I. Course Information:
Lecture – M,W,F 10:20-11:10 Room 214 Sperry
Labs: M,T,W,F (see your section) Room 346 Bowers
[A lab kit is to be purchased from the bookstore and brought to each lab period. Writing materials, a calculator and your textbook are also useful items. Your laboratory instructor will hand out a lab syllabus at the first laboratory. Labs will NOT meet the first week of classes August 27-31.]

II. Instructor:
Dr. C.P. Cirmo, 323 Bowers Hall, ext. 2924, cirmoc@cortland.edu
Home Page: http://snycorva.cortland.edu/~cirmo/index.html
Office Hours: Mon-Wed-Fri 9:00-10:00am, Tues 1-2pm, other times by appointment

III. Required Textbook:
Tarbuck, E.J. and F.K. Lutgens. 2000. 9^th ed. Prentice Hall Co. (includes CD)

IV. Course Description and Objectives:
This course stresses the basic principles of the earth system involving materials, processes and history-origin of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. This is a general course of topics meant to convey an introductory understanding of the earth, its internal and external materials and processes, and the forces shaping its surface. The course consists of three, one-hour lectures, and one two-hour laboratory per week. Announcements, assignments and schedule changes will be posted on the instructor’s web site, which should be consulted continually through the course. The course comes with a very useful CD, which will be used throughout the course to demonstrate concepts.

V. General Education Requirements:
This course fulfills part of the GE-8 option. To complete the option, the student must then enroll in GLY 172 Earth History (non-lab, three-credit course), or a 3 or 4 credit course in another science discipline. The course is not open to students with declared majors in geography, math, geology or other sciences, or to students who have credit for GLY 160 or GLY 261. With departmental consent, this course may be counted as an acceptable substitute for Geology 261 (Physical Geology) in the case where additional geology courses are desired, or the student chooses to major in one of the Geology BS programs.

VI. Attendance and Make-Up Policy:
Attendance is monitored according to the college student handbook, and the student is expected to attend all class meetings, lecture and laboratory. There are only 4 meetings per week (3 lecture and 1 lab) and attendance correlates directly with grade. Make-up exams are only allowed with PRIOR notification and for a legitimate absence. Medical absences must be documented to allow make-up work. Athletic excuses are only allowed with prior notification on an approved college form letter signed by the coach. There are no make-ups for the Friday quizzes.

VII. EVALUATIONS:
Your evaluation and grade for the course will be determined by a combination of exams, quizzes, lab reports, lab practica, and other assignments. The lecture is worth 65% and the lab 35% of the course grade.

- Exams:Each of four lecture exams will be worth a 20% of the lecture grade (total of 80% of the lecture portion of the grade) with the other 20% made up of a quiz average and the results of one written assignment.
Exam dates are September 28, October 26, November 19 and December 17. The last exam (December 17) is scheduled during the final exam week, 1-3 pm,  in our usual lecture room. Mark these dates in your calendar. Lecture exams are ONLY made up due to a legitimate excuse (illness, pre-arranged college activity, etc.) and will be scheduled by mutual agreement.

- Quizzes:  Quizzes will be held each Friday during the semester (when not scheduled as an Exam day) and cannot be made up. The instructor will drop the one lowest quiz grade of the semester.
UPDATE: (DUE TO THE CANCELLED QUIZ 2 ON SEPTEMBER 14, AND TO EVENTS ON CAMPUS FOR WHICH MANY NEEDED TO MISS ONE OF THE QUIZZES, WE WILL BE HAVING A MAKE-UP "QUIZ 2" ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, WHICH CAN BE USED TO REPLACE YOUR LOWEST GRADE ON THE PREVIOUS 4 QUIZZES.  IF YOU SCORE LOWER ON THIS MAKE-UP, YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO USE THE GRADE TO REPLACE A PREVIOUS GRADE).

- Critical Essay: One short (1-page) essay assignment will be made at some point during the semester and qualitatively evaluated.

VIII. COURSE GRADE ROSTER (CLICK TO VIEW YOUR GRADE RECORD)

The following is a semi-detailed list of topics we will cover during the lecture portion of the class, along with appropriate reading sections from your text.   Friday quizzes will consist of questions from the readings and lectures, and exams will be mostly material emphasized in the lectures and questions from the quizzes. The instructor reserves the right to alter this schedule to fit class needs.

This schedule is an evolving document, and you should check it at least weekly for updates and changes!!  You are responsible for knowing about any updates to this schedule and its assignments each week!!!