EARTH 540 Syllabus

Summer 2020

This syllabus is divided into several sections. That being said, it is essential that you read the entire document, as well as the material covered in the course orientation. Together these serve the role of our course "contract.

Instructor

Eliza reads "Soup for the King;" Linda fends off the papparazzi.

Dr. Eliza Richardson(link is external)
Associate Professor of Geosciences
Department of Geosciences
The Pennsylvania State University
409 Deike Sciences Building
University Park, PA 16802

• Phone: (814) 863-2507
• Email: eliza@psu.edu(link sends e-mail)
• Home Page: Eliza Richardson, Department of Geosciences, Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences(link is external) 
• Office Hours: Due to coronavirus, I'm not in my office right now, but I am flexible with advanced notice. Please contact me by email to make an appointment if you want to chat live via Zoom, Skype, or whatever your favorite way is. I'll make it work.

Course Overview

EARTH 540: ESSENTIALS OF OCEANOGRAPHY FOR EDUCATORS (3 credits). Chemical and physical principles of the oceans and their interaction with the biosphere, atmosphere and the solid Earth.

Prerequisites: None

EARTH 540 is an elective course in the Master's Degree Program in Earth Science Education. The course is designed specifically for science teachers who seek to enrich their knowledge of oceanography and contemporary principles of the fluid Earth and who are able to study only part-time and at a distance. EARTH 540 introduces knowledge and broadens understanding of the oceans and their role in climate, coastal processes, and life within the fluid Earth. You will gain insight into the physical and chemical processes that determine properties of the ocean and govern interactions between the ocean, atmosphere, groundwater, and the fluid/solid Earth. Topics reinforce fundamental scientific principles such as heat transfer, chemical equilibrium, and conservation of energy.

We strongly recommend taking EARTH 501 prior to taking EARTH 540

EARTH 540 combines digital video, audio, simulation models, virtual field trips to on-line data resources, text, and interactive quizzes that provide instantaneous feedback. The course consists of 9 lessons within three broadly defined units, a capstone unit, plus a course orientation week at the beginning of the semester. Lessons consist of interactive exercises, links, animations, movies, and novel explanations of basic scientific principles of how the oceans work.

What we expect of you

On average, most students spend eight hours per week working on course assignments. Your workload may be more or less depending on your prior experience with computing and the Web in general, and with geology in particular.  Similarly, you will find that some lessons will require more work/time and others will require less. You should plan to visit the course web site and discussion boards once per day.  A link to the course discussion rubric can be found here.

We will work together with you to make this an effective and convenient educational experience. The Internet is a novel learning environment, but many aspects of this course should be different than a traditional college class: how much and how well you learn is ultimately up to you. You will succeed if you are diligent about keeping up with the material, and if you take advantage of opportunities to communicate with your instructor, as well as with your fellow students.

Specific learning objectives for each lesson and project are detailed within each lesson. The Course Schedule is published under the Resources dropdown above.

Course Goals and Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, successful students will be able to

• Conceptualize principles of ocean science and use them to think critically about ocean-related issues
• Discuss ocean currents and atmospheric winds in the context of heat transfer and climate regulation
• Develop an appreciation for the complexity of life in the ocean
• Explain the uncertainty inherent in predicting climate change and ocean-atmosphere interactions
• Explain the advantages and pitfalls of aquaculture as a societal approach to sustainable fisheries
• Describe the concept of Geologic Time and how oceans have changed during Earth’s history
• Explain the hydrologic cycle and geochemical cycle of inputs and outputs in the ocean
• Write reflectively about their learning

Unit I Learning Objectives: Creating the Seas: Ocean Basins and Water (Lessons 1-3)

By the end of these lessons, successful students will be able to

• Explain the Scientific Method and the concept of Multiple Working Hypotheses
• Describe statistics as related to data collection and sampling
• Explain current thinking about the origin of water on Earth
• Explain current thinking about the existence of liquid water within our solar system
• Explain the Goldilocks principle of life on Earth
• List the important characteristics of ice, water, and vapor
• Describe latent heat, heat capacity, and sensible heat.
• Explain why water is the universal solvent
• Speak knowledgeably about the origin of salts in seawater
• List the factors that determine seawater salinity
• Explain the hydrologic cycle
• Explain geochemical residence time in the oceans

Unit II Learning Objectives: A Global Balancing Act: Ocean-Atmosphere-Continent Interactions (Lessons 4-6)

By the end of these lessons, successful students will be able to

• Explain the main factors that determine surface and deep ocean currents
• Describe the ocean conveyor and its role in global heat transfer and climate regulation
• Explain the origin of global wind belts and their basic patterns
• Explain the ocean’s role in heat redistribution
• Describe, precisely, the Coriolis effect and its influence on global winds and ocean currents
• Detail the basic properties of deep and shallow water waves
• Explain why beaches are dynamic features subject to continual change
• Explain long shore currents, sand transport, and wave reflection
• Explain the implications of global warming for sea level change
• Explain the basic factors that determine ocean tides
• Differentiate between the equilibrium theory of tides and the dynamic theory of tides
• Explain tidal amphidromic points and their origin
• Identify the relative roles of the sun and moon for tides
• Describe the anatomy of a hurricane
• Explain the role of latent heat in hurricanes

