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S17 GLY2100C Historical Course Information

GLY2100C – Historical Geology Course Information Spring 2017

Instructor: Dr. Rachel Walters

Credits: 4 Pre-requisites: GLY2010C Physical Geology or GLY2030C Environmental and or instructor permission. If you do not have one of the pre-requisite course please contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Room/Time: Williamson Hall Room 202, Tuesday Periods 4-5 (10.40am-12.35pm) and Thursday Period 5 (11.45am-12.35pm).

Office Hours: Tu 2.30-4.00pm and W 2.30pm-4.00pm or email for an appointment. Email: [email protected] or use the Conversations (Inbox) tool within Canvas. Office: Williamson 377 Any time my door is open you are welcome to ask if I have time to see you and if not, I will arrange a suitable time for you to come back.

Teaching Assistants: Alexis Rojas ([email protected]); Kristopher Kusnerik ([email protected])

Lab Sections: 001F (M 7-8), 04D0 (W 3-4), 19E8 (F 5-6) Lab Room: Williamson Hall Room 215. Please see separate lab syllabus provided by your lab section TA for further information about the lab.

Required Text: Historical Geology 8e by Wicander & Monroe published by Cengage.

Due to the structure of teaching and learning in this course, you will find it impossible without this text.

Course Description: of the and its , including the major physical events and evolutionary changes recorded in the .

Course Schedule: The schedule for each session, quizzes, exams and cancelled classes is available online on the Canvas course website. Descriptions and readings for each module are also provided on the website.

Course Objectives: 1. Review key introductory geological concepts including: , evolution, . 2. Develop skills for observing, interpreting and analyzing the rock record to tell the geological story. 3. Travel through geological time to understand how major geological events in Earth’s history are reflected and recorded in the N. American rock record and modern landscape. S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Course Information

4. Be able to apply geological skills, knowledge and understanding of key concepts to predict the main features of the geological record and generate a geological history for an unknown area. 5. Improve communication and general performance in a team. Develop life-long independent learning skills.

The primary goal for this course is for you to be able to observe, interpret and analyze the rock record to produce a story of geological events in the context of major N. American geological events.

Course Design: Your instructor will be using a Team Based Learning approach to teach this course. During the first class you will be placed in small teams that will be permanent for the semester. Course content will be broken into 9 modules with assigned readings. Each module will start with an assigned pre-reading that must be completed prior to the first day of that module. The first day of the module will consist of an Individual Readiness Assurance Test (I-RAT) and Team Readiness Assurance Test (T-RAT) based on the reading. These tests will be short and multiple-choice. Length may vary, but the current schedule is designed for 15 questions. The same test will be completed individually and as a team. Pre-readings are designed to provide you with the base knowledge to understand each topic. Class activities will then focus on conceptual understanding and application of the content through discussion and teamwork. Aspects of the application activities will be handed in for individual and team grading. All teamwork will be completed in class except in cases where the teams may opt to meet outside of class

Course Communication and Canvas e-learning Site: ALL course announcements (including time-sensitive ones) will be sent out via Canvas Announcements tool, therefore it is very important that you set your personal settings so that you receive notifications of Canvas announcement immediately. Course materials, schedules, surveys, quizzes, readings, assignments etc. will be posted to the Canvas e- learning site: https://lss.at.ufl.edu/. ALL email communications MUST be sent from (and will be sent to) your gatorlink accounts or be sent through the Canvas email tool. Before sending me a question via email please check the syllabus and class website for the answer to your query. This will help me attend emails quickly. If you do not get a reply in 48 hours, please do not hesitate to resend your email.

Expectations: Your instructor will put considerable effort into this class and therefore, they expect the same from you. It is vitally important that you understand all the major concepts covered. This is an important class for developing geological thinking– you must keep up with readings, class assignments and lab assignments. It will be impossible to catch up. Your instructor is committed to helping you succeed and is willing and available to help. However, they cannot help unless you ASK FOR HELP. Please go to them as soon as you start falling behind. The last week of classes is way too late.

Class Participation: Class participation is very important – you should be actively engaged in answering questions and listening to other answers given. You are also expected to ask questions during class about topics you do not understand. There will always be several other students who will benefit from you asking a question. The more engaged you are, the more you will get out of this class. There will be team-based class activities and peer S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Course Information review will form a significant portion of your grade. With regards to class discussions, this is a judgment free-zone where getting answers wrong is equally, if not more valuable, to your learning than getting answers right.

Attendance/Absences: You are expected to attend ALL classes and labs and do the assigned readings. There is a strong positive correlation between attendance and final grade. Attendance will be taken during non-graded team activities and will form part of your team participation grade. If you are going to be absent you need to email your instructor BEFORE the scheduled class time and provide a subsequent written excuse from a doctor (for illness) or family member (for a family emergency). You are expected to be on-time to every class. No extra time will be provided if you are late on a test day. If you are late/absent for an RAT and provide a written excuse (as above), your instructor will provide a make- up test for the individual grade and you will be awarded the team grade achieved by your team in your absence.

