Course Title: ERSC 999 - Earth Science Lab

Section(s): MC1

Office Hours: During the summer semester, office hours will be held in chat room 1 or by telephone. No office hours will be held on campus. Appointments must made at least 48 hours in advance.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: C Introduces basic procedures of geology, oceanography, meteorology, and astronomy.

Semester Credit Hours:  0 The grade for this course is included in the 4 credit grade for ERSC 101

Course Prerequisites: ENGL 052 or ESOL 052; RDNG 052 or ESOL 054; and MATH 082 or MATH 013

Corequisite: ERSC 101

NOTE: Students registered for an online section of ERSC 101 must be registered for the corresponding section of the online laboratory, ERSC 999.

Others Requirements: Since this is an on-line course, students must also meet the technical prerequisites for on-line courses at CCBC.

The overall course goals are: Upon completion of this course the student will be able to:

1. Describe and demonstrate the ability to apply classification systems used in the four major areas of this course.
2. Demonstrate the ability to collect, interpret and synthesize numeric, graphical and visual data in the four major areas of this course.
4. Relate laboratory experiments to the goals and objectives of ERSC 101.
5. Demonstrate mathematical skills involved in manipulating and evaluating data.

The topics covered in this course include:

1. Earth cycles and materials
2. Igneous activity
3. Weathering and sedimentary processes
4. Deformations and plate tectonics
5. Properties of the atmosphere and weather
6. Ocean water properties
7. Coastal processes
8. Earth motions and historical astronomy
9 The Moon and planets
10. The Sun

NOTE: In the online section of ERSC 101 and ERSC 999, the labs are integrated within the ERSC 101 units and objectives. . THERE IS NO SEPARATE ACCESS OR LOG IN FOR the online version of ERSC 999.

Rationale for the course:

The following labs are required for those students taking the online version of ERSC 999:

• Unit I: Properties of Our Solar System (20 pts)
• Unit I: Igneous Rock Lab (20 pts)
• Unit I: Radiometric Dating Lab (20 pts)
• Unit 2: Relative Dating Lab (20 pts)
• Unit 3: Structure of the Earth Lab (20 pts)
• Unit 3: Determining the Epicenter of an Earthquake (20 pts)
• Unit 4: The Ozone Lab (20 pts)
• Unit 5: Ocean Currents Part I (20 pts)
• Unit 5: Ocean Currents Part II (20 pts)

You do not receive a separate lab grade in this course. The grade you receive in lab is averaged in to your ERSC 101 grade. It will represent 1/4 of your overall grade in ERSC 101.

Attendance Policy: Attendance at the optional chat sessions is not required. A chat log for each chat session will be posted in the discussion board, providing there is some student attendance at a chat session.

Instructional Methods and Materials:

• You will be required to do a number of laboratory exercises related to the unit objectives for this course. You may be asked to collaborate with other students in some cases.
• All of the labs are on-line. They are accessed through the units of study.
• Optional weekly chat sessions will be held in chat room Chat logs will be posted for those students who are unable to attend a scheduled chat session. The posting of chat logs is contingent on a chat session being held. If no one attends a chat session, there will be no chat log to post. Please check the course calendar for specific dates and times.
• Labs are submitted electronically through the Virtual Lab link. Instructions for posting labs are provided in the How To section of the course. Labs will be graded and returned to you in the Virtual Lab. You have two opportunities to submit a lab provided you turn in your initial submission by the posted deadline. The option to resubmit labs will help to tol maximize your lab grade and help you significantly on the unit exam.
• A schedule for submitting labs is posted in the course calendar.
• There is one extra credit lab in unit 4.

Required Text: There is no text for the lab. All of the labs are online.

Services for Students With Disabilities:

• CCBC is committed to providing equal access to educational opportunities for all students by arranging support services and reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.  A student with a disability may contact the appropriate campus office for an appointment to discuss reasonable accommodations.  An appointment must be scheduled within a time period which allows staff adequate time to respond to the special needs of the student.  The student must provide the appropriate office with proper documentation supporting the need for reasonable accommodations.

For more information, contact:

CCBC Catonsville	CCBC Dundalk	CCBC Essex
410-455-6946 or	410-285-9808 or	410-780-6741 or
410-455-4163 (TTY)	410-285-9529 (TTY)	410-238-4601 (TTY)

 Attendance Policy: Since this course is delivered over the Web, the College's standard attendance policy does not pertain. I do recommend that you attend the optional online chat sessions. Chat sessions topics will be posted in the course calendar.