G 209

History of the Earth

Spring 2007 Syllabus

Professor: Dr. Zoran Kilibarda               Office: Marram Hall 247                    

E-mail: zkilibar@iun.edu                         Phone: 980-6753

Classroom: Marram Hall 254, Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday 1:00 - 2:15 p.m.; Lab: Tuesday 2:30-4:30 p.m.             

Web Page: http://www.iun.edu/~geos/Zoran IUN/Historical G209/G 209 SPRING 2007.htm

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-10:00 a.m., Thursday 2:30-3:30 p.m., and by appointment.

Textbook: Prothero and Dott, 2004, Evolution of the Earth, seventh edition, McGraw Hill.

Lab Manual: Brice, Levin and Smith, 2004, Earth History, eight edition, McGraw Hill.

Course Objectives

If you successfully complete  this course, you will: 

    (1) have an appreciation of geologic time, 

    (2) have an understanding of the major physical, chemical, and biological changes that have occurred on the Earth over time, and 

    (3) understand major forms of life and fossils that occurred in Earth History

Lectures will be based largely on the text readings but may contain some additional material not mentioned in the text. I will post lecture outlines on the web and you can print them and bring to lecture to add your own words next to the concepts discussed. Read the chapters in advance and make a list of questions that could be discussed during the lectures.

Labs will be arranged as hands on exercises. I will introduce the subject by brief lecture (15 minutes or so) and the rest of lab time will be spent on practical rock or fossil identification, map interpretation, drawing geologic profiles, answering the questions. Lab exercises will be due at the beginning of the next lecture unless instructor provides extended time for some labs. There will be no make-ups for lab exercises without valid reason (doctor's note, note from Student services or with my discretion).

Project

You will select one of the major fossil groups, prepare short presentation, design a lab exercise and write a short paper about it. Project should be selected 

before the start of the second lab. Times of the presentations will be determined by Lab Exercise schedule. More details about projects will be given during 

our first meeting.

Exams, Tests and Quizzes

Two lecture exams will be given on dates indicated on the schedule. Exams will consist of multiple choice questions, true or false statements, fill in the blanks, and essay type questions. Final exam is comprehensive.

Lab tests will consists of identifying minerals, rocks, and fossils, and interpretation of geologic and topographic maps, very similar to material covered in Lab Exercises.

Quizzes will consist of multiple choice questions, true or false statements and essay type questions. There will be six quizzes during the semester given during first fifteen minutes of the lectures.

Field Trip

A three day obligatory field trip is planned for the weekend of April 13-15. Plan your schedule for April so that you can participate in the field trip. We will go to southern Indiana and visit Falls of the Ohio State Park with its wonderful display of corals, brachiopods, bryozoans and other fossils. We will also visit probably most beautiful cave in Indiana, Marengo cave and one of rock quarries. Other stops will include karst landforms and Pennsylvanian cyclothems. We will stay in a motel for two nights. We will leave IUN campus on Friday, April 13, and return on Sunday evening, April 15.

Attendance

Poor attendance is the main reason for poor academic achievement. I will not take attendance in lectures or labs. Please come to class on time because late arrival disturbs normal work.

Grading