Course Number: GEO 101
Credit Hours: 4
Contact Hours: 4 (Lecture); 1 (Lab); 0 (Other)
COURSE RATIONALE: Geography 101 is designed for non-science students including diverse majors such as liberal arts and business. The course offers a broad overview of the weather, climate, mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, plate tectonics, soils, rivers, glaciers, wind, and waves. Covering these topics provides students with basic knowledge of the environment allowing them to engage in civil discourse on local, national, and global issues, ultimately supporting a healthy democracy. This course will satisfy the lab science requirement at SC4.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: GEO 101: Earth Science. The course offers a description of the physical environment and a broad overview of the weather, climate, mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, plate tectonics, soils, rivers, glaciers, wind and waves. Students will discover where these natural features exist and why they are located where they are. Features of the natural landscape will be described with emphasis not only on identification, but also on the significance of location. This course is structured as a science course for non-science majors that wish to take a lab science course designed for the liberal arts, education or business major.
Prerequisites: None
Course Objectives/Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...
- analyze the basics of Plate Tectonics and the implications for earthquakes.
- examine the relationship between the oceans and life on land.
- explain the significance of the earth-sun relationship.
- discuss the basic mechanics involved with glacial movement and the implications for our landscape.
- diagram and describe the Hydrologic Cycle.
- explain the connection between barometric pressure, atmospheric moisture and atmospheric temperature in the formation of clouds and precipitation.
- describe the formation of low and high pressure systems.
Course Outline:
Introduction to the course
Latitude and longitude
Earth-Sun relationship
Topographic maps
Plate tectonics
Earthquakes
Rock Cycle and the Downslope Processes
Energy resources
Atmospheric composition
Barometric pressure
Atmospheric moisture
Weather patterns
Severe storms
Climate
Glaciers
Antarctica
Continental glaciers
Alpine glaciers
The Great Lakes
Atmospheric Moisture and Air Pressure
Fluvial landforms (rivers)
Groundwater
Oceans
Volcanoes
Soil
Resources Included: Upon confirmation of the student's course registration, SC4 will mail an acceptance letter to each student's home address. This letter will contain additional information about login access to the SC4 Portal and establishing a college email account. Students will receive login information to the Canvas learning management system (LMS) via their college email account. The email will provide login procedures necessary to access the online course(s) for which a student is enrolled.
Additional Costs: Required Textbook / Materials: Students or their enrolling schools are responsible to purchase the required textbook and materials listed in the syllabus. Students are responsible for all tuition, books/supplies, and fees the school or school district does not pay; this includes the non-refundable student fee for dropped courses.
To locate your required textbook, use the SC4 Catalog Advanced Search to locate the Section Details and Book Details pertaining to your course section.
- If you have the section number for the course in which you have been registered by SC4, then you can select the Subject of the course name (e.g., Biology) along with the Course Number (e.g., 101) and Section number (e.g., 60) and then click the Search button in order to locate your section description. Click on the Section name and number hyperlink, and scroll down to view the Books Details and Pricing as well as the Book Details, including the required ISBN, title, author, and price. For additional help with textbook information, you may contact the SC4 Bookstore: (810) 989-5725 https://www.bkstr.com/stclaircountyccstore/home.
- If you do not yet have your section number or have not yet registered for the course, then you can locate this information by entering the Term (e.g, Fall 2021), the Course Subject (e.g., Accounting) and Course number (e.g., 211), and select “Online Course” for the Location, prior to clicking on the Search button. Click on “View Available Sections”. Finally click on a section to locate the Section Details and Book Details as described above. NOTE: Prior to purchasing required materials, students should verify that the book details match those displayed in their assigned section once SC4 has completed their dual enrollment registration.
Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. Michigan Virtual will transmit the final letter grade awarded by SC4 for each dual enrollment course completed to the student and his/her enrolling school.
Time Commitment: Dual enrollment semester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.
Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to all web resources linked within the online course content provided by the SC4 Canvas learning management system.
Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact your SC4 instructor or the college at 810-984-3881.
Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use their college email or other means provided by their instructor within the course syllabus or within their learning management system once the term has begun when they need instructor assistance. The instructor may describe additional communication options.
Academic Support Available: Disability Services - Support services are available to students at SC4 upon request. For information regarding services provided by St. Clair County Community College, contact the Achievement Center at (810) 989-5759. Students must self-identify their need for assistance.
Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.
Technical Skills Needed: No special skills are required beyond being able to operate a computer and use word processing software.
Additional Information: [1] Dual enrollment courses follow unique start, end and last day to withdraw dates for St. Clair County Community College (SC4)’s academic calendar for courses [https://michiganvirtual.org/dualenrollmentdates].
[2] You are consenting to pay the SC4 in-district tuition and fees for the course(s) selected [https://sc4.edu/admissions/tuition-and-fees/]. Michigan Virtual will send an invoice for eligible charges following the enrollment/withdrawal date of each term. Students or their enrolling schools are responsible to purchase the required textbook and materials listed in the syllabus.
[3] SC4 accepts the SAT as qualifying scores for dual enrollment eligibility. If a student has not taken the SAT, then SC4 will evaluate the student’s high school transcript to determine college readiness. Upload the student’s SAT report and/or high school transcript to Michigan Virtual’s Student Learning Portal (SLP) [https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/slp-add-sat-and-transcript-files-to-student-account/].
[4] Dual enrollment courses are limited to students attending public or private schools in the State of Michigan. Nonresident or homeschooled students are not eligible to dual enroll.
[5] SC4 will transmit a student’s scores electronically or by mail via Michigan Virtual. Dual enrollment scores will not appear in the SLP.
[6] Students must complete the online webform linked in their registration email before the enrollment will be confirmed.
[7] SC4 will contact the student directly with an acceptance letter and information on accessing the SC4 Portal, a college email account, and the online course content.