Preface

Our Vision

Geology is everywhere in our daily lives. We are surrounded by materials and resources extracted from the Earth, from jewelry to the gasoline we use to fuel our cars, to the water we drink. Geological science routinely informs the decisions of public policy leaders in government, industry, and community organizations. Understanding our Earth has never been more important.

Because Earth science is so intertwined with our daily lives, our discipline evolves as the years go by, responding to the needs of what society compels us to understand. Decades ago most geologists worked in oil and mining companies, but today there is an exploding need for environmental specialists. As our world population grows we see the increased impact of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other environmental forces such as landslides. Even in the search for life on other planets we increasingly see the need for geological expertise in helping to reconstruct the environments on planets like Mars. There, geologists are exploring for traces of past life in rocks that are billions of years old, with robots that are hundreds of millions of miles away.

These diverse needs require a strong understanding of the basic concepts and principles of Earth science. Although the times change and the applications vary, understanding the basic composition of geologic materials, their origins, and how the planet acts as a system is imperative to understanding Earth. Everything from climate change, to the abundance of groundwater, to the frequency of large storms and volcanic eruptions, to the location and cost of extracting rare elements from Earth is relevant. It is a simple fact that as the complexity of these challenges increases, the need for well-educated geologists to make wise decisions will increase as well. We bring that conviction to this book.

Content Updates and Revisions

Since the publication of the sixth edition, we have witnessed some major geologic events, seen new data on climate trends and global climate change, discovered new sources of natural resources and more modern methods of retrieving them, and have new policies that address how we impact and are impacted by geologic events. Some of the updated topics, as well as topics new to the seventh edition, are listed below:

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Emphasizing What Geologists Do

If you ask the question, “What do geologists do?” the answer will most likely be something about the study of rocks, volcanoes, or earthquakes. As with many sciences, a more complete understanding of the field of geology is obtained only through its study. It is up to us as instructors to teach our students that the price of gasoline depends partly on the work of geologists who study oil deposits; that geologists help to determine the safety of building locations; and that the water emerging from their faucets is brought to them with the help of geologists. The introductory geology course presents us with an extraordinary opportunity not only to share with students the beauty and power of geology, but also to cultivate greater appreciation for the work of all scientists and a better understanding of the world around us. Several features contribute to our effort to engage students in what geologists do.

Practicing Geology Exercises help students connect to important work currently under way in the field, making cutting-edge research and problem solving accessible to students at all levels. These exercises provide enough background for an informed discussion or activity based on the topic. Each essay includes detailed visualizations of the issue at hand, as well as a question that asks students to apply their knowledge independently. Practicing Geology exercises address questions such as:

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Google Earth Projects. Satellite views of Earth are commonplace on news programs, on mapping Web sites, and in other aspects of popular media. Google Earth is by far the most widely used virtual globe browser. Taking advantage of student familiarity with these images and software, the Google Earth Projects guide students through focused explorations of key geologic locations. Balancing observation, core geologic concepts, geographic awareness, guided inquiry, and active learning, the students work through a series of questions aimed at producing a unique and insightful experience. After navigating to the appropriate location and checking their position with the image provided, students may answer the questions in a free-response format or within the text’s accompanying learning system, GeologyPortal, which can automatically store and grade student responses.

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Field Sketches Introductory geology is widely known for being a particularly visual course. We are fortunate to display stunning vistas and spectacular natural phenomena in our courses and textbooks. A number of photos are accompanied by realistic field sketches, bridging the gap between what students see and what geologists see when they look at a geologic formation. The use of the field sketch style provides students with a sense of the hands-on way geologists work and enables them to develop a greater appreciation for the geologic structures they may see every day.

Multimedia and Supplements

The teaching and learning resources that accompany the seventh edition of Understanding Earth constitute a comprehensive and flexible ancillary package. They provide opportunities for active learning, student self-study, and automatic grading of homework, and they emphasize the visual aspects of the concepts presented in the text.

LAUNCHPAD UNITS make class prep a whole lot easier

At W. H. Freeman, we are committed to providing online instructional materials that meet the needs of instructors and students in powerful, yet simple ways—powerful enough to dramatically enhance teaching and learning, yet simple enough to use right away.

We’ve taken what we’ve learned from thousands of instructors and the hundreds of thousands of students to create a new generation of technology—featuring LAUNCHPAD. LaunchPad offers our acclaimed content curated and organized for easy assignability in a breakthrough user interface in which power and simplicity go hand in hand.

Combining a curated collection of video, tutorials, animations, projects, multimedia activities and exercises, and e-Book content, LaunchPad’s interactive units give you a building block to use as-is, or as a starting point for your own learning units. An entire unit’s worth of work can be assigned in seconds, drastically saving the amount of time it takes for you to have your course up and running.

e-Books

The seventh edition of Understanding Earth is offered in two electronic versions: one is an interactive e-Book, available in the LaunchPad as described above, and the other is a PDF-based e-Book from CourseSmart. These options are provided to offer students and instructors flexibility in their use of course materials.

