Geo 206: History of the Earth: Syllabus

Course overview

Part 1. Origins
Part 2. Geology of the Moon and the Earth
Part 3. Coevolution of life and the environment

Field trip to the American Museum of Natural History
Final examination
Grading for Geo 206A (non lab option) and 206B (lab option)

PDF of syllabus (text only)

 


 Part 1. Origins

Lectures 1-3: Origin of the Universe


Type 1a supernova, currently used to study the expanding universe

 
Edwin Hubble, discoverer of the expanding universe


Lecture 4: Synthesis of the elements in stars
         Reading: Lunine, Chapter 4, pp. 35-44

Lectures 5-6: Origin of the Solar System
         Reading: Lunine, Chapter 10, pp. 101-109
 



Jupiter and its moon, Ganymede (lower right)
 

 

Part 2. Geology of the Moon and the Earth

 

Lecture 7: Meteorites and the origin of the Moon
         Reading: Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 10, pp. 187-195.
   Far side of the moon: Apollo 13 photograph


Lecture 8: Rocks and stratigraphy (Laurel Goodell lecuring)

Lectures 9-11: Geology of Earth
         Reading: Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 7

Deep sea hydrothermal hot spring    


Bathymetry (depth) of the ocean floor

Lecture 12: Methods of determining geologic ages

Part 3. Coevolution of life and the environment

Lectures 13 and 14: Life originates         
         Reading: Stanley, Chapter 12, pp. 306-311; Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 10, pp. 195-203.
The organic-rich Orgueil meteorite represents the possibility that organic molecules for the first life were delivered in rocks from space.

 

                                                   

Lectures 15 and 16: Oxygen appears in the atmosphere
         Reading: Stanley, Chapter 12, pp. 320-325; Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 13, pp. 207-224.

 

 Banded iron formations are associated with the start of O2 accumulation in air.  

Lecture 17: Eukaryotic cells and the first metazoa evolve
        Reading: Stanley, Chapter 12, pp. 325-329.
Lynn Margulis, originator of the theory that eukaryotic cells originate from endosymbiosis, receives the National Medal of Science from Pres. Clinton

Lecture 18: Ice covers the Earth
         Reading:  Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 3; Hoffman and Schrag, Snowball Earth, Scientific American, January,
         1999, pp. 68-75.

 
A rock column in Namibia formed about 750 million years ago, when the Earth was completely or nearly covered with ice.




     
Lecture 19: Vertebrates and plants appear in the Paleozoic Era
         Reading: Stanley, Chapter 13, pp. 344-354 (except Box 13-1); also Chapter 14, pp. 374-386 (except Box 14-1);
         also Chapter 15, pp. 405-415 (except Box 15-1).
Halucigenia, an enigmatic early metazoan fossil from the Burgess Shale  


Lectures 20 and 21: Dinosaurs dominate during the Cenozoic era, then catastrophically disappear
         Reading: Stanley, Chapter 16, pp. 444-453; also Chapter 17, pp. 472-476 plus Box 17-1 (p. 477), plus pp. 482-486;
         Kump, Kasting and Crane, Ch. 13 (skip Box 13-2 and the last section beginning on p. 265).
  Dinosaur footprints  
         Weekly take-home quiz due in class Wednesday, November 19.

Lectures 22 and 23: Mammals radiate and Earth cools during the Cenozoic Era
         Reading: Stanley, Ch. 18, Fig. 18-3 (p. 500); plus pp. 501-510 (except Box 18-1); plus Chapter 19, pp. 522-526.

 Lecture 24: Earth's climate oscillates between warmer times and ice ages
        Reading: Stanley, Chapter 19, pp. 526-536; Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 14.
A U-shaped valley in the western U. S., cut by a glacier

 
Lecture 25: Primates and hominids evolve; Homo sapiens appears
        Reading: Stanley, Chapter 19, pp. 549-556.
Bison, painted by our ancestors about 25,000 years ago in Lascaux cave, France

Lecture 26: Mankind begins steering the global environment
         Reading: Kump, Kasting and Crane, Chapter 16.

 
Global temperature warms as we add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.


 
 

Required field trip to the American Museum of Natural History


First Tuesday of the reading period: Trip to American Museum of Natural History.  This trip is required for completion of the course for both Geo 206 A and B.  It counts as a lab for Geo 206 B.  The visit is loosely organized and there is a worksheet to complete for both A and B students.  

If you do not participate in the field trip on the first Tuesday of the reading period, you can go at some later date.  See Laurel Goodell or Michael Bender to get guidance for your visit.  You will need to visit certain exhibits and to complete a worksheet in order to get credit for this requirement.  

Students who have not made this visit will be given a grade of Incomplete.  

Final Examination 

Final exam: An exam will be administered at the scheduled time during the final examination period.  Part of this exam will be comprehensive, covering material of the entire course.

Instructors  


Michael Bender, instructor
M48 Guyot Hall
258-2936
bender@princeton.edu  

Laurel Goodell, lab supervisor
15Guyot Hall
258-1043
Laurel@princeton.edu  

Grading for Geo 206A (non-lab option)  

Exams: 50 % of the final grade

              Exams 1-3 each cover one-quarter of the course material.  Each of these exams counts for 20 % of the exam grade.

             Exams 4 and 5 will be given together as the final exam during the period of finals.  Exam 4 will cover the final one quarter of the course and count for 20 % of the exam grade.  Exam 5 will cover the entire course and will count for 20 % of the exam grade.

Quizzes: 10 % of the final grade  

1-page papers and discussions: 20 % of the final grade.  Four classes will be devoted to precepts, meeting in smaller groups.  Several short papers covering both sides of a controversial topic related to the course material will be assigned.  Students are asked to write a 1-page paper outlining the evidence and arguing for the side of the controversy that they believe to be correct.  The papers, and students' views on the topic, will be discussed in precept.  

4-page (single spaced) papers summarizing books, in lieu of the laboratory: 20 % of the final grade.  3 papers, each summarizing a single book, are required.


Grading for Geo 206B (laboratory option)  


Exams: 50 % of the final grade

               Exams 1-3 each cover one-quarter of the course material.  Each of these exams counts for 20 % of the exam grade.

              Exams 4 and 5 will be given together as the final exam during the period of finals.  Exam 4 will cover the final one quarter of the course and count for 20 % of the exam grade.  Exam 5 will cover the entire course and will count for 20 % of the exam grade.

Quizzes : 10 % of the final grade  

1-page papers and discussions : 20 % of the final grade.  Four classes will be devoted to precepts, meeting in smaller groups.  Several short papers covering both sides of a controversial topic related to the course material will be assigned.  Students are asked to write a 1-page paper outlining the evidence and arguing for the side of the controversy that they believe to be correct.  The papers, and students' views on the topic, will be discussed in precept.   

Lab: 20 % of the final grade