EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE (GEOL 3923H)

NOTES ON WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

The writing assignments for this course constitute the primary mechanism for me to evaluate your grade for the course. Over the semester there will be 12 writing assignments based on the work we do on the Internet. Some of these assignments will involve simply reporting your findings from various Internet resources related to Earth Systems Science. Others will be summaries of data analyses you will conduct using data sets downloaded from various web resources.

The purpose of all of these assignments is to give you some practical experience assimilating and synthesizing the information available to you. It is very easy when "surfing the 'net" to become a passive observer and allow images to flood your eyes without really taking any time to interpret their meaning. An important goal of this course is to learn to utilize the power of the Internet as a means of disseminating information and learning about the world around us. Hopefully, the writing assignments will engage you, entice you to slow down as you travel cyberspace and become active observers - able to absorb the images and text, process it through your mind and come to a greater understanding of Earth processes.

In addition, by using real data from real world observations throughout this course, I hope you will be able to gain an appreciation of the complexity of our planet. Perhaps you will discover something about the manner by which scientists acquire knowledge. Perhaps you will discover some of the techniques of recognizing order or process from observations of a dynamic environment. Perhaps you will discover the importance of visualization for understanding complex systems. Perhaps you will discover that real data can be ambiguous, contradictory or sufficiently confusing that it defies rational attempts at interpretation. Perhaps you will discover that scientists do not know everything - we are often surprised by the results of various observations. And these surprises themselves often catalyze investigations which result in new knowledge.

Each of the writing exercises should be relatively short in length. I do not want you to produce a novel or even a term paper for each assignment. I want you to be able to synthesize your thoughts on the various subjects of this course so that you can articulate those thoughts succinctly. If you can organize your information and express the important or relevant points in 2 - 3 pages, then I think you are in possession of true knowledge.

ALL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS COURSE WILL BE SUBMITTED VIA E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS TO DR. BOSS. No paper will be exchanged in this course. All correspondence with students will be through electronic media, either e-mail of the World-Wide Web. Of course, this is a bit of an experiment, and we may encounter some digital booby-traps, but I promise to be patient and work through any problems if you do!

The writing assignments for this course are not intended to be a burden to you, but instead, a process whereby you may come to realize the power within yourself to understand the world around us. I hope you will approach each assignment with a sense of curiosity and wonder about what may be discovered at the end. And in that process, perhaps you will discover what it is to be curious - to be analytical - to be expressive - to be concious - to be human.

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