GEOL/GEOG 321: Geomorphology
J.S. Kite and M. Finkenbinder,
Introduction to the Lab Exercises
This lab notebook
you will
turn in consists of all of your completed exercises for
Geology/Geography 321. You
will assemble the notebook from lab handouts throughout the
semester. Keep these
labs and all lab handouts in a three ring binder. You will be
asked to
turn this in on at least two scheduled occasions.
You will need to
bring the following items to lab each week:
Calculator (preferably with simple trig functions if possible)
Ruler with
1/10ths of inch AND cm (e.g. C-Thru)
Two #2 to # 4 (i.e. 2H to 4H) pencils, hardness depending on
your style
of penmanship
Colored pencils
- a variety pack. Buy good quality pencils such as Eagle or Berol, not waxy kid’s pencils.
Good Soft Eraser
3 Ring Binder
Protractor (recommended
for Geology majors)
Tracing
Paper (recommended
for Geology majors)
Dictionary
of
Geological Terms (optional, strongly reccommended)
The labs are intended for use with the "Atlas of Landforms" (Curran and others, 1984), map and data web sites, and other maps and images provided in lab. There are many instances where parallel readings are important to understanding the lab exercise. Most of these parallel readings are from the class text: "Geomorphology: A Systematic Analysis of Late Cenozoic Landforms " (Bloom, 2004). Full citations of readings are given in the class reading list.
The lab exercises are very important to a satisfactory performance in this class, constituting 35% of the final grade. Most students will not have occasion to work as a geomorphologist, but nearly everyone enrolled in the class will have to use maps and images to interpret landscapes in one form or another. Good attitudes are imperative, so are good work habits. Always try to complete as much of the lab as possible during the scheduled lab period; take advantage of the presence of the teaching assistant's help. Cutting labs or leaving lab early warrants little cooperation or sympathy from either the T.A. or the professor.
The sequence of labs varies from year to year, depending upon dates of school holidays, visiting speakers, professional meetings, and class field trips. Most labs are intended to last one week, but there will be exceptions. Some labs may be combined into a one week exercise.
These lab exercises owe a lot to the efforts of excellent teaching assistants in past semesters, including Alison Bell, Matt Cro, Mike Jordan, Ron Linton, Dale Doughty, Randy Rogers, Dan Cenderelli, Scott Morgan, Steve Wanzer, Eric Davis, Rich Todd, Leanne Spurgeon, Jocelyn Smith, Todd Grote, and Matt Finkenbinder. They have made many suggestions on how to improve the labs.
The lab exercises
are in
constant revision as the class content evolves and as we find better
ways to
accomplish our teaching goals. Please help us in our efforts to
present
the best possible lab by pointing out any errors or inconsistencies you
find in
using the manual. Best wishes for a productive and rewarding
semester.