G-116 Our Planet and its Future
An Introductory Geology Course Course for Non-science Majors
Professor Jeremy Dunning dunning@indiana.edu
Winner of the UCEA Distinguished Course Award*
*Given each year to the best distance or technology-mediated course in the U.S.
Winner of the 2006 Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology
All interactive and visual materials in this course were developed by and are the property of Arjuna Multimedia
This course
is intended to provide the student with a clear
understanding of the Earth as a system. One of the key elements of the course
is the
effort in every section to emphasize issues that are relevant to everyday life
and present them in a way that captures the imagination of the student. One
area of emphasis is the interaction between the public policies we create and
how they affect the earth and our relationship to its systems.
The course has a substantial web component designed to assist the
student in developing an understanding of each section of the course through
multimedia exercises. These exercises include; simulations that allow the student
to experience real-world problems and solve them, exercises that provide
the student with a measure of his or her understanding of the material in
the course, and virtual reality exercises aimed at immersing the student in
geologic environments.
The course is intended for non-science majors who have an interest in
the interaction between man and the earth. There is a weekly laboratory.
This Web site is intended to give you a feeling for the course and its interactive multimdia components.
Places We Will Visit
The links below will take you on a virtual reality visit to locations that exemplify certain important geologic features and processes covered in the course. Virtual reality creates an environment in whic h you can navigate by simply placing your cursor in the image space, clicking your mouse and moving the mouse. You may zoom in or zoom out be clicking on the + and - symbols below the image space (see below).
This is a virtual reality panorama. To see the VR panoramas click the links below.
The Beach. Beach environments allow us to understand how oceans interact with landmasses. Many of the eastern sections of the Atlantic coast states were formed as a result of the more than 100 discrete processes that occur along shorelines.
Glaciers. We live in a state that was once covered (from roughly Martinsville north) by a continental glacier. Most of the midwestern part of the U.S. was sculpted and leveled by this glacier. The other type of glacier is the Alpine or mountain glacier, which sculpts mountainous terrains.
Terraced Rice Fields. The relationship between man and the earth is complex and tenuous. We have a profound and often negative effect on the environment of the earth, but in the final analysis we are at the mercy of it. In this scene in Bali, Indonesia the symbiotic relationship between man and earth is evident. Rice farmers have terraced the mountainside to create additional paddy space without significantly altering the general form of the mountain.
Deserts. Deserts and arid environments cover nearly 25% of the total land area of the earth and this precentage is growing due to population growth and overcultivation of farm land. The Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats form an almost unique arid environment in the Basin and Range area of the U.S.
Plate Tectonics. Plate tectonics is arguably the great scientific revolution of the 20th Century. In this panorama we visit a site near the Golden Gate Bridge where two continental plates collided and slid by each other in an oblique motion. The far peninsula in the panorama contains rock that represent materials from the oceanic crust that was caught up in this collision.
Landfill. Solid waste disposal represents one of the major crises we will face in the 21st Century. Many areas in the United States will run out of landfill space within the next ten years. In this panorama we visit an operating landfill.
Pinnacle. In this panorama we visit the Nambung National Park of Australia. In this park pinnacle formations dot the desert landscape. How were these formed?
Mars. Other planets provide us with many clues to the history of the Earth and the way it functions. The recent visit of the Mars Rovers to Mars provides us with an opportunity to compare Mars to the Earth. This panorama is made from images from the Mars Rovers.
Object Movie VR Panoramas
Object movies allow you to exanmine an object in three dimensions. Simply place the cursor in the image, click your mouse and move the cursor.
Multimedia Sample Exercises
G-116 will have a dedicated web site that you may visit to review material covered in class through interactive multimedia exercises. The multimedia activities are designed to give you a "real world" perspective on the earth and they are also fun to work with because many are built on game theory. These exercises will include simulations, virtual field trips, case studies, and simple study aids. The exercises will help you develop a deeper understanding of the material and will assist you in preparing for tests. These exercises are for your enjoyment and edification and will not be graded.
Public Policy and Justice. In this exercise you are asked to explore a solution to the problem of reducing landfill use wand at the same time making the solution just for all.
Rock Origins. In this exercise you build a common rock by putting the processes reqired to create the rock in the correct order.
Deserts on Mars? In this exercise you will take a virtual field trip to Mars and determine whether you think deserts exist on the surface of Mars.
Case Study . Case Studies and what-if scenarios are an important tool in interactive learning. In this exercise you will play a role in determining whether a chemical waste site should be placed in your town.
Rivers. In this exercise you use a built in math editor to make simple calculations about the load carried by a river. This course will not require math, but will include math tools you can use to solve problems.
Simulation Exercises . Game theory is an interesting way of learning a subject. In this exercise you will use a game-like interface to simulate a project in which you are asked to determine if a landfill is leaking.
Time-Revealed Scenario . Another game technique that is useful in learning is the time revealed scenario. In a time-revealed scenario you are presented with a situation and must make desisions which push you down a certain path towards one of many outcomes. In this exercise you are the mayor of a town experiencing a major disaster and you must solve the problem.
3D Images of Rocks and Structures
When you see this symbol, put on your 3D glasses.
Several 3D images are shown below.
A lava tube in Hawaii.
A quartz specimen.
