Course overview
Increasing space exploration and new technologies give scientists new and exciting other worlds to explore. This course provides an opportunity to use the skills of a geologist to observe and understand these other worlds, how they formed and how they have evolved through time. As students apply Earth-learnt skills to observations of other worlds, students will explore the multi-disciplinary nature of planetary geoscience.
- Fundamentals Of Our Solar System
- Tectonics, Geodynamics And Volcanism
- Atmospheres, Landscapes And Life
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate proficiency in practical skills relevant to an introductory geology course
- Understand that planetary science requires a combination of multiple disciplines, and demonstrate the application of some of these
- Describe the formation, development and structure of our solar system and the bodies within it
- Describe a planet’s internal and external systems and their intimate links, including plate tectonics, volcanoes, surface processes, atmospheres and the development of life or possible life
- Recognise that both episodic short-term events and long-term scale events have shaped what we observe today in our solar system
- Use information learned in class and develop observation skills to be able to recognise the various geological features and materials a planet is constructed from