Understanding Planet Earth
Subject ERTH10002 (2010)
Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.
| Credit Points: | 12.50 | ||||||||||||
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| Level: | 1 (Undergraduate) | ||||||||||||
| Dates & Locations: | This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010: Semester 2, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here. | ||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: | Contact Hours: 3 x one hour lectures per week, 1 x three hour practical class per week and one day of field work during the semester Total Time Commitment: Estimated total time commitment of 120 hours | ||||||||||||
| Prerequisites: | None | ||||||||||||
| Corequisites: | None | ||||||||||||
| Recommended Background Knowledge: |
625-101 The Global Environment is recommended. | ||||||||||||
| Non Allowed Subjects: |
Students who have received credit for 625-102 Understanding Planet Earth (prior to 2008) may not enrol in this subject for credit. | ||||||||||||
| Core Participation Requirements: | It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study and reasonable steps will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the University’s programs. This subject requires all students to actively and safely participate in laboratory activities. Students who feel their disability may impact upon their participation are encouraged to discuss this with the subject coordinator and the Disability Liaison Unit. |
| Subject Overview: |
This subject will allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the processes governing the geological evolution of the Earth. This will be achieved via a series of field trips, hands on and theoretical investigations employing Victoria’s geology. The first part reviews minerals, rocks and fossils. This is followed by a field trip to the Mornington Peninsula to collect fossils, rocks and minerals that are used to interpret the geological evolution of the region. The second part includes structural, metamorphic and economic aspects of our regional geology. These studies are integrated with a field case study at Studley Park. On completion of this subject, students should understand and be able to identify the basic components that make up planet Earth; comprehend the diversity of the rock-forming minerals, the processes by which rocks form and evolve; the use of structural geology in interpreting the relationships between rock units in time and space; and the contribution of palæontology to the study of evolution. Students should appreciate the contribution of geology to the interpretation of the history of planet Earth. |
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| Objectives: | This subject builds upon the theoretical big picture approach of 625-101 The Global Environment. It provides greater depth to many of the topics introduced in 625-101 The Global Environment using geological studies to a gain an understanding of the evolution of the Melbourne and Victorian environment. On completion of this subject students should appreciate how different types of data, samples and observations are integrated to interpret Earth processes. Students should also have begun to develop practical skills in the acquisition of data in the field and laboratory, essential to unravelling such processes. |
| Assessment: |
Assessment of field exercises during the semester (15%); short tests held during practical sessions (5%); a 2-hour practical examination held during the semester (30%); a 3-hour written examination in the examination period (50%). A reading topic will be assessed in the examination. |
| Prescribed Texts: | To be advised |
| Breadth Options: | This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses: You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects. |
| Fees Information: | Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date |
| Generic Skills: | On completion of this subject students should be able to apply their discipline knowledge to issues of public debate. These include the ozone hole, the greenhouse effect and sea level rise. The subject will provide experience in presenting technical topics in written form, a skill that is useful in later work. Students will also participate in some simple collaborative projects that will enable them to develop skills for the design and completion of technical experiments. Other generic skills acquired in this subject include learning how to sharpen observation skills and how to grapple with unravelling complex processes. |
| Notes: |
This subject is available for science credit to students enrolled in the BSc (both pre-2008 and new degrees), BASc or a combined BSc course. Previously known as 625-104 The Earth, Atmosphere and Oceans (prior to 2010) |
| Related Course(s): |
Bachelor of Science |
| Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: |
Earth Sciences |
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