About the Final Exam

The mid-term exam is worth 30% of your grade and will be given on Thursday, April 29. You have a number of tools available to help you prepare, use them (Check out the links on this website for study tips.) Read your book, then read it again. I am following the book closely. Hard copies of the PowerPoint viewgraphs are on reserve on the reserve reading room on the second floor of Pius library. Use the Earth Matters CD to practice questions and review. You can find a directory that links the different sections to chapters in the book (go our Textbook's Website, click on "Correlations" and then click on "From perspective of Merritts: Earth Matters CD-ROM contents and Merritts textbook sections"). Use the web site practice quizzes (go our Textbook's Website and click on "Q & A" ). Study with other students and try to quiz and/or explain the material to each other. Obviously you can't do all that the night before the exam. Start studying NOW.

Potential Essay Questions for Final Exam

I will ask three or four of the following questions: What distinguishes scientific thinking from other types of thought? Be specific and be sure to describe the scientific investigation method to illustrate your answer. What are the critical issues in Environmental Geosciences? Define "system" and describe Earth's major environmental systems. Describe the rock cycle from both a conceptual view of plate boundary processes and from a systems view of reservoirs and fluxes. Describe the nature of faulting and the character of igneous rock types that are associated with the plate boundaries. Describe the rock cycle from both a conceptual view of plate boundary processes and from a systems view of reservoirs and fluxes. Komatiite volcanic rocks, a good source of nickel, formed from high-temperature lava erupted long ago, when the mantle temperature was higher than it is now. Although Earth could not form this type of lava today, this does not violate the "Principle of Universality". Explain why. Compare and contrast methods and results of scientific efforts to predict of volcanic eruptions with scientific efforts to predict earthquakes. Describe the interactions of the pedosphere with the other four Earth systems during soil formation. Discuss human attempts to control and modify rivers and the consequences these efforts have on river flooding.