Physical Science (Geology)

Course Number:

GS 106

Transcript Title:

Physical Science (Geology)

Created:

Aug 11, 2022

Updated:

Jul 11, 2023

Total Credits:

4

Lecture Hours:

30

Lecture / Lab Hours:

0

Lab Hours:

30

Satisfies Cultural Literacy requirement:

No

Satisfies General Education requirement:

Yes

Grading Options

A-F, P/NP, Audit

Default Grading Options

A-F

Repeats available for credit:

0

Alignment with Institutional Learning Outcomes

Major

1. Communicate effectively using appropriate reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. (Communication)

Major

2. Creatively solve problems by using relevant methods of research, personal reflection, reasoning, and evaluation of information. (Critical thinking and Problem-Solving)

Major

3. Extract, interpret, evaluate, communicate, and apply quantitative information and methods to solve problems, evaluate claims, and support decisions in their academic, professional and private lives. (Quantitative Literacy)

Minor

4. Use an understanding of cultural differences to constructively address issues that arise in the workplace and community. (Cultural Awareness)

Minor

5. Recognize the consequences of human activity upon our social and natural world. (Community and Environmental Responsibility)

To establish an intentional learning environment, Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) require a clear definition of instructional strategies, evidence of recurrent instruction, and employment of several assessment modes.

Major Designation

1. The outcome is addressed recurrently in the curriculum, regularly enough to establish a thorough understanding.
2. Students can demonstrate and are assessed on a thorough understanding of the outcome.
   • The course includes at least one assignment that can be assessed by applying the appropriate CLO rubric.

Minor Designation

1. The outcome is addressed adequately in the curriculum, establishing fundamental understanding.
2. Students can demonstrate and are assessed on a fundamental understanding of the outcome.
   • The course includes at least one assignment that can be assessed by applying the appropriate CLO rubric.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

The instructor will choose from the following methods of assessment: exams, quizzes, lab exercises, written reports, oral presentations, group projects, class participation, homework assignments, and field trips. The instructor shall detail the methods being used to the students at the beginning of the course.

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

(NOTE: the topics may be chosen in any order by the instructor)

• Explain rock and mineral classification and identification.
• Explain how these materials form and how they are related to each other.
• Describe the major types of landscapes that make up the earth’s surface and how they are formed.
• Describe the earth’s internal structure and the processes shaping it.
• Explain the relationship between the processes that shape landscapes and those that shape internal structure.
• Explain the relationship between the processes that shape landscapes and structure and those that form crustal materials.
• Explain how geologic histories are constructed.
• Identify the major parts of and events in the geologic calendar.
• Discuss the personal and societal relevance of these topics.

Topics to be covered include

Geologic materials:

• Minerals - Properties, classification, and chemistry
• Igneous rocks - Identification and classification
• Magmas and magmatic cooling - Volcanism and intrusion
• Sediments and weathering
• Sedimentary rocks - Identification and classification
• Lithification
• Metamorphic rocks - Identification and classification
• Metamorphism - settings and processes

Landscapes and landscaping processes:

• Global topography and structure
• Topographic and geologic maps
• Mass wasting and related landscapes
• Streams and related landscapes
• Glacial systems and related landscapes
• Groundwater systems and related landscapes
• Crustal deformation and related structures (folds and faults)
• Earthquakes and plate tectonics

Historical geology:

• Fossils and stratigraphy
• Relative and absolute dating techniques
• Geologic time scale; major events in Earth history

Department Notes

The purpose of this course is to gain knowledge and appreciation of geology through lecture/discussion sessions and laboratory experiences. It is a one-term survey course that may be included as part of the years sequence in physical science for college transfer credit.
The course will have as many of the following components as feasible: lectures, discussions, lab activities, videos, slides, CDs, live television, field trips, and computer-aided instruction.

The text and materials for the course have been chosen by the faculty, and viewpoints shall be that of the author(s). This includes the topics of relativity, the geologic time scale, evolution of the Earth and its atmosphere, the solar system, the galaxy, and the universe.

Columbia Gorge Community College Science Department stands by the following statement about regarding science instruction:

Science is a fundamentally nondogmatic and self-correcting investigatory process. Theories (such as biological evolution and geologic time scale) are developed through scientific investigation are not decided in advance. As such, scientific theories can be and often are modified and revised through observation and experimentation. "Creation science", "Intelligent design" or similar beliefs are not considered legitimate science, but a form of religious advocacy. This position is established by legal precedence (Webster v. New Lenox School District #122, 917 F. 2d 1004).

The Science Department at Columbia Gorge Community College therefore stands with organizations such as the National Association of Biology Teachers in opposing the inclusion of pseudo-sciences in our science curricula except to reference and/or clarify its invalidity.