GPH 211 Syllabus Fall 2009

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REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

Readings	You will be using free online readings that are linked in the course outline below. If you feel more comfortable with a traditional textbook, you can purchase this traditional hardcopy textbook: Ritter, D.F., Kochel, R.C., and Miller, J.R. 2002. Process Geomorphology. 4th Edtion. ISBN: 1-57766-461-2. 560 Pages. However, this is not required reading. It is simply recommended for persons who enjoy the support of a traditional textbook. If you like a traditional textbook, but want to view one online, the Google Books version of Geomorphology (by Chorley, Schumm and Sugden) can be viewed here. This geomorphology textbook is famous for its fantastic diagrams (that could be very useful in your final examination). Terms can often overwhelm students in any introductory science class. You may find these resources useful if you come across a strange word in the readings on in presentations: Annotated Definitions of Selected Geomorphic Terms and Related Terms of Hydrology, Sedimentology, Soil Science and Ecology . There are also some only dictionaries of geological terms: http://www.geotech.org/survey/geotech/dictiona.html http://geology.com/geology-dictionary.shtml List of different landforms and what they look like on a topographic map: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/slaymaker/Archives/Geol10L/landforms.htm
Other Materials	You will need to purchase a protractor appropriate for measuring angles. You will need access to a scanner. For example, you will be asked to sketch a rock art panel. This is done more easily by hand. Then you would scan your sketch and insert it to a file that you will turn in. You will need access to a digital camera (or cell phone) to take an image of a landform for your final exam. You should have access to a printer. It will be useful to print off maps and imagery so you can make measurements. If you decide to do the optional lab of Erosion: The Game, you will need to purchase the game from me (just email me and I will mail you the game). It is a $10 expense, and this optional lab will help you analyze the evolution of landforms. However, it is an optional lab. You do not have to select the lab.
Computer Requirements	You have signed up for an Internet class. This means that you have a certain responsibility to prepare your own computer to access class materials. Your instructor is not an expert on your computer. They cannot diagnose problems that you are having. Learning how to use your own computer is something you must be able to accomplish if you are to complete this class. Your computer must be able to read the following files: quicktime (for windows users) flash shockwave mpg avi wmv (windows media player for mac users) Several labs use Microsoft Excel to help you make calculations and graphs. We have a strong suggestion on the broswer you use: A.B.I.E.F. Anything But Internet Explorer or Firefox. DO NOT USE THEM, or you will be sorry causing yourself lots of problems. We recommend that you use Seamonkey or Safari for your browser. Seamonkey is the browser that will probably work the best for you. To watch most of the presentations, you must turn off your pop-up blocker -- or you will not be able to see any of the links made and you will not be able to take the quizzes. Your computer must be able to read microsoft word files and PDF files. You must be able to save files in the .rtf format (rich text format). The rich text format (rtf) exists as a "save as" option in all word processing programs like microsoft word. We use this format exclusively to prevent incompatibility between your software and ours. You must be able to download and use GoogleEarth. You must have access to a scanner. Your computer must be able to run Java. Your computer must be able to turn different types of files into PDF documents Your will be using a "paint" program extensively in the labs to modify diagrams and photographs. All Windows computers have a paint program in the Accessories folder (in programs). If you have a program like Adobe Photoshop, great. Use it. However, you do not have to pay for new software. A tutorial for the first laboratory explains how you can use the free software to take screenshots and use the paint programs. There are tutorials for Mac users and PC users.

OVERVIEW OF THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE AND SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND LABS

The course is organized by the laboratory topic.

