We like to think that you signed up for this course because of your fascination with the natural world and the national parks. Believe it or not, our surveys show that many of you are fascinated by these topics. We also know that a lot of you are trying to satisfy a requirement for a degree. That is great—when what you want to do is what you have to do, we’re all happier. Anyway, here is a brief prologue about the course, the national parks, science, and geology just to get us going. We’ll look more closely at some of these topics next time after you’ve figured out how the course works.
It would be fun to take you on a tour of all the national parks, learning a little about each. But Penn State would not give you General Education credit for such a course—you are supposed to be taking a tour of a field of knowledge, in this case, geology.
So, in this course, we will take a tour of geologic ideas, but because some of the best geological features in the world are enshrined in the U.S. national parks, we can still "visit" these beautiful places, using them as illustrations—delving into park history and culture when we can—but concentrating on those things that show how the Earth works.
“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”
—John Muir, Our National Parks, 1901, page 56
Societies have tried many different ways to deal with private versus group ownership. Private ownership often raises ethical questions—did you really come by that piece of land fairly? Can you claim for your king what was already occupied by other peoples? Do other species have land rights? Public ownership raises the “tragedy of the commons”—if I can sneak a few more of my sheep on the public green, I’ll gain in the short term, even if in the long term we all lose because the extra sheep kill the grass.
The idea of a National Park—taking the really choice pieces of the country and placing them under public control—is a U.S. idea, developed by the Washburn expedition to Yellowstone in 1870 and eventually enacted by Congress in 1872. Since then, the idea of national parks has spread across the nation and worldwide. Certainly, saving key scenic environments for the public domain is one of the great ideas of the modern world.
However, the national parks of the United States, and the world, face a grave dilemma. The act establishing Yellowstone and the concept of national parks specified “conservation... unimpaired for...future generations” and “to provide for the enjoyment” of the parks. Saving a wild region for the future while having it enjoyed by millions of visitors each year is perhaps the largest of many difficulties facing the parks.
“All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike—and yet it is the most precious thing we have.”
—Albert Einstein. “Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”
—Louis Pasteur, developer of vaccination, which has saved millions of lives.
Scientists enjoy a special place in our society. Their work is funded by both industry and governments. Scientists are invited to testify to Congress, sit on important advisory boards, and receive large cash awards from the Nobel Prizes. And students in our public schools and universities are required to take science courses (which may be why you are reading this). Why?
The simple answer is that science, when tightly wedded to engineering and technology, works. In the “laboratory” of the real world, the products of scientists and engineers are tested every day. Diseases are cured, oil is found, volcanic eruptions are predicted successfully, buildings are built that don’t fall down, aircraft of all kinds crisscross the globe, and military hardware delivers large explosive devices to precisely selected coordinates. Assemble several groups of humans—perhaps a bridge club, a bunch of astrologers, a rock-music band, a TV production crew, and a team of scientists and engineers. Give the teams some sand, some oil, and some appropriate ore minerals, and then ask the teams to produce a working computer. The odds are pretty good that only one of the teams will succeed, and you know which one. You probably wouldn’t want the scientists playing the guitars, but in their own realm, the scientists are uniquely successful.
Science is not a machine that produces truth when you turn the crank. In fact, because students inevitably “show up” their elders by discovering things that the elders missed, scientists know that they have not yet learned the truth. Scientists are people who make mistakes, lie and cheat and steal and otherwise screw up, just like people in other walks of life.
But, science differs from other human social activities because science is tested against reality. Ideas are tested over and over, and the ideas that fail repeatedly are set aside. Some ideas survive—we can’t prove them to be false. Remarkably, if we behave as if these remaining ideas are true, we can use them to succeed in many ways. These ideas remain conditional because we might find better ones in the future. Science keeps track of what works and what doesn’t, saving future workers trouble.
