Welcome to an exploration of the planet Earth! During the fall term we will visit numerous interesting geological localities in the Boston area and will "travel" via slides to spectacular geological localities across the continent and around the globe
Our goal will be to learn about the basic principles of geology and about learning itself. We will sharpen our powers of observation in the canyons and mountains of our national parks and will develop hypotheses which can explain the origin of the rock and mineral formations we observe. We will test our hypotheses in whatever ways this rather large, bulky earth allows. In short, we will use basic scientific methods to unravel the history of our dynamic earth and will try to predict the changes we can expect the earth's crust to undergo in the future. One might call this geologic problem solving or "Geologic Logic".
We also will explore the origin and occurrence of our energy resources (coal, oil, and natural gas) and both metallic and nonmetallic mineral resources. Earthquakes along the San Andreas fault in California, as well as volcanic eruptions in Yellowstone Park, Crater Lake, and Mt. St. Helens will lead to an understanding of global geologic processes.
We hope these explorations challenge you to think in new ways about natural processes, scientific methods, environmental issues, and, in particular, about the dimension of geologic time and the relationship of human beings to the framework of geological time and space.
Geology 1 is designed for students who are fulfilling the science requirement, but also is relevant and useful as a related field to many disciplines. In addition, a significant number of students elect Geology 1 as a free elective.
