Course Title: ERSC 101 - Earth Science

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.

Semester Credit Hours:  4

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

Corequisite: ERSC 999

Others Requirements: Since this is an online 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 the scientific method
2. Describe Earth’s internal and external heat engines
3. Describe the materials of the Earth’s crust
4. Describe the ways of determining relative and absolute time
5. Describe the processes involved in volcanic and intrusive igneous activity
6. Describe the weathering process and the formation of sedimentary rock
7. Describe processes of crustal deformation
8. Describe the topography of the sea floor and tectonic processes
9. Describe the origin and evolution of the atmosphere
10. Describe the composition, heating and circulation of the atmosphere
11. Describe the factors that generate weather
12. Describe the source of ocean water and its salt
13. Describe the physical properties of ocean water and its movements
14. Describe the processes that shape coastlines
15. Describe the motions of the Earth through space
16. Describe the history of the development of astronomical thought
17. Describe the composition, structure, history and motions of the Moon
18. Describe the properties of the other planets of our solar system
19. Describe the composition, internal structure and activity of the sun

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

Please check the Units of Study link to the left for more detailed information on the specific units and the unit objectives that are covered in this course.

Rationale for the course:

Your final grade in this course will be based on three things:

1. Examinations on course material: There will be total of five unit examinations. Each examination is non-cumulative and covers the unit objectives and activities. Each test is worth 100 points and consists of multiple choice, true false, fill in the blank questions and essays. Essay topics are taken from the unit objectives and are announced ahead of time. Students may submit a practice essay for review in advance of taking the test. However, the practice essay MAY NOT be used while taking the test. The essay represents approximately 35% of the test grade.

   PLEASE NOTE: THE ESSAY TOPICS ARE KNOWN IN ADVANCE AND IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU PREPARE A PRACTICE ESSAY IN ADVANCE. HOWEVER, NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO ESSAYS CONTAINING PLAGIARIZED MATERIAL. PLAGIARIZED MATERIAL INCLUDES MATERIAL TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM CLASS NOTES, ANY TEXT, WEBSITE OR OTHER RESOURCE. IT ALSO INCLUDES PARAPHRASING TOO CLOSELY RESOURCE MATERIAL. BOTH THE CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE ESSAY MUST BE THOSE OF THE STUDENT. ESSAYS MUST BE WRITTEN FROM MEMORY. NO AIDS SUCH AS WRITTEN NOTES, FLOPPY DISKS, ETC. MAY BE USED WHILE TAKING THE TEST.

Tests for this course are online, but must be taken at an approved testing center. CCBC students can take the test at either the Catonsville, Dundalk or Essex testing centers. If you are a student attending another Maryland Community College and taking this course through MOL, tests will be made available at a testing center located at your college. Some college have more than one campus and therefore more than one testing center. Please let me know if you want unit tests made available at a testing center at a particular location. Otherwise, it will be made available at the testing center on the main campus.

Before taking a unit test, you should contact your testing center and confirm the availability of the test and any testing center policies and hours of operation. Many testing centers require that you make an appointment to take a test.

Each unit test available for approximately 5 - 7 days. Tests must be taken within the time frame posted in the course calendar. Unit tests will make up 75% of your final course grade. A detailed description of testing policies and procedures are provided in the How To section of the portion of the course.

2. Unit Five Discussions: In the interest of grading the unit five tests in time to submit final grades, the unit five test will have no essay on it. Instead, during the course of the unit, students will be required to participate in unit discussions. The unit discussions will be equivalent in point value to the essay questions on the unit tests.

3. Performance in Lab (ERSC 999) : Students registered for either ERSC 101 WC1, WC2 or MC1 must be registered for the corresponding section of the online lab, ERSC 999 WC1, WC2 or MC1. Use the Lab link to the left for more detailed information about the lab.

4. Additional Requirements: Students are required to adhere to all deadlines posted in the course calendar. Penalties for submitting labs past the posted deadline may apply.

5. Grading Criteria: Your final grade in this course is based on grades earned on the orientation activities (30 points), 5 unit exams (480 pts), the unit 5 discussions (20 points) and the unit labs (10 x 20 = 200 points). The orientation activities, Unit exams and unit discussions make up the required course work in ERSC 101 and make up 75% of your combined course grade. The unit labs which make up the required course work in ERSC 999, make up the remaining 25% of you combined course grade. Your cumulative grade will be available at all times in the on-line grade book. Below is a breakdown of how your final grade in the course is determined.

