plagiarism incident. (See procedure in Georgia Perimeter College Catalog .) The case will be heard by the College Court. Penalties may include suspension or expulsion.

The faculty member is free to assign the grade he or she thinks is appropriate for the assignment or for the semester (regardless of any outcome from College Court).

Any student found by the instructor to have represented someone else's work as his/her own, will receive a zero for that quiz, exam, or assignment for the first offense. The second offense will result in the assignment of a grade of "F" for the course. (If several papers are turned in together or at the same time, and each contains evidence of cheating or plagiarism, they will be considered as separate offenses, and will result in immediate assignment of a grade of "F" for the course.) T his policy applies to cheating or plagiarism on extra credit work as well.

Cheating on an exam will jeopardize your grade; if you receive a zero on an exam it will be extremely difficult to receive a passing grade for the course.

Americans with Disabilities Act Statement

If you are a student who is disabled as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act and require assistance or support services, please seek assistance through the GPC Center for Disability Services. A CDS Counselor will coordinate those services.

Equal Opportunity Statement

No person shall, on the grounds of race, color, gender, religion, creed, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status, be excluded from employment or participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity conducted by Georgia Perimeter College.

Affirmative Action Statement

Georgia Perimeter College adheres to affirmative action policies designed to promote diversity and equal opportunity for all its faculty and students.

You are expected to read and abide by the General Policies of Georgia Perimeter College, as stated in the College Student Handbook and in the College Catalog .

Lecture Schedule

The detailed lecture schedule, assignments, quizzes, exams, and required readings are posted on the WebCT Calendar.
The following is a summary of what will be covered this semester.

  1. Metric system
  2. Scientific method
  3. Earth's surface features
  4. Earth systems
  5. Earthquakes
  6. Earth's interior
  7. Plate tectonics
  8. Volcanoes
  9. Minerals
  10. Rock cycle
  11. Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
  12. Rock weathering
  13. Soil
  14. Erosion
  15. Water
  16. Fossils and geologic time
  17. Energy resources
  18. Basic introduction to weather
  19. Wind and global wind systems
  20. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes
  21. Air pollution
  22. Seawater composition, salinity
  23. Waves, currents, tides and sea level change
  24. Introduction to astronomy
  25. The planets
  26. Moon
  27. Comets, asteroids, meteors
  28. Phases of the moon
  29. Eclipses
  30. Seasons
  31. Motions of objects in the sky
  32. Gravity
  33. Our solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Universe
  34. Origin of Universe, Big Bang

FINAL EXAM COVERS ALL CHAPTERS

Note: Proctored midterm and final exams will be given by arrangement with a proctor in your area.

The schedule is tentative and may change. All changes will be announced through WebCT.

It is your responsibility to check your e-mail (personal e-mail, in addition to WebCT internal e-mail), Bulletin Board, and Weekly Course Schedule or you may miss a quiz or homework assignment.

Expected Educational Results

A. As a result of completing this course the student will be able to:

  1. Describe the composition, motion, and other characteristics of water on the Earth's surface and in the earth's atmosphere.
  2. Describe the factors that affect earth's weather and climatic patterns.
  3. Explain the existence of matter using the atomic theory.
  4. Describe the Earth's composition and basic processes.
  5. Discuss theories that explain how the earth's surface has changed over time.
  6. Explain how scientists approximate the age of the Earth, rocks, life forms, etc.
  7. Explain the organization and relationship of celestial bodies in our Solar System.
  8. Explain the origin and features of stars.
  9. Explain scientific theories regarding the origin of the universe.
  10. Describe the impact of the space program on our lives.

B. General education outcomes:

  1. This course addresses the general education outcome relating to communications as follows:
    1. Students develop their reading comprehension skills by reading the web pages, textbook, and other course materials.
    2. Students develop their writing skills through a variety of homework assignments, tests, and quizzes.
    3. Students develop their communication skills through class discussions, and by asking questions in class, as well as interactions with their peers in and out of class. In the online environment, students develop their communication skills through bulletin board discussions with the instructor and with their peers, and by asking questions using e-mail and the bulletin board.
  2. This course addresses the general education outcomes of recognition and application of scientific inquiry as follows:
    1. Students must apply principles of geology, astronomy, oceanography and meteorology to explain various observed natural phenomena that occur on the earth's surface, in the interior of the earth, and in the skies.
    2. Students will develop their observation skills to be able to recognize various geological features, earth materials, cloud types, features on weather maps, phases of the moon, as well as various stars, planets, and galaxies.
    3. Students will develop the skills of inquiry by use of the scientific method to experience, evaluate, and synthesize data as applied to various earth and space science problems.
  3. This course addresses the general education outcomes of developing effective individual, and at times, group problem-solving and critical thinking skills as applied to earth and space science.
    Students will develop their ability to problem-solve and critically think by applying their acquired knowledge of earth and space science to various scientific problems, and by developing activities to use with middle school students.

This syllabus is subject to modification as determined by the instructor.

Summer Semester 2007

 

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Page created by Edward Albin and Pamela J.W. Gore
Georgia Perimeter College,
Clarkston, GA

Page created May 2007