Introduction to the science of the Earth; properties and processes of its surface and interior, including plate tectonics, volcanism, earthquakes, glaciation, mountain building, formation of rocks, minerals, and the structural basis of landforms. Lab and lecture.
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeNone
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeLectures are boring, but if you pay attention and take notes you'll be good. Tests are extremely straight-forward. Labs are long and some are hard, ask your TA for help or guidance and you'll be fine. Labs make up most the grade, so engage with ur TA. Weekly quizzes w/ 5 Qs. 1 in person MC Midterm. 1 in person MC Final. 8 Labs. Iclicker each lect.
He puts whatever is on his slides on the tests. If you just go to lectures and write the notes about the lectures you will pass. Labs are pretty difficult but TAs are there to help. Nothing he didn't talk about in class will be on the midterm/final. Overall a super great teacher and will explain in detail anything you missed if you have questions
you definitely have to pay attention in lecture to be able to do well in this class as well as the labs. the grade was based on your labs as well as the midterm and final. tests are easy if you pay attention in class but definitely difficult if you dozed off or did not show up. some labs do take a long time so prep yourself for that.
The most tedious thing about this class was completing a couple pages for our "lab" which could be done before section and submit it to leave early. Besides that, notes were posted online (although they were blank), and the tests were open note! I loved coming to class and found the material super interesting.
Professor Rioux is super great and passionate about what he's teaching! The lectures are a little dense, and there's lot of material that you have to memorize if you want to do well on the midterm and final. Other than that, the labs are very interesting and the class is relatively easy/manageable and pretty cool!
Matt cares a lot about his students and genuinely wants to help us succeed. I didn't find him to be a particularly exciting lecturer, but I'm also not an Earth science major. Overall, this class covered a lot of important core concepts in an easily digestible way, and as long as you do the labs in a timely manner, you'll do great.