Science is a meritocracy—good ideas tend to rise to the top no matter who originated them. (This may take a while because scientists are human with human failings, you can find lots of examples in history when those human failings slowed down the progress of science, but the good ideas probably rise to the surface more easily in science than in almost any other human activity.) Science is an expensive way to gain knowledge—a big hammer for big problems. In the future, the trend probably will be toward smaller, more-local science to solve local problems. Science tests the scaffolding of its knowledge continually—a good scientist does not tiptoe around the tower of knowledge put up by earlier scientists, but tries to tear it down. Only those things sturdy enough to survive such attacks are saved; so the scientific edifice is exceptionally sturdy. But, because the scientific standards are so high, there are many areas where science has not been very successful yet. Those areas represent the challenges to the scientists of the future (including you?).
Geology, broadly, is the study of the Earth. Geologists consider the rocks that make up the Earth, the history of the Earth as recorded in those rocks, and the processes that change those rocks. We study oil and ores, landslides and volcanoes, dinosaurs and meteorites, and much more. Most geologists are involved in one of four areas: i) finding valuable things in the Earth (gold and silver, diamonds, building stone, oil, sand and gravel, clean water, etc.); ii) warning of geological hazards (volcanic explosions, earthquakes, landslides, groundwater pollution, etc.); iii) building an operator’s manual for the Earth (Earth System Science); and iv) informing/entertaining (What killed the dinosaurs? How has the Earth changed over time?).
Historically, most geologists have worked at finding valuable things. They have been very successful —too successful for their own good, in fact. Many things we extract from the ground are cheaper today than at any time in history (after you account for inflation and taxes). The result has been fewer jobs for geologists with mining companies than in years gone by. (This will not last; as the known reserves are slowly exhausted, the push for exploration will return.) Finding clean water is a growing field with jobs for geologists.The operators’ manual for Earth is a new idea and may be the most important thing geologists can do for the future of humans. We are everywhere today—living on every continent, tilling more and more of the land, claiming as our own more and more of the productivity of the planet. We have changed the forests, the soils, the atmosphere, and the waters - nowhere on Earth remains free of our imprint. Given that we are doing this, and we will continue to do so, we would be wise to have a better idea of how everything works and what we are doing. You would not try to repair a fine watch without knowing how it works—take a few pieces out and you may never make it work well again. We are doing precisely that to the planet, changing a lot of things we don’t understand. Earth System Science is the attempt to understand the planet, its water, air, ice, rock, and life, well enough to learn the consequences of our actions so that we can make wise decisions. Earth System Science is in its infancy, and we do not even know whether we will ultimately succeed, but it is an important effort.
And, there is always education and entertainment. Some people really like to know things, and geologists have some of the most interesting stories to tell. Perhaps you will find some of the stories here to be interesting. We hope so!
Hello everybody! My name is Thomas Givens, and I am about to begin my 5th year in the Geosciences Ph.D. program at Penn State. My advisor is Dr. Richard Alley (who you’ll learn about shortly), and my research interests include the dynamics of planetary bodies and how the Earth responds to the loss of glacial mass from modern climate change. I study how the Earth deforms under glacial loads using large numerical simulations that I run on ROAR, Penn State’s research supercomputer. I am currently building models to simulate Iceland and quantify the magnitude of decompression and resulting magma generation in the mantle due to modern glacial loss on the island. I will be traveling there this summer to perform fieldwork, gathering the GPS data that informs my models, and I am very excited and fortunate to work in such a naturally stunning place! Please get in touch with me if you’d like to chat about my work/research in general.
I enjoy hiking, cooking, and riding/working on my motorcycle. I have a spouse who’s a Ph.D. candidate in the Biobehavioral Health program and an exceptionally soft King Charles Spaniel named Oswald.
Let’s have a great summer session!
This course was prepared by Dr. Richard Alley and Dr. Sridhar Anandakrishnan, both professors in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State. You will literally see and hear both of them throughout the course via audio and video clips.
Sridhar Anandakrishnan [5] is a geophysicist and a Columbia University and Wisconsin (Go Bucky!) graduate, who has been at Penn State off and on since 1992. Dr. "A" splits his time between teaching (this intro class, geophysics classes, and some math and computer-related classes for geoscientists), service (committees, panels, talks to the public), and research (what's under the glaciers and will they melt?). He has spent a good chunk of his time in Antarctica doing research on and about the glaciers there. Go to the US Antarctic Program's newsletter [6] for a flavor of life and work in Antarctica. When not in work mode, Dr. A's attention goes to the family, cats, bicycles, and gardening. Here is a brief video biography, "Interview with the Iceman [7]".
