Learning objectives for topic 1 (cosmology):

Read chapter 1

1) Know why ancient astronomers differentiated planets from stars
2) Understand the terms “heliocentric” and “geocentric”
3) Be able to cite evidence demonstrating that the Earth is round, and know how to calculate the Earth‘s circumference
4) Know the definition of a light year, and what it measures
5) Understand the parallax method for calculating the distance to nearby stars
6) Understand the Doppler effect, and evidence for an expanding universe
7) Know the approximate age of the Universe
8) Understand how the chemical elements are formed in stars, and that stars have finite lifetimes
9) Know the order of the planets with increasing distance from the Sun
10) Understand the difference between terrestrial and gas-giant planets (and which planets are which type)
11) Be able to describe the formation of our galaxy, the solar system and the planets, according to the nebular hypothesis
12) Know the current theory for the formation of the Moon
13) Understand why the Earth is round
14) Be able to explain why life (as we know it) is abundant on the Earth but not on other planets

 

Learning objectives for topic 2 (Earth's Interior):

Read chapter 2

1) Know the meaning of magnetosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere
2) Know that the atmosphere is ~78% nitrogen and ~21% oxygen
3) Know that about 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by liquid water
4) Know the names and approximate compositions of the chemical layers of the solid Earth (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core)
5) Be able to define the terms organic chemicals, minerals, glasses, rocks, metals, melts and volatiles
6) Understand the compositional differences between silicic, intermediate, mafic and ultramafic rocks, and how their density varies with composition
7) Understand the fundamental difference in thickness and composition between oceanic and continental crust, and how this is apparent on a hypsometric curve.
8) Know that both pressure and temperature increase with depth inside the Earth, and the definition of the geothermal gradient
9) Understand how seismic waves give information about the composition of the Earth’s interior
10) Be able to explain the difference between the lithosphere and asthenosphere, and how these divisions compare with the chemical divisions between crust and mantle

 

Learning objectives for topic 3 (Continental Drift):

Read chapter 3.

1) Understand the scientific method, and what is meant by a hypothesis and a theory (pages 9 and 10)
2) Be able to explain the five lines of evidence that led Wegener to propose continental drift (fit of the continents, locations of past glaciations, distribution of equatorial climatic belts, distribution of fossils and matching geologic units)
3) Know what is meant by magnetic inclination and magnetic declination
4) Understand how rocks can record paleomagnetism
5) Be able to explain the meaning of apparent polar wander
6) Be able to describe the key bathymetric features of the ocean floor (mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains, continental margins, seamounts, trenches, and fracture zones)
7) Know that new oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges from cooling magma
8) Know that Earth’s magnetic field reverses periodically
9) Be able to explain why marine magnetic anomalies are evidence in favor of seafloor spreading
10) Understand why ocean floor sediments become thicker away from mid-ocean ridges

 

Learning objectives for topic 4 (Plate Tectonics):

Read chapter 4

1) Understand the concept of tectonic plate, and that plates move relative to each other
2) Know that plates are pieces of lithosphere that overlie the weaker asthenospheric mantle, and that any particular plate may include oceanic crust, continental crust, or both
3) Be able to name the three main types of plate boundary, and identify examples of each
4) Know the difference between an active continental margin and a passive continental margin
5) Understand why volcanism occurs at divergent and convergent plate boundaries but (not usually) at transform boundaries, and why earthquakes occur at all three types of plate boundary
6) Be able to describe the generation of new oceanic lithosphere at a divergent margin, and the process of subduction at a convergent margin
7) Understand the relative motions of the two sides of an oceanic transform fault
8) Know that volcanism also occurs above mantle "hot spots", e.g. Hawaii, and how this can reveal information about the directions and rates of plate motions
9) Be able to describe how a divergent margin may form from a continental rift zone (birth of a plate boundary)
10) Be able to describe how a continental collision may terminate a convergent margin (end of a plate boundary)
11) Be able to name and describe the two main forces driving plate motions (slab pull and ridge push)
12) Understand the difference between absolute and relative plate motions, and how each may be measured.

 

Learning objectives for topic 5 (Minerals):

Read chapter 5.

