Environmental conditions have dramatically changed
during the evolution of the Earth since its formation 4.6
billion years ago. These changes include major
climatic oscillations, the waxing and waning of
continental glaciers, changes in the distribution of
plants and animals, and different configurations of land
masses and oceans. Plants and animals have evolved
and gone extinct in concent with these environmental
changes. As a result, the history of the earth includes
not only physical changes, but also biotic changes
that are closely related to climate and environmental
changes. An understanding of this history is particularly
important in considering global environmental changes
because it provides a frame of reference with which to
study modern changes and shows how the earth
"works" under signficantly different conditions from the
modern world that we live in.
Topics that are included in this course include plate
tectonics, mountain building, dinosaurs, evolution of
the oceans, and evolution of plants and animals
through time. The course also includes a laboratory
that gives an introduction to rocks, minerals, and
fossils and the analysis of earth science data.
The high point of the course is a camping field trip to
the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. In a two
day trip, ancient rocks are examined that reflect
mountain building that created the Appalachian
Mountains and a variety of fossils (trilobites,
mollusks,etc) are collected that give a glimpse of early
marine life 400-500 million years ago.
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