A successful student in this course should be able to:

1.    Demonstrated proficiency in common practical skills in first year geology

2.    Have knowledge of how episodic events change Earth over short time scales;

3.    Have knowledge of how long-time scale events shape Earth;

4.    Appreciate the time-scales of naturally occurring cycles;

Free on-line text books will be used in this course:

• Steve Earle 2014. Physical Geology. (B.C. Canada Open Textbook Project).  https://opentextbc.ca/geology/

• Blewett RS (ed.) 2012. Shaping a Nation: A Geology of Australia, Geoscience Australia and ANU E Press, Canberra.  http://epress.anu.edu.au/titles/shaping-a-nation/pdf-download

Appropriate reading sections will be provided throughout the course.

MyUni: Teaching materials and course documentation will be posted on the MyUni website (http://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/).

The course consists of three 50-minute lecture or Q&A slots per week, three hours of practical work many weeks (although not all; pay attention to the course syllabus that we'll pass out on day 1 and through MyUni) and a one-day field excursion. The lectures are the source of most of the information assessed in the short theory exams and required for practicals. Many subjects are covered in detail only once and most contain some element of specialized vocabulary or facts that are hard to reproduce by reading alone.

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

Week	Theme	Lecture topics	Practicals
Weeks 1-3: Origins of a habitable planet
1	Course intro. Origin of the earth: How did it get here?	Course introduction and steps to succeeding in this course. Age and formation of the Solar System and Earth. Deep Time.	no practicals week 1
2	Visitors from space	Monday Holiday- No lecture. Meteorites and how they help us understanding the structure of the earth. How do we know the earth is old?	Fondling meteorites (5%)
3	A warm wet greenhouse planet	Water and life. The faint young sun paradox. The Great Oxidation event. Was there life on Mars?	Geological time and a roll of toilet paper (5%)
Weeks 4-6: Life and death on planet earth
Week 4: Short Theory Exam 1 (15%) covering weeks 1-3. Monday lecture slot.
4	Origin of life?	Early life on Earth and effects on atmospheric oxygen. Ediacaran: the earliest multicellular life.	no practicals (theory exam week)
5	Evolution and Extinction	Cambrian diversification of animal life. Plants move on to land. Mass extinctions.	Museum (Ediacaran) (5%)
6	Life weathers extreme climates	Earth’s energy balance. Carbon Cycle. Climates of the past.	Fossil leaves as thermometers (5%)
Mid-Semester break
Weeks 7-9: Water world
Week 7: Short Theory Exam 2 (15%) covering weeks 4-6. Monday lecture slot.
7	Water, water everywhere...	The hydrologic cycle and the distribution of water. Surface waters. Groundwater. Residence times. The Great Artesian Basin.	no practicals (theory exam week)
8	Restless realms	Structure of the atmosphere and atmospheric circulation. Weather. Climate change in the modern era.	Hallett Cove excursion (5%)
9	Oceans and coasts	Ocean composition, circulation and currents. Coastal landforms and sea level rise.	Ocean practical (5%)
Weeks 10-12: Surface processes and human interactions
10	The Big freeze	Glaciers, ice sheets and ice ages. Stable isotopes and their role in reconstructing past glaciations. Milankovitch cycles.	No practicals (in exchange for field trip time on the weekend)
Field excursion Sunday 26 May (5%)
11	Every-changing landscapes	Earth’s dynamic surface, geomorphology and interplanetary comparisons. Evolution of the landscapes we live in.	Landscape practical (5%)
12	Human effects on the Earth system	Quaternary Extinctions. Welcome to the Anthropocene! Long-term human impacts on Australian earth systems.	no practicals
13	Week 13: Slightly longer theory exam 3 (30%) covering weeks 7-12. Thursday lecture slot.

This course has a one-day field excursion to Sellicks Beach.This trip is compulsory, but fortunately fun. There is no charge for transport. The trip will run from approximately 8 am to around 5pm; more details will be provided at the start of Semester 1.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation modified arrangements have been made to assessments to facilitate remote learning and teaching.
Assessment task	Type of assessment	Percentage of total assessment for grading purposes	Hurdle (Yes/No)	Outcome being assessed
Online quizzes on practicals	Summative	30%	No	1-4
Field work	Summative	10%	No	1, 3
Theory exams	Summative	60%	No	1-4

Attendance is compulsory at all scheduled practical sessions.  The learning outcomes for this course are substantially dependent on
laboratory and field experience and practice.  Therefore, missing any  practical class in a semester will result in a grade of FAIL being
recorded for the course.

Students are able to apply for an allowed absence from a practical session for medical or compassionate reasons by submitting an absence form with appropriate supporting documentation to the course coordinator.   Application forms can be downloaded from the MyUni course website.

Practicals missed due to medical or compassionate reasons may be made up (opportunity permitting; contact the course coordinator for details, as soon as possible to discuss options).  All students who miss a practical will receive an email at their University of Adelaide student account with instructions on the action to be taken to organise a make-up practical, if appropriate.

Short theory exams: Test material comes primarily from lecture material, and secondarily from assigned reading. Students may be tested on material that is not in the lecture material, but will be explicitly told what to read. The tests will consist of a mixture of multiple choice, short-answer and long-answer questions. The exams will take place within lecture slots.

Practical work: Students are enrolled in a particular practical session, and are expected to attend that session. The assessment will follow as a paper-based or MyUni on-line quiz or short answer exercises based on understanding gained during the practicals. Six will be assessed; each is worth 5%.

Virtual Field excursion: A series of exercises, including short questions and practical exercises will be undertaken online (10%).

Submission of Assigned Work

Practical work is submitted at the end of each practical session. There are no extensions for the practical work as it is to be accomplished during the practical period, and the practicals themselves are a mandatory and non-redeemable part of the course. Practicals will be marked and returned or answer keys posted within three weeks of each session.

The web-based assignment is to be submitted by the due date. There is no late submission or extension possible, unless you make an application on the basis of medical or compassionate grounds.

Extensions for Assessment Tasks

Extensions of deadlines for assessment tasks may be allowed for reasonable causes. Such situations would include compassionate and medical grounds of the severity that would justify the awarding of a supplementary examination. Evidence for the grounds must be provided when an extension is requested. Students are required to apply for an extension to the Course Co-ordinator before the assessment task is due. Extensions will not be provided on the grounds of poor prioritising of time. The assessment extension application form can be obtained from: http://www.sciences.adelaide.edu.au/current/

Late submission of assessments

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply.  A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.