ESS 212 Winter 2014

 
 

Welcome to ESS 212, the second in a series of three courses in the core of our undergraduate curriculum. For some of you, this will be your second step towards an earth-sciences major. For others, this might be the only university earth science class you ever take.  Either way, by the end of this course each of you will have developed knowledge and skills that will enable you to make observations that allow you to better understand the Planet that will likely be your spaceship for life.


As you can tell from the title, the main objective of the course is to investigate the material that makes up our planet. The course will serve as an introduction to the disciplines of mineralogy (the study of minerals) and petrology (the study of rocks). The course ties these disciplines together with the unifying theme of PLATE TECTONICS. We realize that for many of you, this class will be your first in university-level earth science, so we will begin the course with a summary of the Earth’s overall structure and composition.


ESS 212 serves students with diverse goals and interests. It is part of the core curriculum required for majors in Earth & Space Sciences, and as such it prepares majors for more advanced courses. The course also constitutes one of the requirements for the minor. Students from other majors can elect part or all of the core series—ESS 211, 212, 213—if they wish to learn the fundamentals of solid-earth science.

 

Gateway to Earth Materials

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS


The quarter begins on Monday January 6.


Lectures in this class will be given by streaming video.


The MWF lecture time slot will be used for workshops and other activities.


Please view first lecture (25 min) before first class meeting


Click HERE to see first lecture


Click HERE to see an Introduction to Plate Tectonics