Richard Alley [8] is a geologist, and an Ohio State and Wisconsin graduate, who has been at Penn State long enough that the fruit trees he planted in his sideyard are getting big. He splits his time between teaching (introductory classes, the study of past climates for undergraduate majors, and mathematical modeling of the earth for graduate students), service (he's had breakfast with a U.S. Vice President, testified to various Congressional committees, was the color commentator for an educational trip to Greenland by 10% of the US Senate, and contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize work of the United Nations IPCC, as well as chatting with lots of elementary-school classes and scout troops), and research (will the ice sheets fall into the ocean and flood the coasts?). When not in work mode, his attention goes to his wife Cindy (who is the Geovisionary of the Rock Videos you'll see soon), their two daughters (Janet, who graduated from Penn State in elementary education, and Karen at Colgate, also featured on the Rock Videos), the fruit trees, a bicycle, and some soccer cleats.
An instructional design team supported the development work for GEOSC 10 as well, including Cindy Alley, Eric Spielvogel, Jennifer Babb, and Ann Taylor.
Cindy Alley met Richard when they were both geology majors at Ohio State. Since she enjoys computer graphics and design layout, and she can speak "geology," she has helped with course design, editing photos (many of the parks photos in this class come from their honeymoon, over 20 years ago!), and designing figures. In GEOSC 10, she steps in to help wherever the others need a hand – photo editing, testing, making suggestions, whatever. When not playing with GEOSC 10, Cindy is a quilter, crafter, and chauffeur for their two children.
Kim Crossman, Ann Taylor, and Eric Spielvogel work for the Dutton e-Education Institute in the College of Earth and Minerals Sciences, supporting the development of courses like GEOSC 10! You may see them "pop in" from time to time, as they continue to assist with the course as we work out the bugs over time.
Many other people worked hard to make your "visit" to the national parks a memorable one. Click here to meet some of them. [9]
Welcome to GEOSC 10! Throughout these online course materials, you will see "me" and "I" used. So who am I? My name is Richard Alley and I will be your instructor for GEOSC 10. When I am not teaching, I study glaciers and ice sheets, especially in Greenland and Antarctica, to learn whether they will fall in the ocean and flood the coasts, to read the climate record in the ice, and to learn how they made beautiful landscapes such as Yosemite and Glacier National Parks. I also have spent a lot of time telling Senators, Congresspersons, and White House officials what we have learned, and then going bicycling or kayaking afterward to relax. While it would be great to meet each of you face-to-face, we will likely only communicate online, through email. But I think you'll be surprised how well we will get to know one another! My hope is that you will become as comfortable in this online environment as you are in a traditional classroom... maybe even more so!
While I am your instructor this semester, it was a team of individuals who developed and authored this online version of GEOSC 10. First and foremost, this course was prepared by me and Dr. Sridhar Anandakrishnan; we are both professors in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State. You will literally see and hear both of us throughout the course via audio and video clips.
Sridhar Anandakrishnan [5] is a geophysicist and a Columbia University and Wisconsin (Go Bucky!) graduate, who has been at Penn State off and on since 1992. Dr. "A" splits his time between teaching (this intro class, geophysics classes, and some math and computer related classes for geoscientists), service (committees, panels, talks to the public), and research (what's under the glaciers and will they melt?). He has spent a good chunk of his time in Antarctica doing research on and about the glaciers there. Go to the US Antarctic Program's newsletter [6] for a flavor of life and work in Antarctica. When not in work mode, Dr. A's attention goes to the family, cats, bicycles, and gardening. Here is a brief video biography, Interview with the Iceman [7].
