Earth Science
The Earth Science major is a program leading to the bachelor of arts or bachelor of science.
The bachelor of arts emphasizes an interdisciplinary field and prepares the student primarily for a career in secondary education. Apart from the required and supporting coursework listed below, the B.A. program must satisfy the requirements of the Teacher Education Program. The B.S. program provides a broad overview of geology and supporting sciences. This degree pathway is also suitable for students who may want to pursue a career in secondary education or continue on to graduate school. If a student choses this option and is interested in secondary education, they should contact Dr. Cinzia Cervato for additional guidance.
Required courses for the B.A. include:
| GEOL 100 | How the Earth Works | 3 |
| or GEOL 101 | Environmental Geology: Earth in Crisis | |
| GEOL 100L | How the Earth Works: Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 102 | History of the Earth | 3 |
| GEOL 102L | History of the Earth: Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 302 | Summer Field Studies | 6 |
| GEOL 315 | Mineralogy and Earth Materials | 3 |
| GEOL 315L | Laboratory in Mineralogy and Earth Materials | 1 |
| GEOL 316 | Optical Mineralogy | 1 |
| GEOL 356 | Structural Geology and Tectonics | 4 |
| GEOL 357 | Geological Mapping and Field Methods | 1 |
| GEOL 365 | Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology | 3 |
| GEOL 368 | Sedimentary Geology | 4 |
| MTEOR 206 | Introduction to Weather and Climate | 3 |
| ASTRO 120 | The Sky and the Solar System | 3 |
| ASTRO 150 | Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology | 3 |
| And 3 credits of geology electives | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 43 | |
Required supporting courses include:
| CHEM 177 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| CHEM 177L | Laboratory in General Chemistry I | 1 |
| CHEM 178 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 178L | Laboratory in College Chemistry II | 1 |
| PHYS 111 | General Physics | 5 |
| PHYS 112 | General Physics | 5 |
| One of the following | ||
| MATH 151 | Calculus for Business and Social Sciences | 3 |
| or MATH 160 | Survey of Calculus | |
| or MATH 165 | Calculus I | |
| One of the following | ||
| STAT 101 | Principles of Statistics | 4 |
| or STAT 104 | Introduction to Statistics | |
| And one course in Biology, Botany, or Zoology | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 29 | |
Communication Proficiency requirement: According to the university-wide Communication Proficiency Grade Requirement, students must demonstrate their communication proficiency by earning a grade of C or better in ENGL 250. The department requires a grade of C or better in ENGL 309 or ENGL 314.
| ENGL 150 | Critical Thinking and Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 250 | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition | 3 |
| or ENGL 250H | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition: Honors | |
| One of the following: | ||
| ENGL 309 | Proposal and Report Writing | 3 |
| or ENGL 314 | Technical Communication | |
| Total Credits | 9 | |
Required courses for the B.S. include:
| GEOL 100 | How the Earth Works | 3 |
| or GEOL 101 | Environmental Geology: Earth in Crisis | |
| GEOL 100L | How the Earth Works: Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 102 | History of the Earth | 3 |
| GEOL 102L | History of the Earth: Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 302 | Summer Field Studies | 6 |
| GEOL 315 | Mineralogy and Earth Materials | 3 |
| GEOL 315L | Laboratory in Mineralogy and Earth Materials | 1 |
| GEOL 316 | Optical Mineralogy | 1 |
| GEOL 356 | Structural Geology and Tectonics | 4 |
| GEOL 357 | Geological Mapping and Field Methods | 1 |
| GEOL 365 | Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology | 3 |
| GEOL 368 | Sedimentary Geology | 4 |
| GEOL 479 | Surficial Processes | 3 |
| MTEOR 206 | Introduction to Weather and Climate | 3 |
| And 8 credits of electives in agronomy, astronomy, environmental science, or other approved areas. | 8 | |
| Total Credits | 45 | |
Required supporting courses include:
| CHEM 177 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| CHEM 177L | Laboratory in General Chemistry I | 1 |
| CHEM 178 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 178L | Laboratory in College Chemistry II | 1 |
| MATH 165 | Calculus I | 4 |
| MATH 166 | Calculus II | 4 |
| PHYS 111 | General Physics | 5 |
| PHYS 112 | General Physics | 5 |
| STAT 101 | Principles of Statistics | 3-4 |
| or STAT 104 | Introduction to Statistics | |
| Total Credits | 30-31 | |
Communication Proficiency requirement: According to the university-wide Communication Proficiency Grade Requirement, students must demonstrate their communication proficiency by earning a grade of C or better in ENGL 250. The department requires a grade of C or better in the below communication courses.
| ENGL 150 | Critical Thinking and Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 309 | Proposal and Report Writing | 3 |
| or ENGL 314 | Technical Communication | |
| or ENGL 302 | Business Communication | |
| or JL MC 347 | Science Communication | |
| Total Credits | 6 | |
Earth Science, B.A.
NOTE: Course plan, sequence and credit amounts will vary depending upon which endorsement area(s) a student chooses to pursue. In addition, this plan is solely an example of one possible academic layout. This plan can and likely will be modified based on transfer credit, advanced placement (AP) credit, dual enrollment credit, "test out" credit, course offerings, schedule conflicts and entry term. It is our expectation that students know the requirements of their academic program and develop and follow an academic plan based on their academic catalog and degree audit using their individual academic advisor as a resource in this process.
