EARTHQUAKES!
ALS - 3060 - 991
Dr. Don Stierman,
Instructor
Distance Learning format, Autumn, 2005.
Pakistan earthquake page (posted 10/10/2005)
Contribute to earthquake relief
Introduction to earthquake seismology for interested students who are not preparing for a career in science. Students will learn to read seismograms posted on the Web, develop an understanding of how damage caused by earthquakes can be minimized, study the effects of several great earthquakes and some lesser but important earthquakes, and discuss various myths associated with earthquakes.
Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes: students will understand concepts such as earthquake magnitude, earthquake moment, ground motion measurements, seismicity patterns, and, how society can use this knowledge to lessen the impact of future earthquakes on humans.
Textbook: Earthquakes (Fifth edition) by Bruce Bolt.
Each student will submit a term paper that will be posted for other students to evaluate. The final grade will be based on: short essays submitted in response to questions dealing with each chapter; short multiple choice chapter quizzes; class participation in the chat room (times selected by mutual agreement); term paper; accuracy and completeness of comments regarding other term papers.
We will follow the book. Some chapters we
will cover in one week, others will require two weeks.
Table of Contents.
Tentative Schedule
Links for each week
I will not post extensive lectures. The textbook is excellent and there is so much on the Web! I will post links directing students to worthwhile Web sites. I will not copy and paste to my Web sites material readily available at other sites, although some items that might not remain available will be posted on the WebCT site.