| Unit name | Field and Lab Skills for the Environment |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EASC20055 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Hendy |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Successful completion of a Year 1 Earth Sciences programme. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why is this unit important?
This unit teaches fundamental field, technical, and laboratory skills essential for an Environmental Geoscientist. Training includes:
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This is the first unit you will take specific to the Environmental Geoscience Programme. During the course you can build on year 1 material to strengthen your understanding of natural and anthropogenically-altered environmental processes. The field exercises draw together observations and data on water chemistry, freshwater ecology, hydrology and geology. In the Environmental Geochemistry Teaching Laboratory you will complete chemical analyses on samples you collected, and assess your skill as an analyst. The course supports material taught in other year 2 units. The skills and analytical confidence developed will prepare you for your 3rd year research project.
An overview of content
Water is essential for life. In this course you will use a wide range of techniques to measure and map the diverse properties of natural waters cycling between rainwater, lakes, groundwater, springs, streams, and seawater. In the field you will:
The University-based teaching is focused around the Environmental Geochemistry Teaching Laboratory and analysing the water samples you collected during the fieldwork. Here you will learn how to use, and the principles behind, standard analytical laboratory methods. There will be a strong focus on training to produce high quality data, assess sources of analytical errors, and quantify uncertainty.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
The chemistry of natural waters shows how the hydrological cycle is interacting with the lithosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. It is not possible to assess anthropogenic impacts without also understanding these background interactions. You will gain this experience by investigating a wide spectrum of natural waters so you will better understand how the Earth system functions and how key aspects of the environment are linked. You will grow in confidence as you develop your lab, field, analytical, and observational skills.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course you will be able to:
You will also develop confidence in:
You will learn by investigating ‘real-world’ Environmental Consultancy-scenario-based, problem-based, or reflective student-centred exercises. These will focus on your laboratory or fieldwork collected datasets, and draw on knowledge and information obtained from lectures and practical work. Formative opportunities are provided to practice exercises including calculations.
The unit starts with pre-session residential fieldwork. The subsequent lectures, guided coursework support sessions, laboratory and calculation-based practical sessions will allow you to complete the final applied assessments. The assessments include a quantitative reflection on your developing skills as an analyst, and opportunities to practice techniques and problem-solving approaches that will be valuable for your 3rd year research project.
Assessment is 100% coursework (the skills assessed in this unit are overwhelmingly practical and need to be assessed by application).
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative)
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
The summative coursework assignments are based on the fieldwork and combined field and lab-based results. Since these directly apply lecture-taught material and build on formative feedback, the last assignments are aggregated for submission at the end of the unit.
When assessment does not go to plan
The University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes outline the requirements for progression on and completion of degree programmes. Students who miss an exam and self-certify their absence may complete a supplementary assessment for an uncapped mark as if taken for the first time. Resit and supplementary exams are habitually taken during the reassessment period later in the summer. As far as is practicable and appropriate, resit and supplementary assessments will be in the same form as the original assessment but will always test the same intended learning outcomes as the initial missed or failed assessment. In the case of group work, failure by a whole group would result in an appropriate group task being set and reassessed for all group members. If a single student fails a group assessment or is unable to participate for an evidenced reason, an individual reassessment will be set.
There are rigorous and fair procedures in place to support students who are ill or whose studies and assessments are affected by exceptional circumstances.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EASC20055).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