1) Understand the definition of the term mineral: a homogeneous, naturally occurring, solid inorganic substance with a definable chemical composition and an orderly internal arrangement of atoms, ions or molecules in a crystal lattice.
2) Be able to distinguish minerals from non-minerals (e.g. glasses, inorganic substances, liquids, man-made materials, etc.) based on the above criteria
3) Know that two or more minerals are called polymorphs if they have the same chemical formula but different crystal structures (e.g. graphite and diamond)
4) Know that minerals can form by solidification from a melt, by precicpitation from solution, or by recrystallization from other minerals.
5) Understand the textural terms euhedral and anhedral, to describe whether a particular crystal has well-formed crystal faces or not
6) Be able to use simple tests based on physical properties (especially hardness, streak, luster, density, cleavage and habit) to identify common rock-forming minerals (you will do this in lab too)
7) Know the seven principal classes of minerals: silicates, oxides, sulfides, sulfates, halides, carbonates and native metals, and the characteristic elements in each (e.g. sulfates always contain both sulfur and oxygen)
8) Understand how different arrangements of silica tetrahedra produce the five classes of silicate mineral, and common examples of each: independent tetraheda (e.g. olivine), single chains (e.g. pyroxene), double chains (e.g. amphibole), sheet silicates (e.g. mica), framework silicates (e.g. quartz and feldspars).

 

Learning objectives for topic 6 (Rock Cycle):

Read Interludes A and B, as well as chapter 6.

1) Know the three principal rock types (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic), and understand how each is formed
2) Know the meaning of the term "protolith"
3) Understand the concept of the rock cycle: material may be transformed from one rock type into another, or into another rock of the same type
4) Be able to explain the processes by which a rock of one type may be transformed into a new rock of the same or different type

5) Be able to describe the conditions that cause melting of mantle and crustal rocks (decreased pressure, addition of volatiles, and heat transfer), and know the tectonic settings in which each kind of melting occurs
6) Know the difference between magma (underground) and lava (above ground) and that magma is a mixture of molten rock, crystals and gases (either dissolved or as bubbles)
7) Be able to identify the chemical composition of magmas from the minerals in the crystallized rock, and use the terms silicic (or felsic), intermediate, mafic and ultramafic correctly
8) Understand how Bowen’s Reaction Series describes the sequence of crystallizing minerals, and how this series relates to the crystal structure of the minerals (e.g. chain silicates such as pyroxenes vs. framework silicates such as feldspars)
9) Understand the movement of magma, why it goes where it does (buoyancy and pressure), and how magma viscosity is affected by temperature, composition and water content
10) Understand how cooling rate affects the texture of a solidified magma, and know the terms pegmatitic, phaneritic, porphyritic, aphanitic and glassy.
11) Be able to infer the environment of crystallization (e.g. extrusive, shallow intrusive or deep intrusive) from the texture
12) Be able to identify and name the structures that result when magma solidifies within the Earth (plutons, tabular intrusions, laccoliths, batholiths, xenoliths and the stoping process, sills, and dikes), and describe how they formed
13) Know and be able to use the classification of igneous rocks, based on chemical compositions and textures, and be able to identify rocks as e.g. granites, rhyolite, obsidian, etc (for all compositions, not just silicic rocks).

 

Learning objectives for topic 7 (Sedimentary Rocks):

Read chapter 7

1) Know the meaning of clastic, chemical, biochemical and organic sedimentary rocks, and how each type is formed (cementing loose grains of rock, precipitating ions from water solution, concentrating skeletal material of aquatic organisms, or the accumulation of dead plants or plankton respectively).
2) Understand that the rock grains needed to create clastic sedimentary rocks are the result of the breakdown (disintegration) and chemical change (decomposition) of existing rock by physical (mechanical) weathering and chemical weathering, followed by removal of the sediment from its source (erosion), subsequent transport by air, water or ice, and eventual deposition somewhere else.
3) Know the difference between physical and chemical weathering, and be able to describe examples of each:
Physical weathering includes jointing, frost wedging, root wedging, salt wedging, thermal expansion, and animal attack.
Chemical weathering includes dissolution, hydrolysis, oxidation and hydration.
4) Understand the positive feedback relationship between physical and chemical weathering, and under what climate conditions each is most effective
5) Be able to explain why soil is more than just broken down rock, the physical structure of typical soils (zones and horizons), and the relationship between soil type and the environment, using the examples of pedalfer, pedocal, and laterite.
6) Be able to classify and describing the most common sedimentary rocks, using the classifications:
• clastic sedimentary rocks (examples: conglomerate, sandstone, shale, siltstone, and mudstone; to do this you will need to understand the grain size scale, and the concepts of sorting, roundedness, and maturity)
• biochemical sedimentary rocks (examples: limestone, including fossiliferous limestone, micrite and chalk)
• chemical sedimentary rocks (examples: the evaporites gypsum and halite, travertine)
• organic sedimentary rocks (examples: coal and oil shale)
7) Know that sedimentary rocks occur in layers called beds or strata, which may display sedimentary structures such as cross beds, graded beds, ripple marks, mud cracks, and fossils.
8) Be able to use these sedimentary structures to infer the paleoenvironment, especially whether it was terrestrial (possibly glacial valley, mountain stream, mountain front, sand dune, lake, or river), or a marine environment (a delta, shallow-marine clastic area, shallow-marine carbonate area, or deep-ocean water.)
9) Understand the terms transgression and regression, and the importance of the word "relative" in discussing relative changes in sea level.
10) Be able to relate the distribution of sedimentary rocks, and their inferred depositional environments, to the major processes of plate tectonics. (e.g. rifts, passive continental margins, intracontinental areas, and foreland basins.)

