Date of Class
Topic
Reading Assignment in Understanding Earth, 6th edition, unless specified otherwise

08/28/12
Introduction

08/30/12
Introduction to Geology; Evolution of the Solar System and the Early Earth
Chapter 1; Chapter 9, pages 215-226

09/04/12
Plate Tectonics
Chapter 2

09/06/12
Evolution of the Continents, with emphasis on the North American Continent
Chapter 3, pages 74-77; Chapter 10
Geologic Time Scale, 2009, color

09/11/12
Structure and Chemistry of Minerals
Chapter 3, pages 55-67

09/13/12
Classification of Minerals
Chapter 3, pages 55-67

09/20/12
Physical Properties of Minerals; Rock Types
Chapter 3, pages 67-79

09/25/12
Igneous Rocks
Chapter 4

09/27/12
Volcanoes
Chapter 12, pages 305-326

10/02/12
Volcanoes
Chapter 12, pages 326-335

10/04/12
Exam #1

10/09/12
Review of Exam #1

10/11/12
Sedimentary Rocks
Chapter 5, pages 113-130

10/16/12
Sedimentary Rocks
Chapter 5, pages 131-145

10/18/12
Metamorphic Rocks
Chapter 6, pages 147-156

10/23/12
Metamorphic Rocks
Chapter 6, pages 157-165

10/25/12
Folding and Faulting of Rocks
Chapter 7

10/30/12
Lithostratigraphy
Chapter 8, pages 191-201

11/01/12
Biostratigraphy and Chronostratigraphy
Chapter 8, pages 198, 202, 208-213

11/06/12
Geologic Time; Relative and Absolute Ages; Isotopic Dating Methods
Chapter 8, pages 198, 202-208; Chapter 14, pages 388-389

11/08/12
Exam #2

11/13/12
Review of Exam #2

11/15/12
Origin of Life
Chapter 11, pages 275-294

11/27/12
Cambrian Evolutionary Radiation; Fossil Record: Invertebrates, part 1
Chapter 11, pages 294-297

11/29/12
Fossil Record: Invertebrates, part 2
Chapter 11, pages 294-297

12/04/12
Fossil Record: Invertebrates, part 2 cont.
Chapter 11, pages 294-297

12/06/12
Fossil Record: Invertebrates, part 3
Chapter 11, pages 294-297

12/11/12
Fossil Record: Invertebrates, part 4; Mass Extinctions
Chapter 11, pages 297-300