Brief description
Module Outline
This module introduces our planet and how it works, for those who plan little or no further
coursework in geology. The emphasis throughout is on concepts and understanding what you can
see around you. Terminology is kept to a minimum. The course is especially suitable for students
outside the Faculty of Science.

The first lectures introduce the setting of planet Earth and the ways in which we approach an
understanding and appreciation of it. The chief kinds of minerals and rocks are explained,
together with the physical processes that shape the Earth's surface. Other lectures cover such
topics as volcanoes, glaciers, earthquakes, the oceans, and understanding the landscape. The state
of Earth's energy and mineral resources is discussed, emphasising how we interact with our planet.
The lectures are fully illustrated, using examples from all over the U.K. and around the world.
The course will follow closely the textbook 'Understanding Earth'; the lecture themes, listed below,
largely coincide with the book's chapters.

1. Introduction to the course. The origins and setting of our planet.
2. Understanding Earth: the science of geology.
3. Minerals: Earth?s building blocks.
4. Igneous rocks I: underground melts.
5. Igneous rocks II: volcanoes.
6. Sediments and sedimentary rocks.
7. Metamorphic rocks: slow changes at depth.
8. Time: a long perspective.
9. Fossils and the history of life.
10. Earth's internal stresses: the deformation of rocks.
11. Mid-semester exam. Glaciers, past and present.
12. Water, and its importance at Earth's surface.
13. Geological maps and the geology of the U.K.
14. Oceans.
15. Earthquakes
16. Inside our planet.
17. Useful minerals, crystals, and gems
18. Earth's dwindling resources.
19. Earth: a benign yet dangerous planet.

Aims of the module
This module is designed expressly to introduce to those students who would otherwise do little or no earth science a basic
understanding and appreciation of physical aspects of our planet.

Objectives
Students, many of whom will be from a non-science background, will acquire some understanding of scientific methods and
geological techniques for exploring Earth. The student should emerge with a finer appreciation of our physical environment.