Dave Bice grew up in Minnesota back when there were real winters. He received a BA in Geology at Carleton College, also in Minnesota, but then moved out west to work for the US Geological Survey, studying Mt. St. Helens, where he learned what geothermal heat is all about. He then moved down the coast to Berkeley, California for his Ph.D., which involved extensive field work on the stratigraphy, structure, and tectonics of the Northern Apennines mountains in Italy. After completing his Ph.D., he took a faculty position at Carleton College, where he spent the next 15 years teaching and doing research that drifted from paleomagnetism and stratigraphy to asteroid impacts and eventually to paleoclimate. During this time, he co-founded a geological observatory in a tiny village in the Apennines of Italy; this observatory has grown into a center for teaching and research drawing geoscientists from around the globe. In 2004, Bice moved to Penn State, drawn by the excitement created by so many bright colleagues. He continues to teach field geology courses in Italy and the US along with classes in geodynamics and earth systems modeling.
Bice has two boys, ages 11 and 15, both of whom are budding geoscientists. Dave's pastimes include cooking, foraging for wild foods, hiking, biking, and skiing.
Jennifer Sliko is a Lecturer in Earth Sciences in the Civil Engineering Program at Penn State Harrisburg. Her research focus includes geoscience education and using geochemical proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Her recent projects include developing new ways to teach about climate change issues in general education classes and comparing how well students retain information in non-traditional classes (like online and flipped classes). She is also working on a project comparing environmental changes to evolutionary changes in late Ediacaran biota.
Jenn teaches several courses at Penn State Harrisburg, including Physical Geology, Planet Earth, Earth Systems and Global Change, Water: Science and Society, Astronomical Universe, and Energy, Environment, and Our Future. Jenn completed her PhD (geoscience, paleoclimatology emphasis) in 2010 from the University of South Florida and her BS in Geology and Marine Science at Rider University in 2000. In her spare time, Jenn and her husband are enjoying showing the world to their daughter, Samantha, and teaching her how to identify rocks and fossils.
Energy and the Environment is an active course. We will have you look at real data so you can put the concepts we teach you into action. This means that a significant proportion of the assignments is based on the lab activities. Here we explain the various types of assignments.
At the end of each module there is a list of general references. These are for you if you would like to explore material in more detail. They are not mandatory. There are also references within each module for more information on individual concepts. We specify whether these are mandatory or voluntary, Where mandatory, you will be required to understand this material for assignments. Most of the material for the course is provided on the module pages.
As you work through each module we have assignments that are for credit and those that are not but are there to advance your understanding of the material.
As described in the Syllabus, course Assessment is as follows:
Before you begin working through the course content, you need to make sure the computer you are using is configured properly for the multimedia that you will encounter. Below are specifications and tests to help make sure everything is in working order.
For this course, we recommend the minimum technical requirements outlined on the World Campus Technical Requirements [1] page, including the requirements listed for same-time, synchronous communications.
Access to a reliable Internet connection is required for this course. A problem with your Internet access may not be used as an excuse for late, missing, or incomplete coursework. If you experience problems with your Internet connection while working on this course, it is your responsibility to find an alternative Internet access point, such as a public library or Wi-Fi ® hotspot.
This site is considered a secure website, which means that your connection is encrypted. We do however link to content that isn't necessarily encrypted. This is called mixed content. By default, mixed content is blocked in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. This may result in a blank page or a message saying that only secure content is displayed. Follow the directions below to view the mixed content.
We have YouTube video material in many of the lessons in this course. Chances are pretty good that you already use a Web browser that is configured to view YouTube videos, but to be safe, here is a "test" file that you should try out now to make sure you won't have problems later in the course. If this video (1:14) runs smoothly for you, then you're ready to go. If you can't get the video to play on your computer, then please refer to the steps at the bottom of this page to troubleshoot your problem.
Request Help. If you still have not had any success, then it is time for you to contact the HelpDesk. University Park or Commonwealth Campus students should contact the IT Service Desk [2], and World Campus students should contact the Outreach Helpdesk [3]. It is in your own best interest to be as specific as you possibly can. Vague descriptions of a problem only delay assistance. Try to include information such as:
This course uses many equations. In order to view the equations, you must use one of the following browsers. This list supersedes the list of browsers found on the Technical Requirements page.
If you use any other browsers, there will be pages that do not render properly.
You can customize your browser to zoom in on the equations by following the steps below.
Below is an example of a formula. Right click (Mac users Ctrl-click) on the formula to access the Zoom settings.
You will be using a variety of software in the lab part of the course. These tutorials and refreshers are here to make your learning curve less steep. Please make sure you spend time on them this week.
If the video does not show up, watch it on YouTube [5].