 

Learning objectives for topic 8 (Metamorphic Rocks):

Read chapter 8 (re-reading interludes A and B may be useful)

1) Know the four agents of metamorphism: heat, pressure, differential stress and fluids
2) Understand that temperature and pressure conditions together determine whether a particular mineral is stable or unstable, and that unstable minerals will break down to be replaced by new stable minerals in response to changing pressure and temperature
3) Know the meaning of a "hydrothermal solution", and examples of changes that occur due to circulating hot fluids (sea floor metamorphism, precipitation of mineral veins)
4) Understand the concepts of regional metamorphism, contact (or thermal) metamorphism, and dynamic metamorphism, and the main factors that control each type
5) Be able to classify metamorphic rocks as foliated and nonfoliated, know that foliation or banding results from either preferred mineral orientation or compositional banding or both, and understand that preferred mineral orientation results from recrystallization in the presence of differential stress
6) Be able to describe and identify the common nonfoliated rocks: hornfels, quartzite, marble, and dolomitic marble.
7) Be able to describe and identify the common foliated rocks: slate, phyllite, schist, gneiss, and the "hybrid rock" (part igneous, part metamorphic) migmatite, and know the order in which they form with increasing temperature and pressure.
8) Understand the concept of "prograde" and "retrograde" metamorphism, where metamorphic changes occur in response to increasing (prograde) or decreasing (retrograde) pressures and temperatures
9) Know the main environments in which metamorphism occurs, and what kind of metamorphism (regional, contact, dynamic or hydrothermal) that occur in each. For example:
• areas adjacent to plutons (contact or thermal metamorphism)
• fault zones (dynamic metamorphism)
• the deep crust beneath mountains adjacent to subducting plates or between colliding plates (regional metamorphism)
• mid-ocean ridges (hydrothermal metamorphism)
• subduction zones (two kinds of regional metamorphism: high-pressure low-temperature in the downgoing slab, and high-temperature low pressure in the volcanic arc due to intrusion of plutons)

 

Learning objectives for topic 9 (Geologic Time):

Read chapter 12. Interlude D contains useful background information on fossils

1) Understand the concepts of relative dating and absolute dating
2) Know the key principles for determining relative age (uniformitarianism, superposition, original horizontality, original continuity, cross-cutting relations and inclusions), and be able to apply these to determining a sequence of geologic events from a cross-section (e.g. be able to interpret Fig. 12-5)
3) Understand the principle of fossil succession, and how this is used to determine the relative ages of sedimentary rocks
4) Know the three tyes of unconformity (angular unconformity, nonconformity and disconformity) and understand how each develops
5) Know the basics of the geologic time scale (on the WebCT site as a pdf file). I expect you to know the names and order of the eons, eras and periods:

• EONS: Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
• ERAS: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic (all within the Phanerozoic Eon)
• PERIODS: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian (all within the Paleozoic Era)
                      Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous (all within the Mesozoic Era)
                      Tertiary, Quaternary (all within the Cenozoic Era)

6) Be able to describe the process of radioactive decay, and how it is used in radiometric dating (absolute dating). You will need to know the meaning of isotopes, half-life, and understand that radiometric dating is only possible because radioactive decay occurs at a constant rate.
7) Be able to calculate the age of a rock, given the number of parent and daughter isotopes present and the half-life of the decay process.
8) Know the age of the Earth (4.5 billion years), and the approximate times at which the three Eons began and ended: Archean (4500 to 2500 Ma), Proterozoic (2500 Ma to 540 Ma), Phanerozoic (540 Ma to present)
Note Ga = billion years (109 years) and Ma = million years (106 years)

 

Learning objectives for topic 10 (Rivers and Floods):

Read chapter 17 and Interlude E.