Late Work Policy and Make-ups: Any late individual assignments will incur a late penalty. I will accept late work up to five working days (M-F) after the original deadline with a deduction of 10% (of the total points) for each working day i.e. if your work is graded at 90% and it is 3 working days late you will received a grade of 60%. No penalties are accrued on the weekend. After this, NO late work will be accepted. If you have a written excuse from a doctor (for illness) or family member (for a family emergency) AND let the instructor know within a week of the assignment being due, you will not be penalized for late work as long as it is handed in by a re-scheduled date. If you have a preexisting conflict with one of the scheduled exams, an alternative meeting with the instructor must be made at least one week prior to the exam. In case of sudden illness or family emergency, please notify the instructor as soon as possible (within no more than 1 week). Appropriate documentation may be required. No make-ups will be permitted for other, unexcused absences.

Etiquette, Disabilities, Cheating: All students are expected to adhere to the student honor code (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/honorcode.php). Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated and any assignment/exam where there is evidence of either will be given a zero. Multiple offences may result in automatic failure of the course, at the discretion of your instructor. No texting, calling, radios, MP3 players, emailing or social media-ing during class. Please show courtesy to your instructor, TAs and classmates by turning up on-time and leaving on-time (not early) and avoiding unnecessary disturbances during class. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. The Dean of Students Disability Resource Center website is http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc.

U Matter, We Care: Your wellbeing is important to the University of Florida (and your instructor/TAs). The U Matter, We Care initiative is committed to creating a culture of care on our campus by encouraging members of our community to look out for one another and to reach out for help if a member of our community is in need. If you or a friend is in distress, please contact [email protected] so that the U Matter, We Care Team can reach out to the S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Course Information student in distress. A nighttime and weekend crisis counselor is available by phone at 352-392-1575. The U Matter, We Care Team can help connect students to the many other helping resources available including, but not limited to, Victim Advocates, Housing staff, and the Counseling and Wellness Center. Please remember that asking for help is a sign of strength. In case of emergency, call 9-1-1.

Assessment and Grading: There will be 9 short multiple-choice Individual Readiness Assurance Tests and Team Readiness Assurance Tests (RATs, same tests for individual and team) at the beginning of each module. There will be one individual mid-term exam and an individual final exam. There will be 6-8 application assignments – either team-based or individual. All tests and exams will be closed book and closed phone. Team grades for tests and assignments will be the same for each team member. The team participation grade will comprise attendance during non-graded team activities, peer review, questionnaires and surveys as relevant.

Grade Weights:

Weighting Course Component (%)

Individual RATs 10

Team RATs 15

Application Assignments 10

Team Participation 15 Individual Mid-term Exam 10 Modules 1-4 Individual Final Exam 15 Modules 1-9 Lab Assignments, Quizzes & Exam 25 See lab syllabus for grade weighting

Peer Review: There will be three periods of peer evaluation – one after modules 1-3, one after modules 4-6 and one at the end of the course. Each individual will evaluate the contributions of all the other team members The format for peer review is still to be decided.

Determination of Final Grades: Raw scores will be weighted according to the grade weights for each performance area as set out in the grade weighting section. Final course grade will be based on an individual’s standing in the overall distribution of total individual scores in the class. There is no limit to the number of A’s earned in this class, but the mean grade will be placed in the B category. There will be no downgrading. Letter grades are as follows:

A=93% or above, A-= 90-93%, B+=87-90%, B=83-87%, B-=80-83%, C+=77-80%, C=73- 77%, C-=70-73%, D+=67-70%, D=63-67%, D-=60-63%, F=<60%.

S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Course Information

Syllabus is subject to change – including the number of assignments and grading. You will be notified in a reasonable time frame if there are any changes.

Module 1: Basic Geological Concepts & Early Earth Chapters 1-3 Historical Geology 8e by Wicander & Monroe Topics: Earth systems, origin of the Earth and the Solar System, minerals, rocks and the theory of plate tectonics. Please se reading guide for details on which parts of each chapter should be covered.

Module 1: RAT – Tuesday January 17, 2017 at 10.40am S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Module Descriptions and Readings

GLY2100C Historical Geology Module Descriptions and Readings

All readings and unit topics are subject to change as the class progresses. Chapters refer to Historical Geology 8e by Wicander & Monroe. While reading the whole chapter will always be beneficial for you geological knowledge foundation, attempting to know and understand every detail in each chapter could be overwhelming and is not expected for success in the course. The material you are expected to cover for the purposes of this course and Readiness Assurance Tests (RATs) is detailed in the reading guide provided for each module.

Module Key Topics Reading

Basic Geological Concepts & Early Earth 1 Earth systems, origin of the Earth and the Solar System, Ch. 1-3 minerals, rocks and the theory of plate tectonics.

Geological Time and the Geologic Record Review of the geological time scale, dating methods, 2 Ch. 4-5 stratigraphy, marine transgression and regression, and the development of the relative geologic timescale.

Sedimentary Rocks and the Theory of Evolution 3 Sedimentary rocks, depositional environments, evolution and Ch. 6-7 the evidence for evolution.

Precambrian Earth and Early Life History , and Eons. Formation of the 4 continents, origin of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, Ch. 8-9 supercontinents, snowball Earth, origin of life and evolution to multi-cellular organisms.

