GEOLOGY 143 HISTORY OF LIFE
Fall Semester, 2003
Instructor: Professor Bruce W. Fouke, 138 NHB
Phone: 244-5431 Email: fouke@uiuc.edu
Office hours: 4 - 5 Mondays, or by appointment
Teaching Assistants:
Chris Mah, Phone: 333-4963. Email: mah@uiuc.edu
Alex Glass, Phone: 333-4963, Email: a-glass@uiuc.edu
Tom Schickel, Phone: 244-0206; Email: schickel@uiuc.edu
TEXT: Ausich, W. I., and Lane, N. G., 1999. Life of the Past. Prentice Hall, 321 p.
WEB SITE -- Home page: http://ijolite.geology.uiuc.edu/03SprgClass/geo143/
Week Lecture
No. No. Date Lecture Content Examinations
1 1 W 08/27 Course Introduction and Benchmark Events
2 M 09/01 Labor Day (no class instruction)
2 2 W 09/03 Earth Systems and Geologic Time
3 3 M 09/08 Diversity, Structure, and Environmental Context of
Life
3 4 W 09/10 The Record of Evolution and Extinction
4 5 M 09/15 Intimate Strangers (video)
4 W 09/17 during lecture hour, Chem Annex 112 Examination
1
5 6 M 09/22 Archean Eon of Precambrian Earth
5 7 W 09/24 Archean Eon of Precambrian Earth (cont.)
6 8 M 09/29 Proterozoic Eon of the Precambrian
6 9 W 10/01 Early Paleozoic Earth
7 10 M 10/06 Early Paleozoic Earth (cont.)
7 11 W 10/08 Middle Paleozoic Earth
8 12 M 10/13 Middle Paleozoic Earth (cont.)
8 W 10/15 during lecture hour, Chem Annex 112 Examination
2
9 13 M 10/20 Late Paleozoic Earth
9 14 W 10/22 Late Paleozoic Earth (cont.)
10 15 M 10/27 Early Mesozoic Earth
10 16 W 10/29 Early Mesozoic Earth (cont.)
11 17 M 11/03 Life on Earth (video)
11 18 W 11/05 When Dinosaurs Roamed (video)
12 19 M 11/10 Cretaceous Earth
12 20 W 11/12 Cretaceous Earth (cont.)
13 M 11/17 during lecture hour, Chem Annex 112 Examination
3
13 21 W 11/19 Paleogene Earth
14 MWF Fall Break 11/22 to 11/30
15 22 M 12/01 Neogene Earth (cont.)
15 23 W 12/03 Quaternary and Holocene Earth
16 24 M 12/08 Quaternary and Holocene Earth (cont.)
16 25 W 12/10 Biocomplexity on a Changing Planet
17 Sa 12/13 Reading Day
17 Tu 12/16 1:30 - 4:30 pm, Chem Annex 112 Final
Examination
Geology 143 Web Site: Contains all of the important information about the course and latest course information.
Exams: There are three one-hour exams and a final exam. Check the schedule above for the material covered and dates of exams. The format of exams is multiple-choice, true-false, and matching. Exams emphasize lecture material. Assigned text readings provide useful background and expand on the points, concepts, and issues presented in lectures. Exams will include text readings that are directly relevant to lecture topics.
Prior to each exam, Professor Fouke will hold a one-hour question-and-answer session to help you prepare for the exam. The date, time, and place of each review session will be announced in class and posted on the web site. Plan in advance to have questions about any material that you do not understand.
Bring your student ID to all exams. You will need it as identification when you hand in the exam. Past exams are not made available.
Conflict and make-up exams will be available only to those students having valid excuses. As examples, personal travel, convenience, or "not being prepared" are not acceptable. If you want to request a conflict exam, please see Prof. Fouke at least two weeks before the scheduled exam. If you have medical or family emergencies immediately before an exam, please call Prof. Fouke as soon as possible (e-mails not accepted). A student who misses an exam for whatever reason must contact Prof. Fouke within one day after the scheduled exam. Failure to do so will result in a "0" for the exam. The University regulations on conflict final exams are described after the final exam schedule at the end of the Fall 2003 Timetable. If you believe that you have a conflict, be sure to inform Professor Fouke as soon as possible and no later than December 1.
Study hints in preparing for exams: Because exams emphasize material covered in lectures, it is very important that you attend lectures and take good notes. There is no substitute for your own, personal notes. Taking good notes and studying them on a regular basis is the best way to absorb and "master" the material presented in lecture. Concentrate on those topics in assigned text readings that are covered in lectures, and spend less time on topics that are mentioned briefly (or not at all) in lectures. The questions in the text readings and the summaries at the end of each chapter are useful in preparing for exams. In addition, the study/review questions that accompany the web site lecture notes and the self-administered quizzes on the web site should also be helpful in studying.
Students who did well in previous semesters of Geology 143 sections were asked what is the "secret of their success." Here are their suggestions:
1. Try to make time for the readings.
2. Make sure to review all of the lecture notes.
3. Use the book to help clarify anything from the notes or questions
that you do not understand.
4. Don't wait until the day before the exam to start reviewing.
Course grading: Grades are based on the scores on the two hour exams, the final exam, and the labs. The points and corresponding percentages are listed below:
Points Percent
First Hour Examation 15 15
Second Hour Examation 15 15
Third Hour Examation 15 15
Final Examination 15 15
Laboratories 40 40
Grading scales converting points to a letter grade will be posted on the class website after each exam. Scores for exams will be available on the Campus Gradebook, an electronic grade book accessible over the campus network. You can view your scores using the Gradebook at any CCSO public site or on the UIUC Web Site. You should check your scores regularly to ensure that our records agree with yours. Please report any discrepancies immediately.
Special Needs: To obtain disability-related academic
adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities
must contact the course instructor and the Division of Rehabilitation-Education
Services (DRES) as soon as possible. To contact DRES you may visit
at 1207 S. Oak St., Champaign, call 333-4602 (V/TDD), or e-mail
a message to Judith Kincaid at <jkincaid@uiuc.edu>. The
DRES web site address is (http://www.als.uiuc.edu/dres/).