1) Understand how rain initially travels across the land's surface as sheetwash, then either infiltrates the soil to become groundwater, or ends up in a small stream which is a tributary of a larger trunk stream.
2) Know the four main types of drainage pattern (
radial, dendritic, trellis and orthogonal) and the geologic factors that favor development of a particular type
3) Know the meaning of
drainage basin (also called a catchment area or watershed), and drainage divide, particularly a continental divide. Understand the concept of headward erosion, and how this may lead to stream piracy.
4) Understand the concept of the
water table, and be able to interpret the position of the water table relative to a permanent stream and an ephemeral stream. Know the meaning of a dry wash.
5) Know the terms
discharge (the volume of water carried by a stream) and relate flow velocity to the channel cross-section (shallow and wide vs narrow and deep).
6) Be able to describe the proceeses by which rivers erode the landscape:
scouring of loose sediment, forcing open cracks (breaking and lifting), abrasion by sediment carried in the river, and dissolution.
7) Know the three components that make up a river's total sediment load:
dissolved load, suspended load and bed load. Know that suspended load accounts for most of the sediment carried by almost all rivers, and know the difference between the competence and the capacity of a stream.
8) Understand the depositional processes that occur along rivers, and why sorting of sediment occurs along the course of a river. Be able to name and describe the main features of a trunk stream, including
headwaters (or source), valleys, canyons, the river mouth, channel, floodplain, thalweg, meanders and deltas. Be able to describe how erosion occurs at a cut bank, deposition occurs at a point bar, and flooding events result in the deposition of natural levees.
9) Understand the concept of a river's
base level; that the ultimate base level for any river must be sea level, but that lakes and artificial dams can result in a local base level. Understand the likely response of a river to an imposed change in base level (e.g. construction of a dam, relative sea level rise and fall). Be able to interpret canyons with incised meanders, or valleys that show alluvial terraces, in terms of base level change.
10) Know the difference betwen a
flash flood and a floodplain flood, and the timescale over which each can occur. Understand the concept of a recurrence interval, and the relative sizes of floods with different reccurrence intervals. Know the probability of (for example) a 50-year flood happening on the Missouri river in any given year, and the various methods by which flood "prevention" is attempted (artificial levees and floodways).

 

Learning objectives for topic 11 (Groundwater):

Read chapter 19.

1) Understand the concept of the hydrologic cycle, and how water moves between various reservoirs on, above, and under Earth's surface.
2) Know the definition of
porosity and permeability, and understand the difference between primary and secondary porosity. Know the definitions of aquifer and aquitard (or aquiclude), and be able to determine which one a given rock will be, on the basis of its porosity and permeability.
3) Understand that the
water table separates the zone of aeration (above) from the zone of saturation (below), and that the water table has topography, measured by the "head" (difference in elevation of the water table between two points). Know what a perched water table is.
4) Know the definition of
hydraulic gradient, and be able to use Darcy's Law to determine the discharge of an aquifer (volume of water flowing through a cross-sectional area per unit time)
5) Know the difference between a
confined and an unconfined aquifer, and the definition of the potentiometric surface. Be able to predict places where springs are likely to occur, and the best place for drilling a well, based on a geologic cross-section. Know the difference between a dry well, a seasonal well, and a flowing well, and also how artesian wells work (both man-made and naturally occurring, e.g. oases)
6) Know that freshwater is a vital natural resource. Understand how pumping produces a
cone of depression in the water table, and how this can affect groundwater flow.
7) Be able to explain why over-pumping can lead to the following four problems, depending on local geology: (i) regional lowering of the water table, (ii) reversing the flow direction of groundwater, (iii) saline intrusion, and (iv) subsidence.
8) Know the difference between
soft and hard water, and the definition of saturated, unsaturated, and oversaturated solutions. Understand how caves and karst landscapes are formed by dissolution of limestone, and how speleothems are produced by precipitation from solution. Be able to relate these processes to features you observed at Rock Bridge State Park.