For each laboratory topic, you will go through:

You will finish watching/listening to the lectures that match that lab and the corresponding reading.
After watching the lectures, you will need to take 1 or more quizzes on the material. There are often two quizzes per lecture. The quizzes can be found by clicking the on Quizzes button on the GPH 211 Blackboard home page, and then taking the quizzes related to the lecture material you just watched. YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL THE QUIZZES PROVIDED ON THE QUIZZES BUTTON, regardless whether or not you are doing the lab associated with that lecture.
We will monitor and participate in the discussion board on Blackboard, where you will be asking questions that other students can see. If you need to ask a private question, e-mail is a great way to communicate. In a face-to-face class, shared questions help the learning experience. Thus, we very much want you to use the discussion board for class questions. The discussion board does not have required postings. Most students hate required postings with online classes. Our discussion board is to help you. It is just a place to discuss the class and to look at questions & answers that other students bring up.
You will then complete the laboratory assignment, which is the culminating experience for that module. According to the general studies guidelines for an SQ (Quantitative Science) course "includes weekly laboratory and/or field sessions that provide hands-on exposure to scientific phenomena and methodology in the discipline, and enhance the learning of course material". Because of this requirement, face-to-face lab science courses typically specify that if you miss more than 2 labs you automatically flunk the course. Thus, you must stay on track in doing your weekly laboratory work. If you miss more than 2 due dates, you will automatically receive an F for your grade. This is a hard and firm rule about completing labs is something you must embrace if you wish to take this class.
All of the labs are through a series of links provided under the Labs button on the GPH 211 Blackboard home page.
There is also a presentation in the first week listed below "Using Blackboard" where we will explain Blackboard for those of you who are unfamiliar with this tool.

UNDERSTANDING DUE DATES

You will have to complete 7 labs. If you miss more than 1 due dates, you will automatically receive an F for your grade.
[Your grade will not be reduced for a lab being late. You are graded on the quality of your work. However, if you miss more than 2 deadlines, you will receive an E. So please don't drive yourself over that cliff.]

You have to do four labs, and then you pick three more from a list.

There are the four required labs:

Due Date (at midnight)	Important Links You Need to Explore FIRST.	Lab Assignments
Week 2, Friday Jan. 29th	Tools of Geomorphologist How to Use Acme Mapper How to Use Paint How to Use Picresize	Directions: Tools of a Geomorphologist Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here
Week 4, Friday Feb. 12th	Telling Time	Directions: Telling Time Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here
Week 6 Friday Feb. 26th	Saving the Past	Directions: Saving the Past (same as important link to the left) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here
Week 15, Monday, May 11th	Mystery at the Grand Canyon	Directions: Mystery at the Grand Canyon (bottom of the introduction web page) Helpful note taking guide: WRITE A 5 PAGE PAPER and TURN IN Click Here

Then, you pick four more from the different labs listed below.

Due Date	PICK ONLY 3 Important Links or GO HERE FIRST!	Lab Assignment DIRECTIONS and FILES YOU WILL FILL OUT and TURN IN
Week 8, Friday, March 12th at midnight	Honey, should we move there? (Geological Hazards) Bury a subdivision (Mass Wasting) Should I buy that house? (Fluvial Landforms) Bounce, Swirl, Gurgle Slam (Fluvial Processes) Going, going, gone ... (Glaciers) Penetrating the Secrets of Zion's Dunes (Aeolian) Going to the beach (Coastal) Erosion: the Game (Landscape Change)	Directions: Honey, should we move there? (Geological Hazards) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Directions: Bury a subdivision (Mass Wasting) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Directions: Should I buy that house? (Fluvial Landforms) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Directions: Bounce, Swirl, Gurgle Slam (Fluvial Processes) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Directions: Going, going, gone .. (Glaciers) (Glaciers) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Directions: Penetrating the Secrets of Zion's Dunes (Aeolian) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Directions: Going to the beach (Coastal) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here Erosion: the Game (Landscape Change) Lab Word File YOU FILL OUT and TURN IN: Click Here
Week 11, Friday, April 2nd at midnight
Week 13 Friday, April 16th at midnight

LINKS TO LECTURES, QUIZZES READINGS, AND LABS

This table helps you visualize the preparation work you will need to complete each lab. You start with listening to the lectures and doing the reading. The lecture and reading gives you background vocabulary and knowledge you will need to complete your lab.

NOTE 1: According to the requirements for an SQ class, you learn about the breadth and depth of a field of science. Thus, even if you are not selecting a lab, you must still complete all of the quizzes.

