ERTH-100 Extra Credit/Make-up Projects
Basic Info:
There are two flavors of credit points you can earn:
1. Make-Up Points: These are points you earn to make up for a missed lab (or two missed labs), or several missed class sessions. You earn Make-Up Points by doing an extra credit
project to compensate for the points you lost by missing class.
Basic Rate:
One missed Lab: You can turn in up to 25 Make-Up Points (any combination of projects listed below)
Two missed Labs: You can turn in up to 50 Make-Up Points
Three missed Labs: You can turn in up to 50 Make-Up Points (I expect you to make at least one of the three labs...if you do miss all three, it will have a negative impact on your grade
that Make-Up Points won't completely cover.)
One to three missed class sessions: no big deal; you can survive without doing any Make-Up Points
Four or more missed class sessions: You can turn in up to 5 Make-Up Points for each missed class (any combination of projects listed below)
2. Extra Credit Points: These are brownie points that you can earn above and beyond any make up points.
You can turn in up to 40 Extra Credit Points by completing any combination of the projects listed below.
You can use these points to boost a sagging mid-term grade, to compensate for a gooned test or quiz, or just to help ensure you get a killer grade for the course!
Even if you have a 100% attendance record to all the classes and labs, and you aced quizzes and mid-term, you can still turn in the points.
Hint: If you did in fact, by some odd circumstance, goon a quiz or two, got killed on the mid-term, and wake-up screaming at night worrying about your grade, then
definitely, absolutely, you should max out on Extra Credit projects!! Those extra 40 points could be a life-saver...
These projects are designed to broaden your knowledge and appreciation of Earth Science. Recall day one of our course: we discussed the idea that an understanding of Earth Science can make you
a better citizen, a more informed consumer, and even a more effective parent! Some of these projects will challenge your creativity and higher order thinking skills; others will stimulate your creativity. Some of the projects
are geared unashamedly toward grade schoolersthese projects will really give you a leg up when your youngsters need a little boost in their study of science!
The projects are not all huge writing assignments. Some of these projects cater to web surfers, carpenters and even bakers!
Documenting your work:
You will need to properly document any references you use if you choose to do one of the writing assignments. There are several styles in use by college students; choose one that suits you best. In general terms, any direct quote you use should be contained in quote marks or indented, with either a footnote or endnote citing the source. Passages from another author that you paraphrase should also be acknowledged with a foot or endnote. Each foot/endnote should contain (when known): authors name, article or book title, name of periodical (for newspaper or magazine articles), date, publisher (for books), and page number. The actual order of this information will be determined by whichever style/format you choose to use.
As always, proper spelling, grammar and complete sentences are a must!
Projects Menu:
1. Research Paper (25 points): Write a 2-3 page paper (double spaced) on any topic relating to the four main branches of Earth Science that interests you. Be sure to include a concluding paragraph that summarizes your main points. You may find some good topics by visiting on-line agencies like the National Geologic Survey, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, or NASA.
A word on references:
- You must cite your references properly to receive full credit!).
- Your text book and class notes do not count as references!
- Wikipedia as a reference source does not impress me...I once heard it said that "Wikipedia is to research as dumpster-diving is to dining."
- Dig a little for some good, credible sources.
2. Earth Science Commentary (10 points): Find a current science-related article in a newspaper or magazine, write a one page (double spaced) commentary. Apply your knowledge of Earth Science to some current event being reported in the printed press. Summarize the authors perspective, then add your own.
3. Galileo Junior! (15 points): Using a telescope or pair of binoculars, observe Jupiter for ten nights. Produce a log of your entries (see page 499 in your text) recording as many details as you can especially the positions of the four Galilean moons. (5 points extra credit if you take your notes in Latin like the original log!)
4. Earth Science Slide Show (5 points): Attention, PowerPoint Rangersthis project is for you! Produce a 8-15 frame slide presentation containing theme-related Earth Science images (scanned or downloaded from the web). Include in the notes section of each slide a description of the image and where you found it. Suggestions for your PowerPoint show:
- Tour of the solar system
- Apollo missions
- Martian probes
- The rock cycle
- Plate Tectonics
- Weather explained
- Nasty storms/earthquakes/etc.
- Climate change; global warming pro- or con-
- Glaciers in action
- Portrait gallery of noteworthy/dead Earth Scientists
- Montage of Minerals
Submit your work saved as a PowerPoint file burnt onto a CD, or e-mail me a clean, virus-free copy if your bandwidth permits.
Here are some ideas for you hands-on types:
5. Kepler Demonstrator. (10 points) Use some rudimentary Tim Allen-like handyman skills to construct a little table top model to demonstrate how planets move in an elliptical orbit.
Consult the figures in your textbook for the basic idea. Add some impressive embellishments that really impress me and earn up to 15 points!
6. Betty Crocker Science Project. (10 points) This one will make you the most popular parent in 5th Grade science!
Use your culinary and cake-decorating skills to illustrate some important earth science concept:
- The Rock Cycle (points deducted if you use real rocks)
- Plate Tectonics (imagine that sheet cake cut in half and re-assembled slightly off-center to illustrate transverse plate movement,
or how about some devils food {oceanic plate} cake subducting beneath the lighter yellow sponge cake {continental plate})
- Weather Map (highs, lows, cold and warm fronts battling it out on a frosted 
horizontal weather depiction!)
- Solar System Model (Ptolemaic or Copernican, your choice fruit slices and gumdrops make great planets,
or consider the "planetary pizza" variant.
Here's an example of the Betty Crocker Sciende Principle in action:
One of my students used the intellectually-stimulating
medium of brownies to depict the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram
from our astronomy section...she made learning about the life cycle of stars a real treat!
- Look through the text. See an illustration you like? Bake it!
This kind of project doesnt just make a splash at the elementary education level; fellow college science students will appreciate your efforts too!
7. Extra Credit study questions from your textbook. (See below...)
8. Do you have an idea for a project not covered in this handout? Come talk to me and we'll work something out.
