Midterm Reviews, Winter 2009

Material Covered on the Final Exam - Wednesday, March 18
(Remember it is not cumulative- it covers material since the last test.)

Paleozoic Life - (Cambrian explosion, ocean life, vertebrate evolution, plants, movement to land, etc.)
Phanerozoic Geology (geology, ice ages and climate change, sea level change, mass extinctions, formation and breakup of Pangea, etc. - major geologic events)
Mesozoic and Cenozoic life (basics on reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, plants, and mammal evolution)
Know the causes of and evidence for things such as mass extinctions, sea level changes, ice ages, etc.
Know basic concepts discussed and explored in labs - read the lab background material for basics. In particular, know the major types of fossils we looked at.
Know the basics - I know we covered some of this stuff quickly, so try to understand the big picture.

Midterm 2 Outline - Wednesday, February 25

Geologic Time & Stratigraphy

Relative Dating (Rules from Stratigraphy - Superposition, original horizontality, etc.)
Correlation, creation and interpretation of stratigrafic sections
Transgressions and Regressions
Age of the Earth - what is it, how was it determined, early hypotheses
Radioactive Decay - basic concept and how it is used to date rocks
Dating Methods (Examples of how rocks are dated)
What can be dated and why (when do systems become "closed")

Origin of the Universe and Earth

Basic stroy of the Big bang and evidence for expanding universe
Stars and the formation of elements
Major stages in the formation of the Solar System and the Earth – remember the evidence
Meteorites
Hypothesis for formation of the Moon
Age of the Earth - evidence

Precambrian Geology

Know significant events (and rough timing) from the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic
Formation and evolution of atmosphere & oceans
Evidence (and source) for oxygen build up
Development and history of crust and continents
Proterozoic Ice Ages (Snowball Earth)

Plate Tectonics

Life and Evolution

Basic characteristics of life
- Basic organic elements and compounds
- Cells - basic characterisitcis / Eukaryotes/Prokaryotes
- Photosynthesis and Respiration
- DNA / Replication
Basic concepts of evolution – how it works, what is the driving force, coevolution, speciation, etc.
Evidence for evolution
Diversity of Life - How is it classified
6 Kingdoms and 3 Domains of life
Phylogenetic Trees - what are they , how are they organized, what do they tell us

Origins of Life and Precambrian Life

What are some of the controversies / hurdles to understanding origin (think about the film, too)
LUCA - what was it like
Evidence for early life
Major stages in the evolution of life during the Precambrian (know approximate age and significance)

Lab Materials

Important Historical Figures

Some other study tips:

Know your basic geologic time scale – particularly the ages and names of the Precambrian Eons!
Make a chart with the major Eons of the Precambrian and note what was happening in the to the crust, atmosphere, biosphere and oceans during each of these time periods. Cite your evidence.
Be sure you can cite evidence for and/or an example of some of the major concepts and events discussed in class – for example, What is the evidence for evolution? What is an example of homologous structures? What evidence supports the buildup of oxygen in the atmosphere?

You may bring an "half-page sized" cheat sheet to the exam - you can write whatever you'd like on one side of it.

Midterm 1 Outline - Friday, January 30

Basics/Intro

What is Historical Geology?
Scientific Method
Basics of Matter (atoms, elements, ions, isotopes, etc.) and Energy (types, quality, etc.)
Rules of the Universe (Conservation of Matter, etc.)

Minerals

Rock - Igneous and Metamorphic

Uniformitarianism - the present is the key to the past
Rock Cycle and basic rock terminology
Basic characteristics used to ID ig/met rocks - composition (index minerals, mafic/felsic, etc.) and texture (crystalline, grain size, foliation, etc.)
How to ID igneous and metamorphic rocks (with ID charts provided)
What do different characteristics mean (what do they tell us about geologic history)

Sedimentary Rocks

Basic characteristics used to ID sed rocks - composition (lithic fragments, quartz, calcite, etc.) and texture (crystalline, clastic, - grain size, rounding, sorting, maturity, etc.)
How to ID sedimentary rocks (with ID charts provided)
What do different characteristics mean (what do they tell us about geologic history)
Sedimentary structures (mudcracks, graded beds, etc.) - what are they and what do they tell us
Depositional (sedimentary) environments
Types of fossilization

Stratigraphy (I will update this section depending on what we get through by Wednesday)

Lithostratigraphy - What is it and how is it divided up (formations, groups, etc.)
Rules of Stratigraphy (Superposition, Cross-Cutting, etc.)
Vertical Relationships: Conformable Bedding Planes and Unconformities (different types)
~~Horizontal Relationships: Facies and Walther's Law~~
~~Transgressions and Regressions~~
~~Correlation~~

Important Historical Figures

James Hutton, Charles Lyell, Nicholas Steno, William "Strata" Smith

Monday, March 16, 2009