Keep an eye on this page on a regular basis to get reading assignments. The sources for these readings are listed at the bottom of the page. Readings will be posted approximately a week before they are due.
Week 1 Readings- Intro and Minerals |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
Comments: Some of the material from Chapter 1 will not be covered
until later in the quarter. You are welcome to read through all of Chapter
1 to get an overview of some of the major principles. However, the following
pages are required: |
Week 2/3 Readings - Rocks |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
Comments: Particularly concentrate on the material on Sedimentary Rocks, Sedimentary Structures, and Sedimentary Environments. During Week 3 we will finish talking about sedimentary structures and get into stratigraphy and start talking about how we tell time. This information begins in Chapter 6, so you might want to start getting into next week's reading early. |
Week 4/5 Readings - Stratigraphy and Time |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
Comments: The main focus of new material will be on the topic of geologic time and how we can determine the age of the Earth. That is the topic of chapter 6. At the end of week five we will be getting into Chapter 11. Chapter 11 is a great summary of many of the issues we have talked about regarding the early Earth's formation, atmosphere, oceans, life, etc. So again, this is one you should read in some detail. Since reading is light for these two weeks, I'd suggest getting ahead, since the reading for the second half of the quarter is more intense. |
Week 6/7 Readings - Plate Tectonics, Life and Early Earth |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
I broke the readings up by topic so that you can follow along with what we are covering in class. For example, be sure that you understand the basic concepts of plate tectonics from Chapter 8. I would highly recommend this chapter, since so much of geology is based on this topic. As we get into week 7, we will take a look a the evolution of life, and in particular apply it to the Precambrian changes that occurred in living things. So be sure that you understand the basic concepts of evolution discussed in Chapter 7. Chapter 12: The first half of the chapter, through p.280, is a good overview of the topics we are discussing (including the extras on Snowball Earth). You might want to skim the rest of the chapter (or read it out of interest) but I won't concentrate too much on those details. (I will not be covering much of chapter 4 in lecture, but you should look through it to make sure you have an idea of the different types of ecosystems that exist on the Earth and the basic principles of ecology.) |
Week 8/9 Readings - Paleozoic |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
We will be finishing up the Precambrian this week (Chapter 12) and then starting the Paleozoic (Chapters 13-15). There is a lot of material covered in these chapters (as well as the remaining material for the quarter). I would encourage you to read as much of them as you can, but also understand there is a lot of material that goes into more detail then we can cover at this level. So here are a few places to concentrate your efforts: Chapter 13-15: I'll add some more comments here soon.... |
Week 10 Readings - Mesozoic |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
Chapter 16-17: I'll add some more comments here soon.... |
Week 11 Readings - Cenozoic |
Readings from Earth System History
Additional Readings
Optional Readings (for more information on the basic concepts)
Chapter 18-19: I'll add some more comments here soon.... |
Required Texts
Optional Texts:
Online Reading Sources
Handouts (provided in class)
Geology 103 Homepage / Science Division / Bellevue College Home Page
Monday, January 4, 2010