This course is made up of three components:
1. Lab manual: the online lab manual contains the sequence of instructions you will need to complete the online activities. It also contains the background information necessary for completing the online activities. All the worksheets are downloadable, and we highly recommend you fill in the worksheets prior to completing the exercises in Canvas. Only some of the worksheets will be uploaded for hand grading; the rest should be viewed as a guide to help you answer questions on Canvas.
2. Course website: we put together a course website so there would be no need for you to buy a physical set of minerals, rocks, and maps. The website consists of images and descriptions of the minerals and rocks used in this course, and high-resolution, zoomable, and scrollable maps.
3. Course Canvas site: After completing the online activities, you will go to the course Canvas page to fill in or upload your answers for grading.
The lab manual, which is required for this course, will summarize the sequence in which you need to do online activities, but most of the detailed instructions will be online within these web pages. In those cases where you are completing a paper map or other paper-based activity, the instructions will be contained in the lab manual so that you do not have to jump back and forth between web pages and paper. The lab manual also contains the background information necessary to complete each module. Each module begins with a synopsis that summarizes what you will do for that module. This is followed by an introduction to the lab, setting the stage for that module’s activities. The introduction is followed by a list of goals for the lab - these are the concepts you should understand and the skills you should have learned upon completing the lab. You will have the opportunity to build upon these concepts and skills in subsequent labs.
We have subdivided most labs into several exercises (labeled “A”, “B”, “C”, etc.). The sequence of online activities is presented in the manual as a series of bullet lists, with the bullet being a small check-off box. We advise you to check off each item in the lab manual when you have finished its online equivalent.
Background information you need to complete for each assignment is shown in boxes, generally placed near the end of the module and set off from the step-by-step instructions so that you can follow the sequence of instructions, without missing a step. Within the instructions are questions for you to answer or tables and figures for you to complete. At the end of each module are worksheets for you to complete prior to entering the answers into Canvas. You will turn in some of these worksheets by scanning them using a scanner or scanning app, or photographing them with the camera on your phone, and uploading them to Canvas.
Figures within the text are labeled with the module number and that figure’s sequence within the module; for example, Figure 4-3 is the third figure in Module 4. Tables within the text are labeled the same way. The worksheets, because they are tied to a specific exercise, are labeled something like “Worksheet 4A”, where “4A” means exercise “A” in Module 4. If there is more than one worksheet for an exercise, the worksheets will be labeled sequentially (for example, Worksheet 4A-1 and 4A-2). This system for numbering the worksheets should keep you from trying to fill out a worksheet for an exercise that you have not yet started.
At the end of the lab manual are appendices containing useful information, such as symbols used on topographic maps and a table for conversion from English to metric units. The appendix also contains the all-important rock and mineral identification tables (Appendix E), which you will use during a number of labs. These appendices are cited within the appropriate module. Figures in the Appendix are labeled something like “B-1”, for the first figure in Appendix B. The back cover contains a geologic timescale and a shaded-relief map showing the location of places studied during the course. Finally, your textbook for the lecture part of the course may be useful for further clarification, but is not essential.