Richard Alley [8] is a geologist, and an Ohio State and Wisconsin graduate, who has been at Penn State long enough that the fruit trees he planted in his side yard are getting big. He splits his time between teaching (introductory classes, the study of past climates for undergraduate majors, and mathematical modeling of the earth for graduate students), service (he's had breakfast with a U.S. Vice President, testified to various Congressional committees, was the color commentator for an educational trip to Greenland by 10% of the US Senate, and contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize work of the United Nations IPCC, as well as chatting with lots of elementary-school classes and scout troops), and research (will the ice sheets fall into the ocean and flood the coasts?). When not in work mode, his attention goes to wife Cindy (who is the Geovisionary of the Rock Videos you'll see soon), their two daughters (Janet, who graduated from Penn State in elementary education, and Karen at Colgate, also featured on the Rock Videos), the fruit trees, a bicycle, and some soccer cleats.
An instructional design team supported the development work for GEOSC 10 as well, including Cindy Alley, Eric Spielvogel, Jennifer Babb, and Ann Taylor.
Cindy Alley met Richard when they were both geology majors at Ohio State. Since she enjoys computer graphics and design layout, and she can speak "geology," she has helped with course design, editing photos (many of the parks photos in this class come from their honeymoon, over 20 years ago!) and designing figures. In GEOSC 10, she steps in to help wherever the others need a hand – photo editing, testing, making suggestions, whatever. When not playing with GEOSC 10, Cindy is a quilter, crafter, and chauffeur for their two children.
Jennifer Babb, Ann Taylor and Eric Spielvogel work for the Dutton e-Education Institute in the College of Earth and Minerals Sciences, supporting the development of courses like GEOSC 10! You may see them "pop in" from time to time, as they continue to assist with the course as we work out the bugs over time.
Many other people worked hard to make your "visit" to the national parks a memorable one. Click here to meet some of them. [9]
Welcome to GEOSC 10! Throughout these online course materials, you will see "me" and "I" used. So who am I? My name is Sridhar Anandakrishnan and I will be your instructor for GEOSC 10. I am a geophysicist who works on glaciers and ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland to try and figure out what the future holds for these huge masses of ice. I divide my time between teaching (this class and other classes for undergraduate and graduate students in geosciences) and research into glaciers. I did my studies at Columbia University in NY, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I have been at Penn State since 1992. Geophysics is the use of the principles of physics (things like electrical waves or sound waves) to better understand the Earth. In particular, geophysics lets us determine properties deep inside the Earth that we can’t directly measure. When not in work mode, my attention goes to the family, cats, bicycles, and gardening. Here is a brief, 1-minute video biography.
While I am your instructor this semester, it was a team of individuals who developed and authored this online version of GEOSC 10. First and foremost, this course was prepared by me and Dr. Richard Alley; we are both professors in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State. You will literally see and hear both of us throughout the course via audio and video clips.
Sridhar Anandakrishnan [5] is a geophysicist and a Columbia University and Wisconsin (Go Bucky!) graduate, who has been at Penn State off and on since 1992. Dr. "A" splits his time between teaching (this intro class, geophysics classes, and some math and computer related classes for geoscientists), service (committees, panels, talks to the public), and research (what's under the glaciers and will they melt?). He has spent a good chunk of his time in Antarctica doing research on and about the glaciers there. Go to the US Antarctic Program's newsletter [6] for a flavor of life and work in Antarctica. When not in work mode, Dr. A's attention goes to the family, cats, bicycles, and gardening.
Richard Alley [8] is a geologist, and an Ohio State and Wisconsin graduate, who has been at Penn State long enough that the fruit trees he planted in his side yard are getting big. He splits his time between teaching (introductory classes, the study of past climates for undergraduate majors, and mathematical modeling of the earth for graduate students), service (he's had breakfast with a U.S. Vice President, testified to various Congressional committees, was the color commentator for an educational trip to Greenland by 10% of the US Senate, and contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize work of the United Nations IPCC, as well as chatting with lots of elementary-school classes and scout troops), and research (will the ice sheets fall into the ocean and flood the coasts?). When not in work mode, his attention goes to wife Cindy (who is the Geovisionary of the Rock Videos you'll see soon), their two daughters (Janet, who graduated from Penn State in elementary education, and Karen at Colgate, also featured on the Rock Videos), the fruit trees, a bicycle, and some soccer cleats.
An instructional design team supported the development work for GEOSC 10 as well, including Cindy Alley, Eric Spielvogel, Jennifer Babb, and Ann Taylor.