NOTE 2: These rows do not correspond to weeks or any time period. They simply indicate the suggested order that you watch the lectures and take the quizzes.

NOTE 3: All quizzes must be completed by the time the final examination is due. At that point, the quiz process will end and the quiz grades will be finalized.

NOTE 4: Although there are no firm "due dates" for taking all of the quizzes, you will need to have watched the lectures (and taken the quizzes) to complete the labs. You have 34 quizzes to take, so you need to average 3 quizzes a week. The order of the lectures from top to bottom should be the order that you take the quizzes, because there is prerequisite knowledge and terms for many of the lectures at the end of the class.

Lecture & Quizzes Note: The first quiz starts with "Overview of Geomorphology	Additional Background and Interesting Readings/Materials	Related Lab
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 2 Overview of Geomorphology Earth Materials	Earth Materials: Common rocks discussed in the class. Mineral Baby. Mineral Photographs. Moon rock. Igneous Rocks. (more igneous rocks) Metamorphic Rocks. Sedimentary Rocks. Lecture on colorful geology of the southern Colorado Plateau in 3D. Asteroid Hunting. One Geology Portal. Surfing rocks around the globe.	Tools of a Geomorphologist -REQUIRED LAB
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 3 Telling Time - Introduction Telling Time - Background Lab Description- Telling Time Making Relief: Plate Tectonics Making Relief: Volcanoes	Geomorphic Time: Geologic Time. Rocks of Ages. Intelligent Design Editorial. Plate Tectonics: Plate tectonics. This dynamic Earth. 650 Million Years in 1 Min. 20 Sec. Fun animations. Volcanoes: Volcanoes and volcanic hazards. Volcano. Vesuvius Countdown. Sunset Crater, AZ. Volcano Map. Photoglossary of volcanic terms. Supervolcano Secrets. Volcanoes in Our Times: Photo essay. U.S. Geological Survey Lecture on Volcanoes. Intrusive: Igneous Rocks (just plutons section).	Telling Time- REQUIRED LAB
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 4 Weathering Karst and Soils Basic Hydrology: What happens if water sinks in or flows over slopes?	Weathering: Weathering. Soils. Devil's Marbles Tafoni. Photographic Atlas of Rock Breakdown. Gravestone Project. Bioweathering in deserts. Karst: What is karst. Sinkholes. Virtual cave. Soils: Introduction to Soils. Our Good Earth. Eating Dirt: Geofagia. Baseball and Clay. Healing with Clay. Lecture on connection to wine making in Napa Valley. Basic Hydrology: Hydrologic Cycle. Groundwater. Groundwater Contamination. Groundwater Animation. USGS Lecture on Groundwater. Great Artesian Basin. World Water Panorama Map. Creating a new lake. Overland flow. Erosion Basics.	Saving the Past- REQUIRED LAB
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 5 Making Relief: Faulting and Folding - Part 1 Making Relief: Faulting and Folding - Part 2	Faulting and Folding: Folding and faulting in Earth's Crust. Deformation of Rocks. Earthquakes. Lecture on the next big Bay Area Earthquake by USGS. The Nisqually Earthquake. Ron's favorite geomorphic image related to diastrophism. Other: The Tunguska Mystery.	Honey, should we move there? [Geological Hazards] Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 6 Mass Wasting	Mass Wasting. Mass Movement. Dave's Landslide Blog. Landsldies & why they occur. Landslides. Landsliding Sichuan Disaster. Backstory on Research. Roadside stabilization. US Geological Survey lecture on "When Rocks Fall".	Directions: Bury a subdivision (Mass Wasting) Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 7 Rivers Lectures (all three lectures, 5 quizzes) set the stage for the two river laboratories: Rivers Lecture Part 1 Rivers Lecture Part 2 Rivers Lecture Part 3	Introduction to rivers. NPR Science Friday Video of the Week on Meandering Rivers. Streams and drainage systems. Fluvial landforms.	Directions: Should I buy that house? (Fluvial Landforms) Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
