460:100—Planet Earth

Description: Introduction to the Earth; its age and origin; composition and evolution; and the interrelationships of
its major physical systems.  This course is intended primarily for the non-science major, designed to give the student a broad,
basic understanding of the planet on which we reside, the major scientific revolutions in Earth Science that led to our current
knowledge of the Earth, and the role the physical Earth plays in today’s global politics and economics.

Important: Students cannot receive credit for both this course (460:100) and Introductory Geology (460:101).
Students who intend to major or minor in geology should take 460:101.

Instructor: Dr. Roy W. Schlische, Professor of Geology
   Office: 234 Wright Geological Laboratory, Busch Campus
   Telephone: (732) 445-3142               Email: schlisch@rci.rutgers.edu

Equipment: iClicker personal response system, available at bookstore. Must be iClicker; other systems won’t work.
Register your iClicker at http://www.iclicker.com/registration/
• For extra credit: students receive 1 point for each question they answer (correctly or incorrectly) in class plus 1 additional
point for answering the question correctly. Students may earn up to 5 percentage points of extra credit for each of the three exams.

Text: Earth: Portrait of a Planet 2nd Ed. or 3rd Ed. by S. Marshak; also available online and in downloadable PDF
format from http://www.nortonebooks.com/   Text is optional but highly recommended.

Web site: Course web site on Sakai (http://sakai.rutgers.edu) contains the official course syllabus, supplementary material,
review / exercise questions (in PowerPoint and PDF formats), and gradebook. Check site frequently. Departmental website
http://geology.rutgers.edu contains information about other geoscience courses that satisfy the science requirements,
information about careers in geology, the geology major and minor, etc.

Basis for Grade:
• Exam 1, 30%; Exam 2, 35%; Exam 3, 35%

• A ≥ 90  |  84 ≤ B+ < 90  |  78 ≤ B < 84  |  72 ≤ C+ < 78  |  65 ≤ C < 72  |  50 ≤ D <65  |  F < 50

• The instructor is unable to honor requests for extra-credit work.
• Grade distributions (‘98-‘08): A, 18% of grades; B+, 20%; B, 26%; C+, 17%; C, 12%; D, 4%; F, 2%

Exams:
• ~50 multiple-choice and true-false questions (assigned seating, one sheet of notes)
• "Department policy is that no make-up exams will be given without WRITTEN documentation from a Rutgers University official."

How to do well in this course:

1. Arrive on time to class and remain until dismissed; take good notes and participate in class discussions.
2. Download and read the material posted for each lecture topic before class.
3. Review all material in a timely manner before the quizzes and exams.
4. Focus on understanding the material rather than memorizing it. If you don’t understand something, ask a question. Many
other students probably have the same question.
5. Attendance matters: studies show that the mean grade of students who attend 50% of classes is a low C while the mean
grade of those students who attend 100% of lectures is high B. It is also part of your grade (using iClickers).
6. Basic concepts are covered in PowerPoint (or PDF) files available on the course website, which you should obtain and
review before class. We will use class time to explore more challenging concepts, to work on exercises, and to view videos,
animations, and demonstrations. You need to attend class to take notes on this material, to receive attendance credit, and to
take quizzes. Some material covered in class is not in the text , and vice versa.

Preliminary Schedule

	Class Topic adn Activities	Reading*
1	1: Introduction to course and geology	Prelude; Ch. 2
2	2: Composition of the Earth; minerals	Ch. 5
3	3: Introduction to rocks; igneous rocks	Inter. A; Ch. 6
4	4: Weathering, sedimentary rocks	Ch. 7
5	5: Metamorphic rocks; rock cycle	Ch. 8; Inter. B
6	6: Relative dating; fossils	Inter D; Ch. 12
7	7: Radiometric dating; absolute age of solar system and Earth	Ch. 12
8	Makeup	---
9	Exam 1	---
10	8. Volcanology and how rocks melt	Ch. 6, 9
11	9. Deformation, geologic structures, and mountain ranges	Ch. 11
12	10: Earthquakes and Earth's interior structure	Ch. 10; Inter. C
13	11: Tectonics, continental drift and paleomagnetism	Ch. 3
14	12: Marine geology, seafloor spreading and plate tectonics	Ch. 3-4
15	13: Plate tectonics: continental rifting, mountain-building and hotspots	Ch. 4
16	14: Surface processes 1: External heat engine, wind and deserts	Ch. 21
17	15: Surface processes 2: Running water and rivers	Ch. 17
18	Make-up	---
19	Exam 2	---
20	16. Surface processes 3: Waves, tides, and coastlines	Ch. 18
21	17: Surface processes 4: Glaciers and ice ages	Ch. 22
22	18: Natural hazards 1: Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis	Ch. 9, 10
23	19: Natural hazards 2: Landslides, flooding, coastal erosion	Ch. 16, 17, 18
24	20: Natural hazards 3: Impacts and mass extinctions	Inter. D, Ch. 13
25	21: Earth's resources 1: Groundwater	Ch. 19
26	22: Earth's resources 2 : Ore & oil, coal and soil	Chs. 7, 14, 15
27	23: Global change–Ancient and modern	Ch. 13, 23
28	Makeup	---
X	Exam 3	---

* Optional reading assignments.