I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Honors Planet Earth

2. Course Prefix & Number:
ESCI 1455

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 4

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 2

4. Course Description:

This course is a survey of the scientific underpinnings of contemporary environmental issues on the global, continental, and regional scales. For the geoscience disciplines of geology, meteorology, climatology, and oceanography, it is an introductory course. But is also a course on the practical applications of these sciences for inquiry into the human impact on Earth's concentric spheres. Students enrolled in this honors course will be required to read additional scientific literature, participate in team projects, and complete a capstone project. Activities may include (original) research, inquiry based investigation(s), collaboration, or other project types that the instructor deems worthy of the Honors’ designation. At least one extended field trip may be required. Courses in the Honors Program emphasize independent inquiry, informed discourse, and direct application within small, transformative, and seminar-style classes that embrace detailed examinations of the material and feature close working relationships with instructors. In addition, students learn to leverage course materials so that they can affect the world around them in positive ways.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

Writing Honors College Level

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

7. Other Prerequisites
One of the following: ACT English score 24, ACT Reading score 24, Accuplacer Reading Comprehension score 78, Accuplacer NextGen Reading score 250, High School GPA 3.0, Or permission from the instructor or Honors Coordinator

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Century College, ESCI 1025 Interdisciplinary Physical and Environmental Science, 4 credits
Metropolitan State University, GEOL 110 Introduction to Earth Science, 4 credits

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 3 – Natural Sciences
• Goal 10 – People and the Environment

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Demonstrate written communication skills in laboratory reports and other assignments.
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Correctly operate modern laboratory and field equipment or software, or correctly follow other directions as explicitly laid out in laboratory activities.
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Investigate and describe how cultures are affected by environmental problems, and how they respond, but also to measure the impact, and how the effects of possible responses are quantifiable.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate understanding of scientific theories as pertaining to geology, meteorology, and oceanography.  MnTC Goal 3
• Formulate and test hypotheses in laboratory models of actual earth systems.  MnTC Goal 3
• Submit a weekly written summary of their experimental results in laboratory.  MnTC Goal 3
• Evaluate environmental issues and their impact on society from an earth science perspective.  MnTC Goal 3
• Explain the basic structure and function of the earth systems, how humans use those earth systems, and the human impact on these systems.  MnTC Goal 10
• Recognize the role natural resources, environment, and climate play in shaping society and culture.  MnTC Goal 10
• Describe the basic institutional arrangements (social, legal, political, economic, religious) that are evolving to deal with environmental and natural resource challenges.  MnTC Goal 10
• Critically evaluate environmental issues from a scientifically informed perspective.  MnTC Goal 10
• Propose informed solutions to environmental problems.  MnTC Goal 10
• Defend their positions on environmental issues.  MnTC Goal 10
• Distinguish good from bad environmental policy according to the theoretical underpinnings of the science in question.
• Perform experiments involving collection of field data, laboratory processing of samples, and graphical/statistical analysis of resulting data.

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. The Integrated Earth System
• Earth history
• Rates of change
2. Geologic Resources
3. Plate Tectonics
4. Mountains
• Mountain building processes
• Weathering
• Soil
• Erosion
• Historic landslides
5. Streams, Wetlands
• Use and management
• Water resources and water use issues
6. The Fragility of Deserts
7. Ocean Coastal Zones
8. Ocean Resource Depletion
9. The Atmosphere, Air Pollution, and The Ozone
10. Storms
11. Global Atmospheric Processes
12. Climate and Climate Change
• Desertification
• Sea Level rise
• Melting glaciers
13. Earth History and Climate Change

2. Laboratory/Studio Sessions

1. Geologic Specimens
2. The Economic Minerals
3. Reading Tectonic Processes in Earth’s Surface
4. Mapping Geologic Structures
5. Case Study: The Madison River Landslide, Montana
6. A Field Trip to a Local Wetland
7. Modeling Aquifers
8. The Desert Resources of the Southwestern United States
9. Coastal Management Issues
10. Responsible Management of Ocean Fisheries
11. Case Study: The Ozone Hole
12. Global Warming and Hurricane Intensity
13. Meteorological Measurements
14. Case Study: The African Sahel
15. Case Study: Sea Level Rise and the Maldives
16. An Alternative Theory of Global Warming