River lectures (same as last week) Follow the Water Virtual Experience	Introduction to rivers. Streams and drainage systems. Fluvial landforms.	Bounce, Swirl, Gurgle Slam [Fluvial Processes Lab] Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 9 Overview of Climatic Geomorphology Climatic Geomorphology: Glaciers Climatic Geomorphology: Periglacial (polar) Landscapes Climatic Geomorphology: Rocky Desert Landscapes	Glacial geomorphology: About the ice age. Windows on Greenhouse Earth. Cold environments. Glaciers. [Important info for lab.] Backstory on Glacier Research. and Backstory on Studying Moraines. Repeat Glacial Photography. Glaciers and Glacial landforms. Illustrated Alpine Glacial Landforms Glacial Songs. Ground Zero glacial landforms, Molnia Lecture on Alaska's declining glaciers. If you really like glaciers, you can play with this simulation of how glaciers work. Periglacial: Cold environments. Periglacial Landscapes. Permafrost in the Arctic. Rocky Deserts: Inselbergs & Pediments. Uluru. Playas. Salt Playas (Sabkhah). Salt Lake Basin. Wadi. Alluvial fans, pavements, bajadas. Duricrusts.	Going, going, gone ... [Glacial change] Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 10 Climatic Geomorphology: Sandy Deserts Climatic Geomorphology: Landforms of the Wet Tropics	Sandy Deserts: Eolian processes and landforms. Wind Transport of Sand and Dust. Ventifacts on Earth and Mars. (archived version) Deserts and wind. Killer Dust Storms. Wet Tropics: Tower Karst. Cockpit country. Laterite duricrust. Granite tropical landforms. Termite Mounds. (and more) History of Tropical Geomorphology. Tropical rivers. Fish in the trees.	Penetrating the Secrets of Zion's Dunes [sand dunes lab] Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 11 Coastal Landforms	Coastal landforms and processes. Coastal systems. Coastal features. Coastal Erosion. Shoreline protection. Cappuccino Coast.	Going to the beach [Coastal lab] Optional lab (one of 3 you select)
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 12 Landscape Change 1: Explaining Erosion the Game	NOTE: Some students say that watching Landscape Change Part 2 will help you learn to play the game.	Erosion: The Card Game Optional lab (one of 3 you select) If you decide to do the optional lab of Erosion: The Game, you will need to purchase the game from me (just email me). It is a $10 expense, and this optional lab will help you analyze the evolution of landforms. However, it is an optional lab. You do not have to select the lab. Notes: I NEED TO MAKE A QUIZ FOR THE GAME!!! They just treat that quiz as one of the ones "dropped" from your quiz grade. Those who want to take the quiz simply e-mail the first "move" from playing Erosion: The Game. These are typically students who love playing games. "Gamers" like this lab. They learn how to play the game in the lab. They turn in one move via e-mail for the quiz. They turn in the lab in the lab engine.
Target Date to finish Quizzes Linked to these lectures: End of Week 13 Landscape Change Part 2: Analyze Local Settings through playing Erosion the Game Landscape Change 3: Thinking Globally	Mountain Geography. Rocky Mountain Erosion Surfaces. The channeled scablands.	Mystery at the Grand Canyon - REQUIRED LAB How Science Works - is a great overview on why this culminating lab has its structure.
Presentation: Essence of the final Exam Written Instructions for Final Exam		FINAL EXAM See below...

