Dr. Keith B. Miller Fall
2008
GEOLOGY 125
NATURAL DISASTERS
(T,Th
Umberger 105
DATE TOPIC TEXT READING
Aug. 26 Introduction
Aug. 28, Sept 2 Inside
the Earth Ch. 1
Sept. 4, 9 Understanding Earthquakes
Sept. 11, 16 Earthquake
Hazards
Sept. 18, 23 Notable
Earthquakes
Sept. 20 Earthquake Summaries Due
Sept. 25 --------
EXAM #1 --------
Sept 30, Oct. 2 Understanding
Volcanoes
Oct. 7, 9 Volcanic
Hazards
Oct. 14, 16, 21 Notable
Eruptions
Oct. 18 Volcano Summaries Due
Oct. 23 -------- EXAM #2 --------
Oct. 28, 30, Nov. 4 Understanding
Weather Ch. 8
Nov. 6, 11 Understanding Storms
Nov. 13, 18 Notable Storms
Nov. 15 Storm/Flood Summaries Due
Nov. 20 --------
EXAM #3 --------
Dec. 2, 4 Understanding Floods
Dec 9, 11 Notable Floods
Dec 16 (2:00 PM) -------- FINAL
EXAM --------
TEXT: NATURAL DISASTERS
George R. Clark II
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 2002
ISBN: 0-7872-9682-1
OFFICE HOURS:
Room 212 Thompson Hall
W, Th 10:30-11:30
am and other times by appointment.
Please take advantage of my office hours to obtain help. If you have any
questions concerning either the readings or lecture see me as soon as possible!
My e-mail address is
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The Earth is a very dynamic place. Many Earth processes are
too “normal” or occur at rates too slow to attract our notice. However, some
events grab our attention, and force us to pay attention. This course will investigate
the fundamental Earth processes that underlie these events, and will look at
specific notable
“natural disasters.
K-STATE ONLINE: For this course you will need to have access to K-State Online.
You can access it through the K-State homepage at http://www.ksu.edu. Log in with your user ID and a
personal password of your choice. This site will provide you with course
information, access to your exam and quiz scores, and a message board for
posting questions related to course content. The message board will also be
used to submit assigned article/website summaries (see below).
ONLINE ARTICLE/WEBSITE SUMMARIES: You will be required to write three short
(250-300 word) summaries of articles or websites of your choice that are
related to the content of the course (note: you cannot use the text as a
source). One of these will be on the topic of earthquakes, one on the topic of
volcanoes, and one on the topic of storms or floods. You will post these
summaries to the Online Course Message Board as instructed. These short written
summaries must be in your own words - not copied from your source or copied
from another person's summary. Copying other's work in these summaries constitutes
plagiarism (see Honor Code below). The
summaries must also have include complete
bibliographic information or URLs for your sources.
QUIZES AND EXAMS: Unannounced quizzes will be given during class-time. You need
to bring a computer scan card and a No. 2 pencil to every class. There will be
three exams during the semester on the dates indicated, and a final exam. The
final exam will be comprehensive. All exams are multiple choice
and will be recorded on computer scan cards.
MAKE-UP EXAMS & QUIZES: Makeup exams will be allowed ONLY if you have a
written signed excuse for the date of the exam from your doctor, academic dean,
or advisor. I also must be notified of the absence either before the exam or by
the next regularly scheduled class period.
Make-up exams will be given at times scheduled with me. There will be NO
make-up opportunities for in-class quizzes. To make allowances for missed
quizzes, or just “bad days,” your two lowest quiz scores will be dropped.
GRADING: All grades will be available confidentially on the
class KSU-Online site by individual password. The three exams during the
semester will each be worth 20%. The final exam will have two parts: the first
will cover the reading and lecture material given following the last hourly
exam, and the second part will be comprehensive. The final will be worth 20% of your final
grade. The remaining 20% of your grade will be determined by your three reviews
(10%), and class quizzes (10%). Your
final grades will be adjusted based on the class average. If the class average is less than 75%, the
difference between the actual class average and 75% will become the class
curve.
HONOR CODE: An honor system for undergraduate students has been in effect since
1999. In this system, the honor pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated:
“on my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid
on this academic work.” Plagiarism, copying of other’s work,
use of written or other aids during hourly exams, all constitute
violation of this pledge. A grade of XF can result from a violation of academic
honesty. An XF would be failure of the course with the X on the transcript
indicating failure as a result of a violation of academic honesty.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Sept. 1 Holiday
Sept. 29 Last
day to drop course without a “W”
Oct. 6 Holiday
Oct. 31 Last
day to drop course
Nov. 26-28 Thanksgiving
Break
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT: Copyright © 2008 (Keith B. Miller) as to this syllabus and
all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to,
or being paid for taking notes by, any person or commercial firm without my
express written permission.