5.1 - Overview of Unit 5

Introduction to Unit 5

This is the last Unit of the course. In this Unit we will introduce landforms. As always seems to happen (no matter how I teach this class) we don't have enough time to explore this topic as completely as I would like. We will cover the structure  and composition of the earth and the major internal land forming processes: plate tectonics, diastrophism (warping, folding and faulting) and volcanism.

What you will learn

• about the internal structure of the Earth (the crust, mantle and core)
• about minerals and rocks
• about the rock cycle
• about Geologic Time
• about the theories of Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
• about the different types of plate boundaries
• about mantle plumes and the Hawaiian Islands
• about intrusive and extrusive volcanism and the types of volcanoes
• about diastrophism
• about isostasy
• about folding
• about the types of  faults and about earthquakes
• about tsunamis

What you will be doing

• You will watch the Instructor's Videos and read the Canvas Content
• You will complete one optional extra credit assignments
• You will complete three homework assignments
• You will take the Unit 5 Exam
• You will complete the optional end of semester survey