Students who are taking physical geology as their core science requirement must take the lab and class to qualify as their core science requirement. The laboratory begins with several weeks of work on the physical properties and identification of minerals. With this information serving as the basis, the next four weeks are spent in the description and identification of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The week after the midterm involves a change in direction. From work with rock and mineral samples, the laboratory students change over to working with maps and aerial photographs.
Students learn about township and range, longitude and latitude, and topographic mapping techniques.
Students are expected to be able to properly construct a topographic map and topographic profile from that map by the end of the semester. The surface of the earth reflects the balance, or imbalance, between constructional forces and destructional forces. The constructional forces produce features including folds and faults. These features are called structures. The identification of folds and faults can be made with information including relative ages of the beds, dip and strike, the nature of contacts between the rock units, and the absolute ages of the beds.