A word of caution — this video shows a much older version of Excel, so don't expect your screen to look exactly like the one in the video.
Next, produce a single plot of month (1=Jan, 12=Dec) versus both 24-hour average temperature and average rainfall for State College:
State College Average 24-Hour Temperature [6]
State College Average Rainfall [7]
Make sure you can generate these plots (you'll be asked to do this kind of thing throughout the class), but you do not need to turn anything in.
For online courses, the advice most likely to lead you to success is "Engage, Engage, Engage!"
What does this mean? Quite simply, it means being active in the course on a regular basis. It means keeping in sync with what's going on in the course, staying on top of deadlines and assignments, asking for help when necessary, and taking every opportunity to interact with the content and the instructors. It means making this course a regular part of your routine. Do this, and frankly, it will be difficult for you NOT to succeed in this course.
In online courses, the role of both the instructors AND the students tends to shift from the traditional classroom roles. The instructors' role is similar to that of good supervisors, and the students' role is closer to that of a good employee. The instructors define and set overall goals, outcomes, and timelines; make the information, resources, and experiences available to you to meet those goals; and, provide the support, guidance, communication channels, and feedback to help you succeed. The students' primary responsibilities are to stay on task; to manage their time and energy in order to get everything done on a weekly basis; to ask for guidance when in need of clarification; to take every opportunity available to improve their chances of success.
So, the very best advice we can offer you is to be engaged in this course at least nine hours each week, and log on 5-6 days of the week to spread out your study and thinking time. In the final analysis, completing multiple online sessions of quality study time is a tried-and-true recipe for success in this course.
Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when preparing to be successful in an online course:
It is a good idea to record any questions you might develop as you move through the content. Maintaining a digital course notebook is a great idea (you can use Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, etc.) to assist you. The process can be very easy with modern technology including your tablet, or computer. OneNote is often included with Microsoft Office software, and Evernote can be installed as a free app on tablets/iPad's. All software/apps work similarly and can be extremely useful once you get the hang of them, they are especially useful when you want to review content and prepare for assignment work.
And finally, in this course which has a lab component, it is critical that you read the lecture materials before you come to your lab.
The links below will connect you with other resources to help support your successful online learning experience, they are from Penn State but they apply to students from anywhere and are openly available:
Penn State World Campus Strategies to Improve Online Learning [8] - This website provides links to many resources on everything from taking notes online to managing your time effectively. Please note that you must be a World Campus student to receive some of the support services mentioned on this website.
Penn State World Campus - The Corner of College and Allen Blog [9] - This blog features posts by Penn State staff and students on a wide variety of topics relevant to online learning. Learn from online students and alumni, as well as staff members dedicated to student success, how you can get the most out of your online course experience.
Penn State iStudy Online Learning Tutorials [10] - The iStudy online learning tutorials are free and available to all Penn State students. They cover a broad range of topics including online learning readiness, time management, stress management, and statistics - among many others. Check out the extensive list of topics for yourself to see what topics may be of most use to you!
Netiquette is the rules of etiquette when internet manners, online etiquette, and digital etiquette all rolled into one word.
Links to more resources on netiquette:
Penn State: Effective Technical Writing in the Information Age [11]
World Wide Web version of the book Netiquette [12] by Virginia Shea
Penn State Code of Conduct [13]
Wikipedia: Etiquette in Technology [14]
Penn State: Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) [15]
Meaningful interactions among students and instructors are the hallmark of a successful online class. Canvas supports several types of communication, as described below.
In addition, registered students have Penn State e-mail accounts (<Access Account ID>@psu.edu) that they need to monitor for any official communications that come from the University or from the Penn State World Campus.
Sometimes questions arise as to whom to contact about a certain issue and where. Use the information below to guide you in seeking answers to your questions.
If you have any questions about the course content or activities, at any point in the course, please post them to our Discussion Forums in Canvas. That way, everyone can benefit from seeing the question and the answer! That forum will be checked at least once per day, Monday through Friday and once a day on weekends. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate!
If you have a question that you would prefer not to share with the rest of the class, such as about your grade, you are welcome to contact your faculty member via email through the learning management system anytime. We guarantee a response within 24 hours.
Whenever you post a message in a forum or send course mail, use a descriptive subject line. Subject lines that include the gist of a question or comment increase the chances that recipients can retrieve the messages we're looking for. Poor subject lines, such as "Question" or "Module 1," are useless as search keywords.
Please note that this is a comprehensive list of communication tools available in Canvas. This course may or may not utilize all of the options below.
Announcements are messages from your instructor that contain important information. Current announcements can be accessed through the Announcements link in Canvas. Announcements may highlight assignment due dates (also published in the course Calendar), module recaps, a preview of an upcoming module and other essential course information.
