| Procedures
History of Geology
James S. Aber |
Course Outline
The course is divided into five sections as indicated below. For each section,
students are expected to read appropriate materials—text books, webpage lectures,
and handouts, as indicated in the course schedule. Handouts are provided in pdf format via FTP.
- Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance—see list 1.
- European geology, 18th century—see list 2.
- European geology, 19th-20th centuries—see list 3.
- American geology, 18th-20th centuries—see list 4.
- Geology in Kansas, 19th-20th centuries—see list 5 or geological institutions—see institutions.
Requirements
- Extended abstract – Students shall select one geologist or geological institution from four of the five sections listed above and write/present a short report on that person or institution. Other scientists or institutions may be chosen upon approval of your instructor. The abstract should cover three aspects of the selected person or institution.
- Biographical or organizational information.
- Historical and cultural context.
- Major contributions to geological science.
An extended abstract is a brief summary, typically 1-2 pages in length, including references and any illustrations. The format of reports and means of presenting them may vary. On-campus students will give brief reports in person for the class (10-minute limit). Extended abstracts (all students) should be sent via e-mail; rich text format (rtf) or pdf files are acceptable. Each abstract is 15% of grade (4 abstracts = 60% of total grade).
- Team Project: Students will form into small teams (2-3 students each) to prepare an in-depth report on some aspect of history of geology involving an individual scientist, scientific institution, expedition, research project, or theoretical development. Topics will be selected upon consultation with your instructor. Presentations dealing primarily with theological interpretations of earth history are not acceptable.
Projects will be presented to the class toward the end of the semester and may be given in the form of traditional web pages or other web-based interactive formats such as Prezi, Animoto, Fotobabble and VoiceThread, or some combination of these methods (but not PowerPoint). Project is worth 30% of total grade. On the importance of teamwork in the geosciences.
Instructions for creating student webpages.
Note: The project must be original and unique work created by the students' own effort and submitted for GO 521 only. Project results, images, text or other components of the report may not be utilized for other earth science courses without prior consent of the instructor.
- Class participation – All students are expected to contribute to the geohistory blog on a regular basis and to interact with the instructor by sending weekly questions or comments via e-mail concerning each lecture. Worth 10% of total grade.
ADA statement: Emporia State University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students need to contact the Director of Disability Services and the professor as early in the semester as possible to ensure that classroom and academic accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. All communication between students, the Office of Disability Services, and the professor will be strictly confidential.
ESU syllabus attachment.

Return to history of geology syllabus.
GO 521 © J.S. Aber (2013).