GRADING

The following scale will be used to determine your final grade.
There is no curve:
        A   90-100%
        B    80-89.99%
      C     70-79.99%
           D     60-69.99%
         F      < 59.99

Lab Reports: 50%	The expectation is that you will need to spend 3 hours a week to complete your lab reports. The first laboratory session will give you a chance to practice the process of report submission. If you receive a grade of less than 50% for the laboratory portion of the class, you will receive an automatic F. In other words, you must get a passing grade for your labs to pass the course. As an incentive for you to explore as many labs as possible, if you want to keep inching up your cumulative lab grade, just do another optional lab. So, if you do poorly on one of the optional labs, just do another. We will use the top 4 grades from the optional labs. Plagiarism Policy in Laboratory Reports: You are required to abide by PVCC Academic Integrity Policy Your laboratory reports will consist of a mixture of measurements (data) you compile and interpretations of those data (answering questions). You are allowed to work individually or in a group to make your measurements and acquire your data. Scientists often work in groups, and this is good because it leads to discussions. So we understand that many data sets you submit will be similar. BUT ... WE DO NOT ALLOW YOU TO TURN IN GROUP WORK IN INTERPRETING (ANSWERING QUESTIONS). All of the words that you submit in your lab reports will be run through anti-plagiarism detection software and a bank of previously submitted lab assignments. It is rare that a student is foolish enough to try to "copy" and "paste" answers to our laboratory questions from the Internet, because our labs are original. They do not exist on the Internet. So students submitting non-original answers almost always are copying the words of another student. Our grading program detects this as plagiarism. The rest of this policy is for the rare student who wants to throw their tuition money down the toilet by cheating ... we have "three strikes and you're out!" policy for the entire class: If we determine that a student's work is not original the first time, we will return the lab report with a grade of zero. We will explain the problem, and we will give you one more chance to revise the report in your own words. If a student submits work that is not original the second time (warning: this is the 2nd offense for the class, no matter the lab ...), the student will receive a grade of zero for that lab -- and the student will be required to meet with your instructor to discuss the problem (in person is best, but by phone is possible) and explain positions. This meeting (in person, or virtual) is not optional. We will contact the student and set up this meeting. The student and the laboratory instructor will take written notes about this meeting, and they will share their notes with Professor Dorn to avoid future misunderstandings. If student still continues to submit work that is not original only any lab after this first meeting, the student will then meet with Professor Dorn (in person or virtually) to explain why the student should not be given an XE for the class. If a student refuses to meet with the Professor and the continues to submit work that is not original, the student will receive an F for the class.
Lecture Quizzes 35%	This course has 45 contact hours of lecture, virtual field trips, animations and quizzes. There are 24 quizzes of 5 or more multiple choice questions. Each quiz is worth 1.75 points. The lowest 4 quiz scores will be dropped from the final quiz grade. To take the lecture quizzes, you have to be watching the lecture presentations. After watching the presentations, go into blackboard and take the related quiz. These quizzes are meant to work with the flow of the lectures. We think and hope that you will find these quizzes quite easy. The idea is for you to watch and think about the lecture material, and then right away -- take a quiz to reinforce the learning. The lecture/quiz is intended to provide you background information for the laboratory experience. This is backwards from the traditional lab science class that has most of the grade based on a few high pressure tests. However, this learning strategy works best for an online science experience where the emphasis is on active learning focusing on you thinking about science in the context of labs. You can watch the lecture material as many times as you wish, but you can only take the quiz once. Why you can only take each quiz once? If you actually watch the lecture prior to taking the quiz, you will do very well. They are meant to be very easy, if you take the time to listen to the lecture. Once is all that is needed to get a great grade, if you actually watched the lecture. We only allow one try at a quiz to try to prevent students trying to "speed up" the learning experience by trying to jump to the quizzes without going over the lectures. A style of online testing, of retaking quizzes again and again, doesn't help student learning. This style of trying to repeat testing without taking the time to listen to the lecture is cheating yourself out of the knowledge you paid for in your expensive tuition. Just take the time to learn, and you'll like the result on your class grade.
Final Exam 15%	Your final exam will ask you to analyze and interpret a landform close to where you live, of landform that you have visited, or of a landform that you would like to visit on a vacation. This link gives you more detail on your final exam and how we will grade the final. This is an overview of the process: You will be sending in a .jpg photograph of the landform via e-mail to john.douglass@pvmail.maricopa.edu. You will name the photograph your: Lastname_Firstname_FinalPhoto.jpg Then, I will design a final examination question that best fits your local landform. You must submit the photograph of your proposed landform to us by the end of Spring Break. We will return your question to you soon thereafter. If you miss this date, we will provide you several photographs to select from your final exam. Your final will be due the first day of Finals (May 11th) at midnight Arizona Time. To officially submit your final exam for grading, you must go to the "Final Exam" link on your main blackboard site.