Cindy Alley met Richard when they were both geology majors at Ohio State. Since she enjoys computer graphics and design layout, and she can speak "geology," she has helped with course design, editing photos (many of the parks photos in this class come from their honeymoon, over 20 years ago!) and designing figures. In GEOSC 10, she steps in to help wherever the others need a hand – photo editing, testing, making suggestions, whatever. When not playing with GEOSC 10, Cindy is a quilter, crafter, and chauffeur for their two children.
Jennifer Babb, Ann Taylor and Eric Spielvogel work for the Dutton e-Education Institute in the College of Earth and Minerals Sciences, supporting the development of courses like GEOSC 10! You may see them "pop in" from time to time, as they continue to assist with the course as we work out the bugs over time.
Many other people worked hard to make your "visit" to the national parks a memorable one. Click here to meet some of them [10].
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 GEOSC 10 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 tend 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; manage their time and energy in order to get everything done on a weekly basis; ask for guidance when in need of clarification; and 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 for 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 GEOSC 10.
Your grade in GEOSC 10 is based on the following requirements.
Surveys are a useful tool for getting feedback from you about the big ideas presented each week, and we use them to introduce topics that may help you on the quizzes. The Monday that each unit opens, you will see a StudentsSpeak survey appear in that week's module in Canvas. Each survey is typically just five or so brief questions...no right or wrong answers, just an opportunity for us to "hear" what you think about the upcoming topics of study.
Since there are 12 units of study, there is a total of 12 surveys. You are required to complete 10 out of the 12. Each is worth 1% of your final grade (for a total of 10%). (You are welcome to complete all 12 surveys because we do care what you think, but there is no extra credit for doing more than 10.)
At the end of each unit, you will be required to take an end-of-unit quiz (a "RockOn" quiz) that covers the readings, lecture and multimedia components of that unit. You have only one chance to take each quiz, and they are timed. They are also "open book/note." Each quiz will "appear" in the appropriate Canvas Module at the date/time indicated on the course calendar. They appear at 12 a.m. on Thursday and will "disappear" (close) on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Since this relies on technology, we strongly recommend that you plan to take the quiz early in the time period provided, so that if you encounter any technical problems, they can be resolved in time. Note that quizzes "auto-submit" when the allocated time is up (e.g., at the end of 30 minutes for a 30-minute quiz). The quizzes really do close at 11:59 p.m., so, if you start to take a quiz at 11:58 p.m., you will have only 1 minute—don’t wait! Please remember that all references to time in this course (and hence all deadlines) are in Eastern Standard Time Zone or E.S.T.
Quizzes provide feedback, in the form of short explanations, for each question. This feedback will be available to you in a report that is generated after you submit your quiz. This feedback is designed to reinforce the main ideas of the unit for you and serves as good review material for the final exam at the end of the course. PRINT OR SAVE THE FEEDBACK for studying purposes, as you will NOT be able to access it later in the course when you are studying for the final exam. Your questions will be chosen from a large database carefully designed so that all of you receive quizzes of equal difficulty, covering the same subject matter, but with different questions in a different order.
Since there are 12 units of study, there are 12 RockOn quizzes. You are required to complete 10 out of the 12, although we encourage you to take all 12 quizzes. Each is worth 4.5% of your final grade (for a total of 45%). Out of 12 quizzes, the lowest 2 grades will be dropped.
There are six exercises incorporated into GEOSC 10. One exercise is assigned every 2 weeks and you are given two weeks in which to complete it. Access to these exercises is through Canvas. They can be found in the appropriate module in Canvas. Only one exercise will be accessible at a time. Due dates are posted on our calendar. Penn State General Education requires active learning in all courses, so this is your chance! You must complete five (5) exercises chosen from among six (6). Each is worth 5% of your final grade (for a total of 25%).
The material on the exercises is considered part of the class and may appear on quizzes or the final after the exercise is completed. Therefore, you are encouraged to at least review / try ALL of the 6 exercises, even if you only submit 5.
