Diane H. Carlson,
California State University at Sacramento Carlos C. Plummer,
California State University at Sacramento David McGeary
ISBN: 0072826967 Copyright year: 2006
Features
Features that will capture and maintain a student's attention include:
Each chapter begins with a statement of the purpose of the chapter and
its relationship with other chapters. This is usually followed by a section
showing how the chapter's material relates to Earth systems.
Geology is a visually oriented science. The book contains over 400 photographs
and 370 illustrations. The art pieces are vital to understanding the concepts
being discussed, so they must be straightforward and uncluttered, yet visually
appealing. We strive to have the best photographs possible so they are the
next best thing to seeing geology on a field trip.
"In Greater Depth" boxes discuss phenomena that are not necessarily
covered in a geology course (e.g. Precious Gems) or present material
in greater depth (e.g. Calculating the Age of a Rock).
"Environmental Geology" boxes discuss topics that relate the chapter
material to environmental issues including impact on humans (e.g. Radon,
a Radioactive Health Hazard).
"Planetary Geology" boxes compare features elsewhere in the solar
system to their Earthly counterparts (e.g. Stream Features on the Planet
Mars).
"Earth Systems" boxes are new in the 6th edition and highlight
the interrelationships between the geosphere, the atmosphere, and other Earth
systems (e.g. Oxygen Isotopes and Climate Change).
"Web" boxes summarize material that is further explained on the
book's Online Learning Center.
The Internet has revolutionized the way we obtain knowledge and this book
makes full use of its potential to help students learn. We have URLs for appropriate
websites throughout the book-within the main body of text, at the end of many
boxes and at the end of chapters. We have made the process student-friendly
by having all websites that we mention in the book posted as links in this
book's Online Learning Center website. (We also include all URLs in the textbook
for those who wish to go directly to a site.)
Internet exercises are located on the text's Online Learning Center and
allow students to investigate appropriate sites as well as raise interest
for independent, further exploration on a topic. The Online Learning Center
also includes additional readings and video resources. By placing these on
the website, we can update them after the book has been published. We expect
to add more sites and exercises to our website as we discover new ones after
the book has gone to press. The Online Learning Center also features on-line
quizzes, flashcards, animations and other interactive items to help a student
succeed in a geology course.
Chapter resources include: Summaries bring together and summarize
the major concepts of the chapter; Terms to Remember has all of the
boldfaced terms covered in the chapter so that students can verify their understanding
of the concepts behind each term; Testing Your Knowledge is a quiz
that students can use to gauge their understanding of the chapter; (The answers
to the multiple choice portions are posted on the website.) Expanding Your
Knowledge is intended to stimulate a student' critical thinking by asking
questions with answers that are not found in the textbook; and Exploring
Web Resources describes some of the best sites on the Web that relate
to the chapter.
Animations list the animations that were created for the chapter
and are accessible on the Online Learning Center. A special animation icon
has been placed beside every figure that has a corresponding animation on
the Online Learning Center.
To obtain an instructor login for this Online Learning Center, ask your local sales representative.
If you're an instructor thinking about adopting this textbook, request a free copy for review.
2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education