Inbox is the equivalent of email in Canvas. It's great to use for a quick email to another student, instructor, or a whole team. Keep in mind that the text editor is very minimal, and does not have much formatting capability. Please use Inbox only for private messages to instructors or fellow students.
Discussions allow students to interact with the instructor and other classmates. Threaded discussions allow multiple posts and replies. New posts appear in the Course Activity Stream page, so you will know when something has been posted.
In general, questions and comments about project assignments, and course content should be shared with the entire class via the discussion forums. That way, everyone can benefit from the discussion.
Whenever you post a message in a forum or send course mail, please title every message with a descriptive subject line. Subject lines that include the gist of a question or comment increase the chances that students and instructors can retrieve the messages we're looking for. Poor subject lines, such as "Question" or "Module 1," are not very useful as search keywords. When replying to a prior message, consider whether or not the subject line should be altered to indicate the content of your reply!
If you experience any problems with Canvas, especially those occurring during graded assignments, please report them to Canvas Support by clicking on the Help (?) icon in the lower left, preferably immediately after the problem occurred. That way, the Canvas Support team will be able to validate glitches and fix system problems as they occur.
It is in your own best interest to be as specific as you can. Vague descriptions of problems delay assistance. Try to include information such as:
Fossil fuels mean big money. Six of the world’s seven largest businesses by sales are in oil and gas, with the next two an electric utility and a “commodities” company with a whole lot of fossil-fuel activity (Wikipedia, accessed May 3, 2015). Companies such as Apple and McDonalds are puny in comparison. Yet, the science is solid that the world will be economically better off—in dollars and cents, jobs and investments—if we take wise actions to start moving away from fantastically valuable fossil fuels.
If that seems totally crazy, then you’ve come to the right class. We love the good we get from energy use—having a tractor plow the field is much more enjoyable for most people than hoeing corn all summer so we don’t starve in winter. In the US, the roughly 2000 Calories we each get from our daily food are dwarfed by the approximately 200,000 Calories from the fossil fuels that support our lifestyle (plus a little help from nuclear and renewables, for a total of almost 240,000 Calories per person per day). With a gallon of gasoline costing less than a gallon of milk but supplying much more energy, we apply cheap fuels to help solve many of our problems.
But, we are burning fossil fuels approximately a million times faster than nature saved them for us, and new fossil fuels are forming far too slowly to be useful. So, we can strip mine the mountain tops, frack the shales, and then build a renewable energy system, or we can leave some of the now-valuable coal, oil and gas in the ground and build the renewables more rapidly.
Energy companies have been amazingly efficient at supplying the fuels we asked for, and burning those fuels makes carbon dioxide. We put out slightly less than 1000 pounds of household trash per person per year for garbage collectors to haul away, but fossil-fuel burning in the US generates almost 40,000 pounds of CO2 per person per year. The physics behind the warming influence of this CO2 has been known for over a century, and was really worked out by the US Air Force after WWII to help in such tasks as designing sensors for heat-seeking missiles. This may be contentious in Congress, but not in serious science; the knowledge of how energy and gases interact in the atmosphere is used and verified every day in many ways.
The scholarship is clear that a little climate change is inexpensive, but each degree of warming will cost more than the previous one—costs rise faster than temperatures. So, the more fossil fuel we burn, the more expensive it becomes to burn more, and the more beneficial to switch.
Fortunately, we are the first generation in history that knows how to make the switch, with shovel-ready technologies. But, how do we get as much good as possible while minimizing the bad, respecting the value of fossil fuels while developing the potential of the renewables? This class won’t tell you what to do or how to vote, but it will give you the tools to decide. So, power up and let’s go see.
Here are a few pictures of our energy system, introducing topics that we will address in the course.
You have reached the end of the Orientation! Double-check the to-do list on the Orientation Welcome page to make sure that you have completed all of the activities listed there. Be sure you have posted your introductory discussion entry before the end of the week. Click on "Modules" to move on to the first module.
Links
[1] https://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/general-technical-requirements
[2] http://itservicedesk.psu.edu/#
[3] http://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/technical-support
[4] http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathplayer/download.htm
[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojFGMMBuoZk
[6] http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N40W077+1102+7251309G1
[7] http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N40W077+2100+7251309G1
[8] https://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/academic-support-resources/strategies-to-improve-online-learning
[9] http://studentblog.worldcampus.psu.edu/
[10] http://istudy.psu.edu/
[11] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c7_p2.html
[12] http://ttp://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/
[13] http://tudentaffairs.psu.edu/conduct/
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette_in_technology
[15] http://tlt.psu.edu/