The final exam will open at 12:00 am on Monday of the last week of class. In the Fall and Spring semesters, it will remain open for an entire week, closing at 11:59 pm on Monday, the first day of finals week. Since the summer semester is shorter, it will only be open for a few days. Please see the syllabus or the course calendar for the exact dates. You may take the exam during any two-hour period while the exam is open. The final really does close at 11:59 p.m., so if you start to take the final at 11:54 p.m., you will have only 5 minutes — don’t wait! The final exam will be much like the quizzes, only longer and more comprehensive. As with the quizzes, questions will be chosen from a large database carefully designed so that all of you receive exams of equal difficulty, covering the same subject matter, but with different questions in a different order. Details will be provided during the second half of the course.
You will notice that the final exam is open for a full week. YOU get to choose when you take it, so please plan accordingly.
The best way to do well on this exam is to stay current with all of the course material, to carefully review the feedback we provide in the weekly unit quizzes, and ask questions when you need to!
The final exam counts for 20% of your total grade.
Extra-credit opportunities will be available at different times throughout the semester. Generally, these opportunities will involve contributing to the course experience for everyone in some way, such as sharing your own park photos in a "vTrip" format or writing your own set of quiz questions. All Extra Credit opportunities are located in the Extra Credit Module in Canvas. You may do all of the extra credit exercises if you wish, getting additional credit for each of the three. Extra credit will be considered carefully in assigning grades.
On quizzes, exercises, or other things handed in, please check your answers before you submit them electronically. Materials submitted online are graded in the same way as any other course submissions--we grade what you submit. If the answer is D but you chose C, the answer is wrong...whether you accidentally wrote C by hand, or you accidentally colored in the C circle on the scantron sheet with your #2 pencil, or you accidentally clicked on C with your mouse.
You are responsible for your computer connection. If you were driving to campus to take an in-class exam, the instructor would not come out to get you if your car broke down. If you are taking an online quiz and your apartment's wireless goes down, the situation is the same. Thus, you should find a good, solid connection. We let you "drop" two quizzes, two surveys, and one exercise when calculating your grade, and this should cover an occasional electronic disaster on your end.
Before we begin our semester of study together, it is important that you review all of the material in the Course Orientation as it will prepare you to be successful in this course.
This course orientation will complement, and expand on, the information provided in our syllabus. Be sure to review that document, too...carefully!
If you have any questions, please feel free to send an email to me, the course instructor, AND the TAs. Failure to email all of us will result in a delayed response.
Read all of the pages in the Course Orientation and the Syllabus before moving on.
You will find that we utilize a lot of “sites” and sounds in this course to help bring geology "alive" for you! The primary multimedia components you will encounter are video-based lectures, "GeoClips" and "GeoMations." Each component is designed to provide emphasis, or a different angle, and a personal touch to important topics and concepts in this course. Many of the materials you'll see came from fellow students who worked on an award-winning project that was part of a course entitled CAUSE 2004 (Center for Advanced Undergraduate Study and Experience) and involved the GEOSC 10 team, the Dutton e-Education Institute, and Penn State Public Broadcasting.
Please use a Canvas-supported browser [13]. Failure to do so can result in problems viewing integral course material and quiz images.
"GeoClips" attempt to visualize many complex ideas and concepts for you by presenting them in creative ways and by drawing connections to everyday life. Many of the "GeoClips" presented in this course are the work of the 12 students who participated in CAUSE 2004, who, as part of the course, accompanied Drs. Anandakrishnan and Alley and Eric Spielvogel on a 3-week geology expedition to the American Southwest during May of 2004. CAUSE 2004 students were given the task of planning, filming, and editing short pieces about geology while capturing the beauty of the National Parks of the Southwest so that future students like yourselves could experience these National treasures and learn a bit about their geology along the way. We're confident that they did their job by helping to create an inventory of video clips that are both appealing and informative, and that these video resources will help you gain a greater sense of the big ideas in each of GEOSC 10's units.
"GeoMations" are computer-generated illustrations drawn by Dr. Anandakrishnan or Dr. Alley, and include voice narration. Each one is designed to visually demonstrate or explain a particular process or phenomenon for you. Fortunately, these guys LOVE to draw, because Geology is a very visual subject and without drawings like these, it would be a lot more challenging to learn.