The CourseSmart e-Book offers the complete text in an easy-to-use, flexible format. Students can choose to view the CourseSmart e-Book online or to download it to a personal computer or a portable media player, such as an iPhone. To help students study and to mirror the experience of a printed textbook, the CourseSmart e-Book incorporates note taking, highlighting, and bookmark features.

Additional Resources for Instructors

The computerized test bank [ISBN 1-4641-7474-1] includes approximately 60 multiple-choice questions for each chapter (over 1300 questions in total) in an electronic format that allows instructors to edit, resequence, and add questions as they create tests.

Instructor’s Resources

Images from the text, Image and Lecture PowerPoint presentations, clicker questions, and answers to end-of-chapter questions are available to instructors on the Book Companion Site at www.whfreeman.com/understandingearth7e.

Additional Resources for Students

Student Study Guide

The Student Study Guide includes tips on studying geology, chapter summaries, practice exams, and practice exercises.

Book Companion Site

The Book Companion Site, accessible at www.whfreeman.com/understandingearth7e, provides study tools aimed at helping students:

Lecture Tutorials in Introductory Geoscience, Second Edition (ISBN: 1-4641-0105-1)

Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island

Jessica Smay, San Jose City College

A set of brief worksheets designed to be completed by students working alone or in groups, Lecture Tutorials in Introductory Geoscience engages students in the learning process and makes abstract concepts real. The tutorials are designed specifically to address misconceptions and difficult topics. Through the use of effective questioning, scaffolded learning, and a progression from simple to complex visuals, they help students construct correct scientific ideas and foster a meaningful and memorable learning experience. Research based on extensive classroom use shows that these Lecture Tutorials increase student learning more than lectures alone.

Research indicates that students learn more when they are actively engaged while learning. Lecture Tutorials are worksheets of carefully designed questions that require students to think about challenging subjects. They are designed to be used after a brief lecture or introduction to the topic. Working in small groups, students are encouraged to “talk science,” ask questions, and teach one another.

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A geologist looking at terrain or a rock formation can often identify its structure and attempt to draw conclusions about its history; most introductory geoscience students cannot make the same connections. Lecture Tutorials use simplified images and questions to help students build a fundamental understanding of a concept, then move them into more complex interpretations of that concept. In the process, the activities create an environment in which students must confront their misconceptions. Those misconceptions were identified through literature searches of published misconceptions and through the classroom experience of the authors.

Lecture Tutorials scaffold student learning. Early questions are designed to introduce the students to the topic and help them consider what they do and do not know. The tutorial then focuses on underdeveloped or misunderstood concepts and slowly steps students through more difficult questions, helping them construct a new understanding. The final questions are higher-level questions, both scientifically and cognitively, that indicate whether students understand the material.

Lecture Tutorials do not need to stand alone in the classroom and can be used with other interactive teaching methods. They are designed to be used to complement lectures, laboratory exercises, textbook use, and online resources. While research shows they are most effective when used frequently in the lecture component of a course, instructors from around the country have successfully used them in laboratory settings or as homework.

Instructors can order Lecture Tutorials in Introductory Geoscience as a stand-alone item or packaged with a W. H. Freeman textbook.

Students can also purchase Lecture Tutorials in Introductory Geoscience directly at www.whfreeman.com/lecturetutorials.

Acknowledgments

It is a challenge both to geology instructors and to authors of geology textbooks to compress the many important aspects of geology into a single course and to inspire interest and enthusiasm in their students. To meet this challenge, we have called on the advice of many colleagues who teach in all kinds of college and university settings.

From the earliest planning stages of each edition of this book, we have relied on a consensus of views in designing an organization for the text and in choosing which topics to include. As we wrote and rewrote the chapters, we again relied on our colleagues to guide us in making the presentation pedagogically sound, accurate, accessible, and stimulating to students. To each one we are grateful.

We remain grateful to the instructors who were involved or assisted in the planning or reviewing stages of the sixth edition:

Others have worked with us more directly in writing and preparing the manuscript for publication. At our side always was our Science Editor at W. H. Freeman and Company: Randi Rossignol. Randi has worked with us for the past 12 years, and through four revisions of the text. It has been a pleasure for us to work with her every time! Bill Minick, Senior Editor, was very helpful in shepherding the process through to completion. Jen Griffes helped us with the simultaneous challenge of text revision and Mars Rover operations. Amy Thorne coordinated the media supplements, Blake Logan designed the text, Jennifer Atkins obtained many beautiful photographs, and Paul Rohloff managed the production of the text. Nick Ciani coordinated the transmittal process. We thank Dennis Free and Sheryl Rose from Aptara Corporation for creating the printed text from final manuscript. We are grateful to Jake Armour, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, who worked with us to create the Google Earth Projects. And our heartfelt thanks go to Emily Cooper, who created so many beautiful illustrations.

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