 

Learning objectives for topic 12 (Ice and Climate):

Read chapters 22 and 23

1) Know that climate change has occurred many times in the past, including periods of time when there were no ice caps (e.g. the Cretaceous) and periods of time when the whole Earth may have been covered in ice ("snowball Earth").
2) Understand the
greenhouse effect, and feedback relations between fossil fuel emissions, global warming and the Earth's albedo.
3) Know that concentrations of greenhouse gases are increasing rapidly due to human activities
, and that global warming is known to be occurring at the present time.
4) Be able to explain why the effects of present-day atmospheric emissions will continue for decades to come (using the concept of a "residence time" for chemical substances in a reservoir such as the atmosphere)
5) Understand that future climate change is not known with certainty, but sea-level rise and desertification are likely to occur, and that global warming may lead to localized cooling in some areas (e.g. western Europe) due to changing oceanic circulation.

 

Learning objectives for topic 13 (Energy Resources):

Read chapter 14, especially sections 14.3 through 14.8 on oil, gas, and coal, and section 14.12 on energy crises and environmental issues.

1) Know the five sources of energy that we can exploit (solar, gravitational, nuclear, chemical and Earth’s internal energy. Understand that Earth surface processes, and the biosphere, are driven by solar energy. Know that the fossil fuels contain stored chemical energy that can be released by combustion.
2) Understand the definition of
renewable and non-renewable resources, and be able to characterize each of the five main sources of energy in these terms. Realize that many of the Earth’s resources are non-renewable (minerals, groundwater)
3) Know how
petroleum forms from plankton buried in anoxic environments. Understand the successive formation of kerogen, oil, and natural gas with increasing burial depth, and the meaning of the "oil window" (~80 to 160 _C) and the "gas window" (~80 to 220 _C).
4) Know the meaning and characteristics of
source rocks, reservoir rocks, and seal rocks. Be able to name and describe the four main kinds of oil trap, and to predict the location of oil and gas within these structures.
5) Know the definition of
resources (the existence of a particular material) and reserves (can be profitably extracted in today's market)
6) Know that >85% of US energy consumption comes from fossil fuels
, that about 60% of oil consumed in the US is imported, and that this percentage will continue to increase in the future because US oil production has been declining since 1975. Understand arguments pro and con drilling for oil in ANWR. Know that ~65% of world oil reserves are found in five countries in the middle East, including ~25% in Saudi Arabia alone, and understand how the uneven location of energy resources around the world has influenced foreign policy.
7) Understand the concept of "Hubbert's Peak
" (or the "depletion midpoint") in global oil production, know that this will occur in the next 1 to 15 years, and that the "Age of Oil" will end in <100 years. Be able to explain why the question "when will we run out of oil?" is irrelevant, because oil will become unaffordable before supplies are exhausted.
8) Know how coal
forms from dead plant remains, buried in anoxic environments. Understand the concept of coal rank, increasing from lignite to bituminous coal to anthracite with increasing temperature.
9) Understand the environmental issues associated with coal mining (including the meaning of
strip mining, backfilling, and reclamation) and with coal burning (including CO2 and SO2 emissions, and the value of low-sulfur coal).

 

Learning objectives for topic 14 (Geologic Structures):

Read chapter 11 (pages 318-348)