ERSC 101 Course Work (75% of your final course grade)	ERSC 999 Course Work (25% of your final course grade)
Orientation Activities (Bio and Orientation Ex = 30 pts.)	10 Labs (20 points apiece)
Unit Tests 1 - 4 (4 x 100 = 400 pts)
Unit 5 Test (80 pts)
Unit 5 Discussion (20 pts)
Total Points: 530 points	Total Points: 200 points

6. Attendance Policy: Students are required to meet all submission deadlines posted in the course calendar. Tests are online but must be taken in a proctored environment at either the CCBC Catonsville, Dundalk or Essex testing centers.

COURSE PROCEDURES:

Course Materials:

• Required Materials: Earth Science and the Environment, 4th Edition by Thompson and Turk, ISBN: 0-495-11287-9 or Earth Science and the Environment, 3rd Edition by Thompson and Turk, ISBN: 0-534-39313-6 .
• Required Tutorials: Students are asked complete two tutorials which will orient them to the course and to WebCT. Upon completion of the tutorials students will be asked to complete orientation activities.
• Required Orientation Activities: After logging in to the course, students will be asked to complete orientation activities. These activities will be graded and averaged in to the final grade for the course. Instructions for accessing the orientation activities is found on the course home page.
• Required On-line Materials: For each of the five units in the course, there are unit objectives, learning activities, labs, and tutorials. Unit materials are available in the WebCT portion of the course. Successful completion of the unit activities will be assessed in the unit tests.
• Optional Resources:
  1. Chat Sessions - Optional weekly chat sessions are scheduled in the course calendar. The subject of upcoming chats is also available in the calendar. Most chat will be on the unit labs. Preparing for chats you plan to attend is important.

Special procedures: Each unit consists of learning objectives. Associated with the unit objectives are some learning activities. Those learning activities include:

• Readings in the text
• On-line lecture notes
• Tutorials
• Graded unit labs
• Ungraded, self-check questions designed to help you evaluate your understanding of the unit objectives
• Optional chat sessions (chat logs are posted for those students who cannot attend chat sessions)
• Ungraded practice on-line quizzes
• Unit tests

Tentative list of dated assignments: A detailed calendar of deadlines is available in the online course calendar. All students are responsible for adhering to all deadlines posted in the online course calendar.You might also refer to the link "Schedule" for additional information.

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)

HINTS FOR SUCCESS:

Here are some tips you should follow which will help you to succeed in this course:

• Read the home page of the course carefully and make sure you have the recommend amount of time to devote to the course.
• Set aside a specific time each week to work on this course. Since this class includes both the traditional "lecture" (3 hours contact hours/week) and lab (2 contact hours/week), the AVERAGE number of hours you should expect to spend is 3 x 5 hours of class time/week = 15 hours/week during a normal 14 week semester. The amount of time you will spend will depend on your background, learning style and familiarity with online technology. Students new to the online environment will more than likely require more time at the beginning of the semester in order to become familiar with WebCT/Bb.
• Keep in touch with me and your classmates by frequently checking your course e-mail, bulletin board, and calendar. This will help build a sense of community among us. Using the various communications tools provided in this course effectively is the same as "raising your hand" and participating in class discussions.
• Be aware of the time lag that is inherent in most on-line courses. Although the communications tools make it appear that the transfer of information such as assignments is "instantaneous", it does not mean that the reply will be instantaneous. One of the hardest things about an on-line course is becoming comfortable with its asynchronous nature. In general, expect assignments to be returned within 1 week.
• Familiarize yourself with published deadlines in the WebCT course calendar.
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Remember that there are traditional ways for keeping in touch. Use the telephone, a fax, or make an appointment to meet with me on campus.
• Work off-line and save your assignments on your computer before submitting them electronically. You can use the saved version of your work to copy and paste to an on-line assignment or you can attach the saved file to an e-mail or bulletin board message. This will prevent a lot of frustration should your Internet connection or your system "fail".
• Be sure you check the How to section of the course instructions on how to submit assignments.