PROFESSOR: Dr. Laurie C. Anderson
OFFICE: RM 341 OLD GEOLOGY BUILDING
OFFICE HRS: M10:30-12:00; W 10:30-11:30; or other times by appointment
PHONE: 578-2153 (my office) or 578-3353 (geology office)
E-MAIL: laurie@geol.lsu.edu
WEB PAGE:  http://www.geol.lsu.edu/Faculty/Anderson

TA:  Khryste Wright
OFFICE: RM E340 NEW GEOLOGY BUILDING
OFFICE HRS: MW 10:30-11:30
E-MAIL: cwrigh8@lsu.edu

TEXT: Earth System History, Steven M. Stanley
TEXT Web Site: http://www.whfreeman.com/geology/
CLASS WEB PAGE:  http://www.geol.lsu.edu/Faculty/Anderson/1003
LSU Center for Academic Success:  http://www.cas.lsu.edu/

Expectations:
You should expect from me:
You should expect a course that is interesting and challenging, and an instructor who cares about teaching. You should expect to be treated fairly, and to have your work evaluated in a timely fashion, and as fairly and consistently as possible.

I expect from you:
I expect students to be excited to learn and want to be challenged. I expect you to attend class regularly, to arrive on time, not leave early, and to be an active and willing participant in the course. I expect that you will treat everyone here with respect, and as a courtesy to all, refrain from visiting, eating and drinking, and using electronic devises (walkman, phone, pager, etc.). You may tape lectures if you wish. Newspapers or other reading materials have no place in the classroom once class has begun. You are also responsible for knowing the policies and schedule outlined in this syllabus.

Other Introductory Geology Classes:
GEOL 1001 (physical geology) is a prerequisite for this course. If you haven’t had GEOL 1001 in a long time, use your textbook to help you review and ask questions. Geology 1003 is supported by GEOL 1602, Historical Geology Laboratory. Simultaneous enrollment in lab is not required, but it reinforce ideas presented here.

Grading and Exams:

Three exams are given during the semester, as well as a final exam. No tests are dropped, all must be taken. The final exam is cumulative, but will emphasize topics covered after the third exam. Exams are multiple choice. Machine graded answer sheets will be used, so always bring a pencil to exams. You also must bring your student ID to all exams--your completed exam will not be accepted for grading without your ID.

Make-up exams will only be given to those with an documented excused absence. Make-up exams will be given two school days after the scheduled exam at 8:30 a.m. If the make-up exam is missed, a student must have an excused absence for both the exam day and the make-up day.

We will be doing some simple in class exercises during most class periods. You will be writing your answers down and turning them in on 3x5 cards. BRING 3x5 INDEX CARDS TO CLASS EVERY DAY! The questions asked will be used to introduce or review topics and will be very similar to exam questions. We will drop the lowest 20% of these exercises. No make-ups will be given. Grades will be posted every other Wednesday starting September 6. You have one week from each posting to contest newly posted grades.

Most in-class exercises will be graded on a three (2) point scale:
 

Points	Grading Criteria
2	Legible and complete answer
1	Legible but incomplete answer
0	No answer

Homework will be occasionally be assigned. The number of points will be proportional to the amount of work you will need to do. We will drop the lowest two homework grades. No make-ups will be given.

Outline of Main Course Topics:
 

Date	Topic (Topic Outline)	Chapters
8/21	Course Logistics and Introduction to Earth as a System
8/23	Ideas Central to Historical Geology	1
8/25	Introduction to Diversity of Life and the Fossil Record	3
8/28	Connections Among Ecosystems, Earth, Atmosphere & Oceans	1, 4
8/30	Connections Among Ecosystems, Earth, Atmosphere & Oceans	4
9/1	Relative Age Dating	6
9/4	no class
9/6	Lithologic Correlation	6
9/8	Biostratigraphic Correlation	6
9/11	Absolute Age Dating	6
9/13	Absolute Age Dating	6
9/15	EXAM
9/18	What is Evolution, Natural Selection	7
9/20	Species and Speciation	7
9/22	Evidence of Evolution	7
9/25	Organic Classification	3
9/27	Evolutionary Patterns in Fossil Record	7
9/29	CO2 and O2 in biosphere	10
10/2	Isotopes to study C & O cycles	10
10/4	Phanerozoic trends in atmos CO2 and O2	10
10/6	no class
10/9	O2, climate, and water cycle	10
10/11	EXAM
10/13	Archean Earth & life	11
10/16	Archean Earth & life	11
10/18	Archean Earth & life	11
10/20	Proterozoic Earth & Life	12
10/23	Proterozoic Earth & Life	12
10/25	Proterozoic Earth & Life	12
10/27	Cambrian Explosion	13
10/30	Evolutionary Faunas	13
11/1	EXAM
11/3	Invasion of land	14, 15
11/6	Paleozoic Land Vertebrates	15
11/8	End Permian Mass Extinction	15
11/10	Origin of Mesozoic Reptiles and Mammals, Mesozoic Climate	16
11/13	Burgess Shale
11/15	Dinosaur: Nature of the Beast
11/17	Dinosaur: Extinction
11/20	Dinosaur Biology	16,17
11/22	End Cretaceous Mass Extinction	17
11/24	Thanksgiving
11/27	Cenozoic Climate Trends	18-20
11/29	Examples of Links between Cenozoic Climate and Evolution	18-20
1/1	Examples of Links between Cenozoic Climate and Evolution	18-20

Final Monday December 4, 7:30 a.m.