1) Know the meaning of orogen (mountain belt) and orogeny (mountain building), and be able to name the major mountain belts of North America. Know the difference between cratonic areas of the continental crust (and the difference between shield and platform areas) and younger mountain belts. Be able to explain the occurrence of mountain belts at plate boundaries (either present-day or past plate boundaries).
(2) Understand that
strain is the change in shape of rocks caused by deformation (a combination of squeezing, shearing or stretching). This produces geologic structures such as folds, faults, joints and foliation
(3) Recognize the different structures formed by
brittle and ductile deformation, and understand the factors that can lead rocks to behave in a brittle or ductile manner (heat, pressure, deformation rate and composition).
(4) Understand that
strain is caused by stress, which is the force per unit area in a material. Stresses may be compressive (squashing), tensile (stretching) or shear stress (one side sliding past another).
(5) Know the difference between
joints (cracks on which no sliding has occurred) and faults. Be able to identify the hanging-wall and footwall blocks on a fault. Be able to identify dip-slip faults (both normal and reverse / thrust), strike-slip faults (both dextral / right-lateral and sinistral / left-lateral) and oblique-slip faults. Be able to predict the resulting offset or displacement that results from movement on each type of fault.
(6) Understand how
anticlines and synclines form, and be able to recognize each from the map pattern of older / younger rocks exposed in the core of each.
(7) Be able to interpret the stress environments that lead to the formation of
fold-thrust belts (compression) and horst-and-graben structures (extension). Be able to interpret the orientation of compressive stress from the orientation of the resulting tectonic fabric.
(8) Understand the concept of
isostasy, and that mountain belts have high surface elevations because they are (usually) balanced by a thick crustal root. Know that crustal heating during orogeny can lead to crustal melting (producing granites) that greatly weakens the crust and may lead to orogenic collapse
(9) Be able to relate the formation of the Andes and North American Cordillera to convergent margin tectonics; of the Himalayan-Tibet orogen and the Appalachians to continent-continent collision; and of the Basin-and Range to continental rifting.
(10) Know that mountain belts may record more than one episode of orogeny, for example the Appalachians record three different Paleozoic orogenic events.

 

Learning objectives for topic 15 (Earthquakes):

Read chapter 10.

1) Know the definitions of fault, fault trace, fault scarp, focus, epicenter, and seismology. Review types of fault (normal, reverse, thrust, strike-slip, oblique-slip) and definition of hanging wall and footwall.
2) Understand why stick-slip behavior is often observed on faults (frictional resistance eventually overcome, results in slip and earthquake)
3) Know the difference between body waves and surface waves, which travels faster, and which causes damage to buildings.
4) Know the difference between P waves (compressional body waves) and S waves (shear body waves), and which travels faster.
5) Understand how a seismometer works, and how three (or more) stations are required to locate the epicenter of an earthquake.
6) Know the difference between the Mercalli and Richter scales for measuring earthquake "size", and that each unit increase on the Richter scale represents ~33 times more energy released.
7) Be able to relate the worldwide distribution of earthquakes to plate tectonics, particularly plate boundary processes. Be able to explain why most earthquakes occur at less than ~15 km depth, except around subduction zones. Know the meaning of the Benioff zone (Wadati-Benioff zone).
8) Know the major effects and hazards associated with earthquakes, including ground shaking, landslides, sediment liquefaction, and tsunamis
9) Know that earthquakes have a recurrence interval, but that is is poorly known for many fault systems. Understand how paleoseismology can help to determine recurrence intervals on faults that have not been very active in the last 50 years.
10) Be able to explain why California and Alaska are seismically active. Know that New Madrid, MO experienced three magnitude ~8 earthquakes in 1811-1812 and be aware of the threat that future earthquakes pose to large cities such as Memphis.

 

Learning objectives for topic 16 (Volcanoes):

Read chapter 9.

1) Know the main types of volcano, how they form, and their relative size: cinder cone, shield volcano, stratovolcano, and caldera.
2) Know the main factors that determine the viscosity of a magma (temperature, silica content and volatile content). Understand why basaltic magma is typically very fluid, while andesitic and especially rhyolitic magma are more viscous.
3) Know different lava flow features and how they relate to composition: aa, pahoehoe, and columnar jointing are typical of basalts, while andesites and rhyolites often form domes.
4) Know how air-fall tuff and ignimbrites (pyroclastic flow deposits) form.
5) Know the type of magma and underlying plate tectonic cause for volcanoes at Iceland, Hawaii, and Mt. St. Helens. Know that major eruptions produce several (and sometimes hundreds) of cubic km of pyroclastic debris.
6) Understand the major volcanic hazards: lava flows, ash falls, pyroclastic flows, lateral blasts, landslides, lahars, earthquakes, tsunamis, and poisonous gases. Understand why lahars can occur at any time, not just during eruptions.
7) Understand the concept of active, dormant and extinct volcanoes, and the concept of a recurrence interval. Be aware of several types of precursors that can be monitored in an attempt to predict eruptions: changes in heat flow, changes in shape, earthquakes, and increases in gas / steam emissions.
8) Understand the potential effects of volcanoes on climate, including an increase in the Earth's albedo from small ash particles that can remain suspended in the stratosphere for months (e.g. following the eruption of Tambora in 1815, Europe had virtually no summer in 1816).