Time, Trilobites, & T-Rex

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to the field of historical geology and the evolution of life, with a specific focus on the geology of Indiana. Through lectures and labs, students learn how the scientific method has been used to formulate and test various scientific hypotheses and theories related to the historical sciences. Hands-on labs teach students how to identify different kinds of minerals, rocks, and fossils and how to infer paleoenvironments based on their distributions. Additionally, students learn about the vastness of geologic time and how organisms have evolved throughout the billions of years of Earth's history. The course includes two hours of lecture and two hours of lab per week.