Unit III Learning Objectives: Life Goes On (Lessons 7-9)

By the end of these lessons, successful students will be able to

• Explain how corals eat, live, and prosper
• Explain the interdependencies and ecology of coral reefs
• Explain the role of global change and the negative impact of carbon dioxide and sea-surface temperature on coral
• Discuss the oceanic food chain and the key role of photosynthetic organisms
• List the key nutrients upon which ocean life depends
• Explain the factors that make oceanic deep water like fertilizer
• Explain how fishes breathe and swim
• Explain the concept of eutrophication and the key factors that lead to hypoxia
• Describe the factors that produce red tides and harmful algal blooms (HABs)
• Identify the actions taken to reduce overfertilization, and other forms of pollution, in The Chesapeake Bay and cite evidence of the benefit and signs of recovery

Required Course Materials

All materials needed for this course are presented in our course space in Canvas. In order to take this course, you need to have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password (used to access the online course resources). If you have any questions about obtaining or activating your Penn State Access Account, please contact the World Campus.

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 wifi hotspot. If you anticipate that you will have connectivity problems while taking this course, please contact me right away so we can discuss your situation.

Assignments and Grading

EARTH 540 will rely upon a variety of methods to assess and evaluate student learning. You will be required to:

1. Participate in weekly discussion forums that will serve to highlight common questions and connections between key topics and principles, as well as to help students to relate course topics to their own work as secondary science educators.  Participation is expected on a regular basis.  A link to the course discussion rubric can be found here.
2. Complete weekly Lessons and Advancement Assessments
3. Complete 3 end-of-unit Quizzes
4. Turn in a Capstone project during the semester that will require you to use the skills and knowledge you develop in the course to produce a learning module that you, in turn, will be able to use to teach course concepts in you own classroom. Project exercises will be evaluated, communally, by all course participants and will become available to all students in the class.

Details of Lesson and Assignment weights and our grading rubric can be found here:

You will earn a grade that reflects the extent to which you achieved the learning objectives listed above.

Grades are assigned by overall performance using a standard scale from A to F. I will use the Canvas gradebook to keep track of your grades. You can see your grades in the gradebook, too, by clicking the "Grades" link in Canvas. Overall course grades will be determined as follows. Percentages refer to the proportion of all possible points earned.

An important note about the Capstone Project:  The Capstone Project is your opportunity to take a topic studied in Earth 540 and to adapt it to your own classroom.  While the Capstone Project is designated as Lesson 9, it's something I'd like for us all to be thinking about throughout the entire course.  To that end, I will create a discussion board where you are expected to create a brief post at the end of each lesson.  In that post, you will select a topic from that lesson and give a brief example of how you might teach that topic in the classroom.  My hope is that you will then have a good well to return to once it comes time for you to create your Capstone.  You will receive a modest discussion grade for this, as I see the bulk of the value in this discussion board holding great Capstone ideas and eliminating the need for you to scan through all lesson pages sometime around the end of July for something worthwhile.  

Hot Tips for Success in EARTH 540, with acknowledgments to Prof. Richardson and her content from EARTH 501

Participate

Plenty of students who have never taken an online course worry about feeling isolated. In fact, past experience shows that it is easier to feel isolated in a great big lecture hall where nobody wants to draw attention to themselves. This class is not enormous and you will find that regular participation in the discussion boards will not only make you part of the community of this course but will also allow you to organize your thoughts and logically process the science you'll be doing. I conceptualize the discussion forums the same way I do weekly lab meetings with grad students. Having to explain things to your peers is a great way to crystallize your own thinking about a topic. It is also the perfect platform for giving and receiving feedback about your scientific approach or your teaching approach.

Do the work on time

Please believe that I understand the time constraints placed on you. I have five kids, ranging in age from 20 years to 2 years. I know how hard it is to work, study, be a parent, and occasionally still try to stay up for a West Coast baseball game on TV. My suggestion is to treat this like a class that has actual hours and to set aside specific periods of time each week to do the work, think, and participate in the discussions. If you find you are falling behind, do not silently suffer and try to rush through the work. You must let me know of any difficulties so that I can help you! Unforeseen emergencies excluded, my late policy is that you need to discuss with me any potential problems regarding being on time before assignments are due.

Don't lie, cheat, or step on people's feet

You are an adult. You are a graduate student. Cheating and plagiarizing is a waste of your time and mine. If you are unsure what constitutes cheating and plagiarizing, then please review our course policy on Academic Integrity located below.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity

I cannot overemphasize the importance of academic integrity. DO NOT copy and paste from unreferenced sources. Without exception: if you use a direct quote from any source, as part of any submitted assignment, the quote must be clearly noted and properly referenced. (In-line references are fine.)

Citation and Reference Style

See our course "Academic Integrity Guide," accessible through the "Resources" menu.

Netiquette

The term "Netiquette" refers to the etiquette guidelines for electronic communications, such as e-mail and bulletin board postings. Netiquette covers not only rules to maintain civility in discussions, but also special guidelines unique to the electronic nature of forum messages. Please review Virginia Shea's "The Core Rules of Netiquette" for general guidelines that should be followed when communicating in this course.