This is an online laboratory for students who cannot or do not want to come to our campus.

• Benefits: No need to drive to campus, no tests or final, you complete the labs on your own schedule, you get to visit state parks to see real geologic features, you visit the parks on your own schedule
• Negatives: You will have to drive to three state parks and spend ~3 hours each completing the field activities.
• The first month of the lab is the hardest/most time consuming, the last month is the easiest/least time consuming.
• Students perform at the same level as our on campus labs and earn similar grades.

This laboratory was redesigned to be an online laboratory that does not require a visit to IUPUI's campus, but will require you to take a few field trips on your own schedule.

The lab is organized into 7 workbook exercises and 3 field trips (compared to 15 class meetings in our regular laboratories). It will be set up where you complete two lab exercises and one field trip per month. The schedule varies by the fall and spring semester. You will complete each field trip on your own, listening to MP3 audio files from the instructor while at a park as you complete a field based exercise. Students will be provided with detailed directions once enrolled in the course.

Field Exercises will be due at the end of each month--there are no tests in the course. The three field exercises are initially based on these state parks (click to see location): Turkey Run State Park, Mounds State Park, and McCormick Creek State Park. An instructor assigned to the course will be available to help you through email, discussion forums, and chats. The assignments are designed so you can work on them on your own.

To participate in this lab, you must meet the following requirements:

• Be enrolled in or already complete one of these courses: Indiana Geology (G135), Environmental Geology (G107), or Physical Geology (G110). If you are not at IUPUI, equivalent courses are acceptable. Be aware your school or program may require that your lab science and lab lecture match together. That is, you must take G135 and G136 to count G136 a a lab science (or G110 and G120 pair, or G107 and G117 pair).
• Have a reliable computer with a high speed internet connection (you will need to download large file sizes)
• Own or have access to a color printer.
• Own or have access to a portable MP3 player with greater than 128 MB memory (some students have burned the files to a music CD and played them in a portable CD player).
• Understand how to download audio from the internet onto your MP3 player.
• Own or have access to a digital camera.
• Understand how to transfer pictures from your digital camera into a Microsoft Word document.
• Have personal transportation available to visit field sites around central Indiana.
• Be physically able to walk rough terrain, steep terrain, and walk extended distances (on marked trails within parks). You may walk 1-2 miles in each park.
• Live in central Indiana, or be available to visit field sites in central Indiana while enrolled in the course.

A special course fee of $20-$30 applies in this course. Course materials will cost approximately $60 (a workbook, 2 maps, and a set of rocks--the rocks can be sold back). If you don't own an MP3 player, most students favor the iPod shuffle (which lacks a display) or iPod nano (which has a display). IUPUI students are eligible for Apple's education discount available through online purchase or the Apple store in the Keystone Fashion Mall (Indy) or Kenwood Town Centre (Cincinnati).

For additional information, contact our Lecturer.

Top of Page

IUPUI Department of Earth Sciences
723 West Michigan Street, SL118
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
317.274.7484
317.274.7966 (fax)