Natural History of National Parks ((4))

Catalog description

This course provides an overview of the diverse aspects of geology preserved in national parks. It shows geology and natural history in context to students of all disciplines. Students are exposed to national park geology through plate tectonics, a conceptual framework describing how Earth works. It illustrates how mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, and other geological phenomena result from processes that occur within or on the surface of the Earth. We will see how processes occurring at plate boundaries and hotspots result in the dramatic landscapes seen in national parks. We will also introduce other geologic concepts such as types of rocks, geologic time, and the record of Earth history and change recorded in rocks using examples from national parks. These tools allow us to understand why landscapes and rocks in a given park are similar to those in some parks yet differ from those in others; and to appreciate why the preservation of geologic features within national parks helps us understand natural science and how it relates to society and the environment. A field trip may be required. 150 minutes of lecture and 150 minutes of lab per week. Prerequisite: any college-level science course. A course fee is required.