Paleozoic Part 1: Early Earth History Cratons and mobile belts, paleogeography, cratonic 5 Ch. 10 sequences: Sauk, Tippecanoe; formation of the Appalachian mobile belt and foreland basin during the Taconic orogeny.

Paleozoic Part 2: Late Paleozoic Earth History Paleogeography, cratonic sequences: Kaskaskia, and Absaroka; evolution of the Appalachian mobile belt and 6 Ch 11 foreland basin through the Caledonian, Acadian and Alleghanian orogenies and their relationship to Gondwanaland and Pangea; formation of the Cordilleran mobile belt.

Paleozoic Part 3: Life History explosion, invertebrate marine organisms, marine 7 Ch. 12-13 and terrestrial vertebrate evolution, evolution of plant life, transition to life on land and mass extinctions.

Mesozoic Earth and Life History Breakup of Pangea, coastal regions, tectonics of the Western 8 Cordillera: Sonoma, Cordilleran, Nevadan, Laramide and Ch. 14-15 Sevier orogenies, accretion of terranes, forams, fish, dinosaurs, birds and mammals. KT-extinction. S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Module Descriptions and Readings

Cenozoic Earth and Life History Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt, Laramide orogeny (again), 9 Ch. 16-18 Basin and Range Province, Zuni sequence, glaciation and climate change, evolution of mammals.

S17 GLY2100C Historical Geology Schedule All dates and lesson plans below are subject to change given reasonable notice. Week Day Date Lesson Lesson Plan 1 R 1/5/17 1 Terminology Game 2 T1 1/10/17 2 Course Introduction and Balan Intro to TBL Workshop T2 1/10/17 3 Course Introduction and Balan Intro to TBL Workshop R 1/12/17 4 Practice RAT; Mini-lecture on Unit 1 MODULE 1: RAT - BASIC GEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS & EARLY 3 T1 1/17/17 5 EARTH T2 1/17/17 6 Unit 1 Application - DISCUSSION CARDS R 1/19/17 7 Unit 1 Application - ACTIVITY 4 T1 1/24/17 8 MODULE 2: RAT - GEOLOGIC TIME & GEOLOGIC RECORD Unit 2 Application - DISCUSSION CARDS 3Qs+CROSS T2 1/24/17 9 SECTION-GEOLOGICAL HISTORY ACTIVITY Unit 2 Application - CROSS SECTION-GEOLOGICAL HISTORY R 1/26/17 10 ACTIVITY - Graded

5 T1 1/31/17 11 MODULE 3: RAT - SEDIMENTARY ROCKS AND EVOLUTION T2 1/31/17 12 Unit 3 Application - DISCUSSION R 2/2/17 13 Unit 2 Application - CORRELATIONS - Graded 6 T1 2/7/17 14 Unit 3 Application - DISCUSSION CARDS - GENES? T2 2/7/17 15 Unit 3 Application - CLADOGRAM? R 2/9/17 16 MODULE 4: RAT - & EARLY LIFE 7 T1 2/14/17 17 Application Discussion-Peer Review T2 2/14/17 18 Application R 2/16/17 19 UNIT 5: RAT - PALEOZOIC PART 1 8 T1 2/21/17 20 Unit 5 Application - DISCUSSION T2 2/21/17 21 Application: Wilson Cycle Part 1 (zone 1 and 2 basically) R 2/23/17 22 Application: Wilson Cycle Part 1 (zone 3 to 7) 9 T1 2/28/17 23 Historical Geology Game Day - Trivia T2 2/28/17 24 Historical Geology Game Day - Trivia R 3/2/17 25 EXAM - MID-TERM - UNITS 1-4 10 T1 3/7/17 26 SPRING BREAK T2 3/7/17 27 SPRING BREAK R 3/9/17 28 SPRING BREAK 11 T1 3/14/17 29 UNIT 6: RAT - PALEOZOIC PART 2 T2 3/14/17 30 Application Unit 6 R 3/16/17 31 Application Unit 6 12 T1 3/21/17 32 UNIT 7: RAT - PALEOZOIC PART 3 T2 3/21/17 33 DISCUSSION R 3/23/17 34 Unit Application - Cambrian Paper 13 T1 3/28/17 35 Unit 5-7: Paleozoic Geological History Cartoon - Poster T2 3/28/17 36 Unit 5-7: Paleozoic Geological History Cartoon - Poster R 3/30/17 37 Unit 5-7: Paleozoic Geological History Cartoon - Poster 14 T1 4/4/17 38 UNIT 8: RAT - T2 4/4/17 39 Application 7 R 4/6/17 40 Application 7 15 T1 4/11/17 41 UNIT 9: RAT - CENOZOIC T2 4/11/17 42 Application 9 - Start Individual Assignment R 4/13/17 43 Application 16 T1 4/18/17 44 Historical Geology Game Day - Trivia T2 4/18/17 45 Historical Geology Game Day - Trivia R 4/20/17 46 Reading Day E 4/24/16 24C FINAL EXAM: UNITS 1-9 - 12.30pm-2.30pm 5/1/16 Grades Due