Earth Revealed (GEOL150) is a 4-unit General Education course that introduces students to the wonders of our planet.  The course satisfies the B2 block of the General Education requirements.  It is taught for General Education students and is educational, interesting, and fun.  It is also a course that can change your life and enable you to make better decisions regarding natural disasters, natural resources, and how we use our environment.  

     Earth Revealed is a lecture and laboratory course.  Lectures include faculty presentations, discussions, demonstrations, and illustration of geologic features with photos most often taken in western United States.  Lecture topics include the origin and development of the Earth, the origin of rocks, and the character of volcanoes, landslides, glaciers, deserts, surface and groundwater resources, earthquakes, and plate tectonics.  Instructors strive to make their courses relevant to the life experiences of area residents.

     Earth Revealed is an especially appropriate topic for students who live with the active geology and environmental concerns of southern California.  Faculty work to increase student awareness of geologic hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and floods.  When possible, environmental problems such as groundwater pollution are introduced.

     Students may choose either a field trip or an in-house laboratory to satisfy the laboratory requirement for this course.  Students who select the in-house laboratory meet for 2.5 hours once a week.  These students learn to identify rocks and minerals and describe their characteristics.  Laboratories also address such topics as map reading and interpretation and earthquake records. 

     You also have the option of a field trip to satisfy the laboratory requirement.  These students meet in a department laboratory for only 1.5 hours per week.  They receive less intense training in rock and mineral identification and map reading.  A one-day field trip more than compensates for the reduced time in the lab.  Field trip travel is by bus for which there is a $10 fee.  Field trips concentrate on geological features found within 75 miles of the campus.  Trips commonly cross the San Gabriel Mountains to the San Andreas Fault and return by way of Vasquez Rocks, the site of numerous western movies.  Other trips are more local in character and may include the Santa Monica Mountains, the beach, and Palos Verdes Peninsula. 

     Student grades are often based on 3 or 4 examinations, a writing assignment, laboratory participation and performance, and possibly an extra credit assignment.  Assignments, either required or for extra credit, may include such things as reading a book, attending a special lecture, completing an on-line assignment, or visiting a museum. 

     Students often report that the course has reduced their fears of earthquakes, improved their ability to avoid natural disasters, and made them more aware of their natural environment.  Faculty work toward these results with enthusiasm and love for their field.  

Earth Revealed Will Answer Questions Like These

Breaks in the land such as this one occur during earthquakes when movement along a fault reaches the surface.  Homes constructed where fault rupture occurs are destroyed.  Can you avoid this danger?  You will learn about earthquakes in Earth Revealed and the simple steps necessary to avoid fault rupture.

The Ice Ages were first recognized in Europe and later found to have greatly affected North America.  What was the Earth like during the Ice Ages?  Have there been times when there were only very few glaciers on Earth?

Why does salt accumulate on the floor of Death Valley?  How do desert landscapes form?  Has Death Valley always been so extremely dry?

     Why do landslides occur on some hillsides  and not others?  Can the danger be reduced or eliminated?  Does this look like good land-use planning to you?

These sedimentary rocks have created wonderful scenery for hikers, photographers, and tourists in Utah.  How do geologists determine where, when, and by what processes these rocks formed?

The rocks shown here were once 10 or more miles beneath the surface and yet here they are available for you to walk on.  In addition, this land was once buried under thousands of feet of glacial ice.  How can geologists determine that these amazing things really happened?

These sand dunes are among the most beautiful in California and also the most protected.  How do sand dunes form and why are they present here?

Native American people over 1000 years ago recognized the value of these rocks for building homes and other structures that are now scattered across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.  How do modern geologists recognize rocks and other resources that are valuable for our modern society?

Heavy rain weakened the slope behind this home.  The soil layer failed and flowed downslope breaking into the rear of this home.  Mud poured across the livingroom and smashed a hole through the wall immediately below the window.  Can future homeowners recognize these dangers before they invest their life savings in a southern California home?

Antarctica is almost entirely buried beneath a continental icesheet.  Some studies show that the glaciers are undergoing rapid change that may affect sealevel.  How much can sealevel be expected to rise in future years and how will it affect coastal communities?

Contact us for more information about Geology 150 Earth Revealed

Geology Office Physical Sciences Room 216
Telephone (323) 343-2400

                     General Education Courses in Geology
B2 Block Courses in Geology
              Geology 150 Earth Revealed       Geology 155 Oceanography       
B3 Block Courses in Geology       
              Geology 158 Natural Disasters
Under Division Theme Courses in Geology

        Theme A: The Challenge of Change in the Developing World

              Geology 312 Global Climate Change and the Developing World
              Geology 351 Environmental Geology of Developing Nations
        Theme D: Urban Life and Environment
              Geology 357 Urban Geology 

 

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