Geology 306 Course Syllabus

Geology 306 Mineralogy - Spring 2009- CRN 21300

Geology 306, "Mineralogy", is intended as an introduction to minerals, in terms of their structure, composition, analysis, identification and (to some extent) formation. The course serves as a springboard to more in-depth study of mineral and rock formation for those continuing on to 406, Petrology, and 407, Advanced Petrography. Concepts and techniques required for courses as diverse as Paleomagnetism and Structural Geology will be covered.

Times & Locations

Lectures will be held on MWF 9:00 - 9:50 am, and a lab section will be held Tuesdays from 9:00 - 10:50 am, both in ES223.

People

Instructor: David Hirsch

Office hours: MW 10-11 in ES439, F 10-11 in ES223 or by appointment.
Office phone: 650-2166
email: hirschd@geol.wwu.edu

Teaching Assistant: Perry Ponshock

Office hours: TBA.
Office phone: TBA
email: ponshop@cc.wwu.edu

Texts

Nesse: Introduction to Mineralogy. This text has good coverage of mineralogical topics, and serves as a reference for physical and optical mineralogy. For some minerals, you will likely need to use The Manual of Mineralogy by Deer, Howie, and Zussman, which is available in ES223. Also, for those of you going on to take Advanced Petrography, Geo 407, our text (Nesse) will be very useful for that course as well.
We will use the text extensively - bring it to lecture and (especially) lab.

Online resources

This document is available online, as are many others relevant to the course (listed below, in part). You can get to the course's home page by a number of routes, the easiest of which is probably http://www.davehirsch.com. The page is also linked from the "Courses Online" section of the Geology Department's site (http://geology.wwu.edu).

The tentative schedule of labs and lectures is available.
The web contains superb resources for this course and for general earth science. Check out these links and others.
I have posted a couple of anonymous comments forms. In this way you can give me feedback on my teaching. If you don't want to fill out the whole survey, you can just skip to the end of the form and write a comment in the space provided.
You can check your course scores online, interactively!

Email

The University expects you to be able to receive email sent to your official wwu.edu email address. Official notices will get sent there. I must be able to contact you at that email address as well. You can make this happen in one of two ways:

Check your WWU email address on a regular basis. For those of you who require web access, there is a web email interface that is part of MyWestern.
Forward your WWU email to your current email non-WWU account. This will probably be the best option for some of you. There is an easy way to do this, in the email section of MyWestern.

Note that "there is a technical problem" is not an acceptable excuse. If there is a problem, go to the ATUS help desk in Haggard Hall and get it straightened out.

Lab

In lab, you will be spending time familiarizing yourself with a number of minerals in hand sample and in thin section (in the petrographic microscope). have made some mineral sheets that you can use to help you organize the relevant information. Filling out these sheets can be a good way to learn the material.
Most labs will require use of the petrographic microscopes. There are eight microscopes stored in room 223, and they require a key for access. These keys are in the wooden lock box outside the main office (ES 240).
You will need a hand lens for all labs including the first one. (10x or 12x magnification is best, 18x or 20x is too much). These (10x) can be obtained cheaply at the WWU Bookstore (the black ones are best). Also, there are numerous Geological Supply catalogs that carry excellent hand lenses - ask me.
Quizzes - There will be at least two quizzes during the quarter.
Exam - There will be a lab practical exam during the final lab session, which will focus on techniques covered in the lab sessions. You may bring one 8.5 x 11 sheet (both sides, hand-written) of notes into all lab exams.
Lab cooperation: The lab quizzes and exams are interactive, which means that students can work together to discuss the mineral samples and share information. The interactive format only works if everyone adheres to a policy of NO MOOCHING: every student must come to the quiz or exam thoroughly prepared, and no student has a right to another student’s information unless both agree that both are contributing equitably. If while taking a quiz you feel that a student is not prepared and is mooching, simply walk away to a different sample; no student is required to share information. Students are welcome to take the quiz or exam individually, without talking with other students, if they wish.

Course Objectives

Introduce crystallography, crystal chemistry, and systematic mineralogy.
Introduce analytical methods used in moderm mineralogy (esp., polarizing microscope and XRD).
Learn how minerals are classified and named.
Identify minerals in hand specimen and thin section and with the aid of various analytical techniques.
Appreciate the influence of crystal chemistry on mineral assemblages and mineral weathering.
Develop the ability to research and learn mineralogical topics individually and in groups.

Expected Outcomes & Assessment

Detailed learning objectives are listed by topic on the objectives page.
Your achievement of these objectives will be assessed by the following:

Term paper
Labs
Homeworks
Quizzes
Exams: Midterm, Final, Lab Practical

Grades

25% of the grade will be based on in-class evaluations.

This portion of the grade is calculated from the results of one midterm exam (closed book), worth 150 points, and also of a number of very short quizzes in lecture (collectively worth 100 points). The midterm date is listed on the schedule; attendance at the midterm exam is required. In general, a missed exam will be cause for a grade of 0, unless an acceptable medical excuse is is presented, or a leave of absence from the Office of Student Life. In general, make-up exams will not be given. The short quizzes mentioned above may not be announced in advance, and they cannot be made up if missed (although the lowest one or two will be dropped).

40% of the grade will be based on the final exams.

This portion of the grade is calculated from the results of the lecture and lab final exams - each is worth 200 points. The lecture final will be held as scheduled by the registrar (see Schedule). It will be comprehensive and closed-book, and it will cover primarily lecture material. The lab final will be a practical exam, held during the last lab session, during the normal lab time (see Schedule). It will focus on lab topics, and emphasize mineral identification in hand specimen and thin section and other techniques covered in lab.

35% of the grade will be based on non-exam work.

This portion of the grade is calculated from your laboratory work and quizzes (100 pts.); the course homework (100 pts.) and the term paper (150 pts.).

The three exam grades will be curved if necessary, by multiplying all grades by a value necessary to raise the mean grade to 72%. If the mean grade is greater then 72%, then the grade for that exam will not be curved.

Based on the above distribution, the maximum number of points possible will be (1000). Letter grades will be assigned by reference to the scale below. Although the cutoffs for each letter grade will not be assigned until the end of the course, they will be no harsher than the list below. For example: If your curved score is 86.5%, then the lowest grade you could get is a B, but you could get any higher grade as well).

92	A
90	A-
88	B+
82	B
80	B-
78	C+
72	C
70	C-
68	D+
62	D
60	D-

Prerequisites

Grade of C- or better in Geo 211
Grade of C- or better in Chem 121
Grade of C- or better in Chem 122 (can take concurrently)

Other Important Notes

Group work
- There will be a number of occassions for group work, and group activities. Furthermore, I encourage you to form study groups, discuss questions about the material, and quiz each other on lab and lecture topics. There may even be some group assignments, where a group grade is assigned for work completed. However, you must do your own work on exams and on most assignments. If it is ever unclear what collaboration is acceptable on an assignment, ask your professor!
- Anyone caught cheating on an exam or turning in work that is not his or her own will be dealt with in accordance with the General Catalog's Appendix D - Academic Dishonesty Policy and Procedure. If you're not familiar with this section, you may want to review it.
Special exam conditions
- If you have a condition verified by the Office of Student Life that requires non-standard exam conditions, you must notify me at least one week before the exam in question. I would prefer notification as soon as possible, preferably within the first two weeks of class.

David M. Hirsch
Modified on Thu, May 28, 2009 at 10:26 AM