The links below lead to information regarding the lab assignments for the class that will hopefully help GEO 111 students in completing the Lab Reports. As always, should any of you need to get in touch with me, you can reach me any time by the methods listed above, or on the Contact page.
This course is designed to lead into a career as a professional Geologist. It gives you hands on experience with making observations and collecting data in both the field and laboratory. This course is also intended to give you a better understanding of how to prepare a quality report, which is so important in the world of industry.
As a professional Geologist, you will often be working as a part of a group on several different types of projects. You will gain experience working in groups on several of the exercises in this course. This course is intended to help prepare you to work in the field of Geology by giving you experience in the methods and instrumentation of field Geology, as well as imparting a knowledge of group working skills.
All students must collect all data and observations during the assigned class period. The optional laboratory assignment must be done outside of class time. Unexcused absences, excessive lateness, or leaving early will not allow you to finish collecting your data, and WILL NOT be tolerated. For some of the laboratory exercises, the class will be divided into groups. Even when the class is not divided into groups, the students may work together on the exercises. However, each student is responsible for turning in a laboratory report that has been INDIVIDUALLY prepared, meaning that there should be no collaborating on the lab reports.
This is a quick list of items that students should bring to class EVERY week.
A Clipboard with Rubber Bands to hold papers in the wind.
A calculator capable of performing Trigonometric functions.
A working knowledge of how to use these Trig functions.
A laboratory notebook.
A plastic ruler.
Two plastic triangles, a 45-degree and a 30-60-degree triangle.
Colored Pencils or Pens.
Several sizes of Uniball type pens or their equivalent.
A set of French Curves.
A Protractor; if possible, a circular 360-degree protractor.
Your common sense!
Most of these items can be purchased at the Bookstore on Campus, and those things that can't be found there are available at Office Max just west of the campus on Route 347.
The lab reports in general should be fairly brief, but informative. They should be broken down into three major sections:
I. Introduction - Should briefly state the purpose of the lab exercise and the procedures employed in carrying it out.
II. Results - This is the main section of the report. The results portion includes any maps, calculations, data tables, and diagrams you have created for the report. This section should include a discussion of the collected data, referring to the tables and figures you have included. This is where the questions in the lab handout should be addressed. For several of the lab exercises, you will need to compare expected uncertainties with the actual uncertainties found in your results, and include a discussion of what you could have done to improve your data.
III. Conclusions - Any appropriate conclusions regarding the results of the study, and the accomplishment of its purposes, should be clearly stated in this section.
The first Lab Report is due at 5:00 p.m. on the Monday following the lab, either in my office or in my mailbox in the mailroom on the second floor. The second Lab Report is due at 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday following the Lab. After the first two weeks, the Lab Reports will be due no later than 5:00 p.m. on the next Lab day (the following Thursday). Late reports lose 10 points for each weekday they are late. Each new day begins at 5:00 p.m. In one full week, a late report loses 50 points, and in two weeks it loses a full 100 points. The minimum possible number of points for a late report is zero.
The final grade in this course is based solely on the grades received on the laboratory reports. There are no tests or quizzes. Each lab report is worth a maximum of 100 points. The lab reports are graded against the following criteria:
Appearance - 25%
Figure and Table Captions
Nothing in Pencil
No Handwriting, all words are to be typed
1 Inch Margins
Tables should be part of the text, not separate at the end
Tables should have clear headings
Tables should have grid borders
Diagrams and Maps should be neatly drawn IN INK on clean white paper
Quality of Writing - 25%
Spelling
Grammar
Word Usage
Ease of Understanding
Flow of Sentences
Paragraph/Sentence Structure
Should use less than 20% Passive Sentences
Content - 50%
Different breakdown for each Lab; usually includes:
The final grades for this course will be based upon the total points accumulated for the required lab reports, which are each worth up to 100 points. The lowest of the 13 lab report grades will be dropped. Also, the points earned for doing the optional lab report, worth up to 100 points, will be added in. Then, this point total will be divided by 12 to give a percent value which is your number grade for the course. The letter grade breakdown is as follows:
As the semester wears on, if you feel you want to do something extra to improve your grade in this course, you have the option of doing an optional extra credit lab. You must have approval to do an optional lab. A typed one-page proposal for your optional lab is due on Thursday, October 24 at our normal class meeting. It must include a description of the project you wish to do, a list of materials that will be needed, and the procedures that will be followed to carry out the exercise.
This proposal must also include a short list of questions that will hopefully be answered by the project. The optional lab report will be due at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 20, 2002. The final report must be typed and include typed data tables, graphs and diagrams, just like all other reports. Grading for this optional report will be broken down as follows:
Proposal - 20%
Writing - 20%
Appearance - 20%
Content - 40%
The final report for this optional lab should be 2 to 4 pages in length. When you turn in this final report, you must include a clean copy of your project proposal with it. Also, be sure to include a section in the final report that states whether or not the objectives you set in the project proposal were accomplished or not, and what, if any, alterations had to be made in order to make the project a success. Doing this optional lab may raise your final grade by up to 7 percentage points, so you may want to consider it as a viable grade raising opportunity.