If you would like a little more background on the experience of the students and professors getting up close and personal with the national parks, check out the trailer for "15 Minutes: Geology of the National Parks," a public-broadcasting discussion of the CAUSE class that produced so many of the wonderful things you'll see in this course.
These multimedia elements are important to you because they:
You are accountable for these in the same way you're expected to know the material from the online text and from any of the other learning resources made available to you. The main reason these are here is to help you better visualize and learn important unit topics; despite the lighthearted approach taken in many of them, they're crucial to your success in this course since questions based on them will appear regularly on unit quizzes and on the final. So enjoy them, of course, but don't forget to make them part of your weekly study routine so that you benefit from the information they contain.
Canvas is our course management system. Penn State has a very nice Canvas Student Orientation [14] that you can review if you are new to Canvas or simply need a refresher.
Even if you are very familiar with Canvas, PLEASE read the remainder of this page and verify that your notifications are set up properly. Failure to do so will lead to you missing critical class information.
Profile and User Settings let you control your personal information in Canvas. Take a few minutes to personalize your Canvas profile by following the instructions below.
Task | Instructions |
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Personalize your Canvas Profile |
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Set your notification preferences |
You have the option of selecting how, when, and for what information you would like to receive notifications. This can be very helpful when keeping track of items such as discussion posts, assignment due dates, and exams. Visit the Canvas Notification Preference Support page [16] and follow the instructions for setting up your notification preferences. The video below this table provides additional information. To ensure that your Canvas e-mail messages are forwarded to your regular e-mail account immediately, check the "Notify me right away" option (the checkmark) for each item under "Conversations" in Notification Preferences. |
Set your timezone |
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Download the Canvas App | For information on using the app by device, please see the following:
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All communications pertaining to GEOSC 10 should be carried out within Canvas communications (email). We endeavor to reply to your inquiry within 24 to 48 hours (often sooner) and to inform you in advance of occasions when this response time may be extended. Please remember to make allowances for communications that are sent late-night or during weekends, responses to such inquiries will likely take longer.
If you are a World Campus student and experience technology problems in Canvas, please contact the World Campus Help Desk [21]. If you are a University Park or Commonwealth Campus student, please contact the IT Service Desk [22].
It is in your own best interest to be as specific as you possibly can. Vague descriptions of a problem only delays assistance; try to include information such as:
A member of the Help Desk will be in contact with you to offer assistance.
All official administrative communications from the Penn State World Campus are sent to students' Penn State email accounts. Be sure to check your Penn State account regularly or forward your Penn State email [23] to your preferred email account, so you don't miss any important information.
Review the Syllabus and Course Orientation with an ode to the Beatle's Obla Di Obla Da, performed by Dr. Richard Alley. Animation and video editing by Cindy Alley, videography by Eric Spielvogel, and words by Richard Alley.
Complete all of the Course Orientation tasks!
You have reached the end of the Course Orientation! Double-check the to-do list on the Course Orientation Overview page to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before you begin Unit 1.
The assessments for Unit 1 will not open until the date indicated on the course calendar.
If you have anything you'd like to comment on or add to the course orientation materials, please send an email to all of the teachers and teaching assistants through Canvas conversations with any questions.
Links
[1] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/Shuttle/ED12-0115-05.html
[3] https://unsplash.com/@nasa
[4] https://unsplash.com/@nasa?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText
[5] https://www.geosc.psu.edu/directory/sridhar-anandakrishnan
[6] http://antarcticsun.usap.gov
[7] https://youtu.be/cbXqC1JXLw0?list=PL2860EC316DB2360F
[8] https://www.geosc.psu.edu/directory/richard-alley
[9] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geosc10/l15.html
[10] http://dev.e-education.psu.edu/geosc10/l15.html
[11] https://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/general-technical-requirements
[12] https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/public/diagnostics/general.shtml
[13] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-9472-which-browsers-does-canvas-support
[14] https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1780857
[15] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1285
[16] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1286
[17] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1559
[18] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1666
[19] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Notification-Settings-All-Users/ta-p/383690
[20] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/tkb-p/videos
[21] http://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/technical-support
[22] http://www.sas.psu.edu/training-and-support/help-desk-and-technology-support-services/its-service-desk/
[23] http://kb.its.psu.edu/node/2303