GY 111 Notes D Haywick 2007 08 1 GY 111 Lecture Note Series Introduction and Geo Careers Lecture Goals A Introduction to class set up policy etc B Stuff you need to survive C What is geology and what do geologists do Reference Holbrook John 1998 Career Potential in the sciences PALAIOS Volume 13 No 2 supplement A Introduction Today you get the basic information that you need to survive GY 111 The first portion of this lecture will be dedicated to a general overview of this course GY 111 as regards to material readings assignments labs exams etc Refer to this years current syllabus or the class web page for due dates assignments exam values etc If you are visiting this website without the benefit of first attending the lecture I cannot stress enough the following points of absences 1 Attend all lectures Some of GY 111 Grades vs Attendance Total student numbers n 219 the material we discuss will not be in your textbook If you miss 180 F 160 a class you miss the material D C 140 that might be on a test There is B 120 also an attendance policy in this A 100 class You will be docked 80 marks for not attending classes 60 Why do I do this or as one 40 student commented on 20 www ratemyprofessor com 0 Why do I treat you like kids 0 4 5 6 7 8 of students 2000 2005 instead of adults Because I want you to not only pass GY 111 I want you to do well Past data in GY 111 shows a positive correlation between academic success A B or C and good attendance Check out the chart to the right GY 111 Grades vs Attendance overall percentages 100 0 90 0 80 0 70 0 8 Percentage An even more telling plot is this one which shows letter grade versus attendance in overall percentages In 6 years over 90 of the A s awarded were to students who missed fewer than 4 lectures labs In contrast more than 90 of the F s went to students who missed more than 8 lectures labs Now you know why I insist on attendance and why it s accessible in my class 60 0 7 50 0 6 40 0 5 0 4 30 0 20 0 10 0 0 0 A B C Letter Grade D F GY 111 Notes D Haywick 2007 08 2 By the way for those of you interested in statistics I can give you the following grade distribution for my GY 111 class Data from 2000 2005 Grot 2 All of you need to be doing a GY 111 lab GY 111L simultaneously with GY 111 This advice pertains to any lab section that you might be doing mine or someone else s Come prepared to the labs There are a lot of things for you to learn and the longer you stuff around in the lab getting prepared the longer it will take to learn the stuff Get your lab kits put together ASAP see B below And for crying out loud STAY for the entire lab period You have me or another instructor and a student lab instructor at your beckon call We won t be around at 12 00 midnight the day before the lab exam and if you leave your studying to the last minute you are likely to be in trouble 3 While we re at it don t wait until the last minute to do your labs assignments All that does is burn you out for this class and other classes too 4 Your humble instructor talks a lot and rather rapidly You may miss important stuff in the classes If this happens stop him and ask him to repeat the stuff you missed Your humble instructor also likes to draw pictures on the chalk board Most of those are found in your textbook if not he will tell you In some cases you may be warned about them it might be better for you to listen rather than trying to write everything down that you hear 5 There is no such thing as a dumb question If you want to raise an issue or seek a point of clarification do us all a favor and ask your question 6 Cell phones and beepers suck Turn them off before you come into the class or else 7 Geology is a fun science Enjoy yourself or else B Stuff you need to survive You will need to obtain some items for the class 1 Lab manual free download on my webpage 2 Web notes free downloads from my webpage 3 Optional a textbook e g Grotzinger s et al Understanding Earth Moral of the story regularly check the webpage for this class Apart from web notes sample tests word lists and other useful info are or will be posted that might make your life easier http www southalabama edu geology haywick You also need to put together a lab kit 1 Minerals Rock testing Needed for the second lab session next week magnifier hand lens GY 111 Notes D Haywick 2007 08 3 pocket knife copper penny magnet glass plate streak plate frosted porcelain plate bottle containing dilute acid these items are optional You may elect to purchase them as a kit from the Bookstore but they will be provided free of charge during the lab sessions 2 Geological Maps Not needed until the 10th week or so of labs ruler with cm and mm protractor for measuring angles colored pencils red green brown yellow blue etc pencil pencils graphite type soft lead a HUGE eraser trust us you will need it Once all of this background stuff is over we actually will get around to having a lecture C Geocareers Your humble instructor will ask you several questions during the lecture this is more for his information than yours 1 How many people in the class are majoring in geology usually no one is 2 How many people are taking geology because they have an interest in this science maybe one or two 3 How many people are taking geology because they have to take a lab science usually most of them 4 How many people are taking geology because it is the easy science ditto for most of them 5 How many people know what geologists do everyone thinks they know but there are a lot of possibilities that most people did not know The purpose of these questions is to make a point Geology is the forgotten science Students know about physics and chemistry and biology from high school but few people have ever encountered geology This is a real pity because geology is the glue that encompasses all sciences and mathematics this is often disappointing to students who want to avoid physics math chemistry and biology Here s how it works GY 111 Notes D Haywick 2007 08 4 Another thing that people commonly do not realize about geology is the job potential in this field Geologists currently work in the following fields 1 Petroleum exploration exploitation research …