Potential pathway for the B.A. in Earth Science degree:
| Freshman | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| ENGL 150 | 3 | EDUC 204 | 3 | PSYCH 230 (social science) | 3 |
| LIB 160 | 1 | GEOL 102 | 3 | Social Science Option1 | 3 |
| GEOL 100 | 3 | GEOL 102L | 1 | ||
| GEOL 100L | 1 | GEOL 113 | 1 | ||
| CHEM 177 | 4 | CHEM 178 | 3 | ||
| CHEM 177L | 1 | CHEM 178L | 1 | ||
| MATH 151, 160, or 165 | 3-4 | ASTRO 120 | 3 | ||
| GEOL 112 | 1 | MTEOR 206 | 3 | ||
| Praxis Core | |||||
| 17-18 | 18 | 6 | |||
| Sophomore | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| ENGL 250 | 3 | GEOL 365 | 3 | Humanities Option1 | 3 |
| EDUC 203X | 1 | PHYS 112 | 5 | ||
| PHYS 111 | 5 | EDUC 333 (social science) | 3 | ||
| GEOL 315 | 3 | Humanities Option 1 | 3 | ||
| GEOL 315L | 1 | ASTRO 150 | 3 | ||
| GEOL 316 | 1 | ||||
| EDUC 280L | 0.5 | ||||
| EDUC 219 | 1 | ||||
| Apply/Accepted to Educator Preparation Program | |||||
| 15.5 | 17 | 3 | |||
| Junior | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| EDUC 303X | 1 | ENGL 302, 309, 314, or JL MC 347 | 3 | GEOL 302 | 6 |
| EDUC 347 | 3 | EDUC 419 | 3 | ||
| EDUC 418 | 3 | EDUC 480J | 2 | ||
| EDUC 280A | 1-2 | COMST 211, SP CM 212, or THTRE 358 | 3 | ||
| GEOL 357 | 1 | STAT 101 or 104 | 3-4 | ||
| GEOL 368 | 4 | GEOL 356 | 4 | ||
| HIST 280 or 281 (humanities) | 3 | ||||
| 16-17 | 18-19 | 6 | |||
| Senior | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| Geology Option1 | 3 | EDUC 417J | 16 | ||
| Humanities Option1 | 3 | PPAT | |||
| SP ED 401 | 3 | ||||
| EDUC 403X | 1 | ||||
| EDUC 406 | 3 | ||||
| Social Science Option1 | 3 | ||||
| Biology Option1 | 3 | ||||
| Apply to student teach | |||||
| Praxis Subject Assessment | |||||
| Apply for graduation | |||||
| 19 | 16 | ||||
Students in all ISU majors must complete a three-credit course in U.S. diversity and a three-credit course in international perspectives. Check (http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/courses/div-ip-guide.html) for a list of approved courses. | |
LAS majors require a minimum of 120 credits, including a minimum of 45 credits at the 300/400 level in addition to the LAS world language and cultures requirement. At least 8 credits in the major from 300+ courses must earn grade C or better. The average grade of all courses in the major must be 2.0 or higher. | |
Students must take an American History (counts as humanities) or American Government (counts as social science). | |
| 1 | Choose from list of approved courses available from an advisor. |
Earth Science, B.S.
Potential pathway for the B.S. in Earth Science degree:
| Freshman | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| ENGL 150 | 3 | GEOL 102 | 3 | ||
| GEOL 100 or 101 | 3 | GEOL 102L | 1 | ||
| GEOL 100L | 1 | CHEM 178 | 3 | ||
| CHEM 177 | 4 | CHEM 178L | 1 | ||
| CHEM 177L | 1 | MATH 166 | 4 | ||
| MATH 165 | 4 | Arts-and-Humanities Choice | 3 | ||
| LIB 160 | 1 | ||||
| 17 | 15 | ||||
| Sophomore | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| ENGL 250 | 3 | GEOL 365 | 3 | ||
| GEOL 315 | 3 | Arts-and-Humanities Choice | 3 | ||
| GEOL 315L | 1 | PHYS 112 | 5 | ||
| GEOL 316 | 1 | STAT 101 or 104 | 3-4 | ||
| PHYS 111 | 5 | MTEOR 206 | 3 | ||
| 13 | 17-18 | ||||
| Junior | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| GEOL 479 | 3 | GEOL 356 | 4 | GEOL 302 | 6 |
| GEOL 368 | 4 | World Language | 3-4 | ||
| Agron/Astronomy/EnSci Choice1 | 3 | Agron/Astronomy/EnSci Choice1 | 3 | ||
| World Language | 3-4 | Social-Science Choice | 3 | ||
| GEOL 357 | 1 | ||||
| 14-15 | 13-14 | 6 | |||
| Senior | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| Agron/Astronomy/EnSci Choice1 | 2 | Electives | 9 | ||
| Arts-and-Humanities Choice | 3 | Arts-and-Humanities Choice | 3 | ||
| Social Science Choice | 3 | Social-Science Choice | 3 | ||
| ENGL 309 or 302 or 314 or JL MC 347 | 3 | ||||
| Elective | 3-4 | ||||
| 14-15 | 15 | ||||
Students in all ISU majors must complete a three-credit course in U.S. diversity and a three-credit course in international perspectives. Check (http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/courses/div-ip-guide.html) for a list of approved courses. | |
LAS majors require a minimum of 120 credits, including a minimum of 45 credits at the 300/400 level. At least 8 credits in the major from 300+ courses must earn grade C or better. The average grade of all courses in the major must be 2.0 or higher. You must also complete the LAS world language requirement. | |
| 1 | Choose from list of approved courses available from an advisor or departmental office. |