09230 - DIDATTICA DELLE SCIENZE GEOLOGICHE

Learning outcomes

The course is aimed 1) at communicating the primary contents, considered to be fundamental, of the Geological Sciences, implemented through the transmission of notions, concepts, phenomena and processes related both to the terrestrial inside and to the superficial areas (emerged and submerged); 2) to favor the vision of the planet as an integrated dynamic whole (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere) in continuous, perpetual transformation; 3) to generate the perception that Man has always been forced to protect himself from the various risks produced due to the dynamism of the planet; 4) the transmission of the awareness that Man, intersecting his own history with that of Nature for the purpose of research and exploitation of raw materials, has an urgent need to adhere to principles of sustainability; 5) the exemplification of the methods of transposing the contents of the previous points into an educational key, achieved through the appropriate use of strategies and educational tools. On the basis of the knowledge acquired and the methods of transmission of the contents, mediated and adapted to the various scholastic realities, attending students acquire the possibility of designing specific didactic paths inherent to geological sciences in the compulsory secondary school.

Course contents

Course (6 credits) divided into two parts of 3 credits each.

 

FIRST PART

 (*** Basic geological contents) MUTUATED by the course of Geology for Natural Sciences (II year), held by the undersigned.

*** Basic geological contents 1) Interior of the Earth Direct and indirect data; Density, temperature, pressure; Meteorites; Seismic waves, seismographs and seismograms; Crust, mantle, core; Lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere; Convective cells; Heat flow and geothermal gradient; Evolution of the primordial atmosphere; Origin of the Moon; Radioactive decay and absolute age of rocks; Earth Magnetism; Magnetosphere; Paleomagnetism; Magnetic anomalies 2) Tectonics and Kinematics of lithospheric plates Main and secondary lithosphere plates; Construction margins; Mid-ocean ridges; Transform faults; Astenospheric ascent: from rifting to drifting; Age, characters and evolution of the ocean floor; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; Expansion rate of lithospheric plates; Horn of Africa and Rift Valley; Destructive margins; Subduction A and B; Pits, earthquakes and volcanoes; Tonga-Kermadec Pit; Fossa Peru-Chile and Catena Andina; Japan pit; India and the Himalayas; Transform margins; San Andreas Fault; Two different ways of approaching plate tectonics (cognitive and historical): from Continental Drift to Plate Tectonics; Geology of Italy: geodynamic evolution, from Pangea to the current situation; Circummediterranean regional geology; Tectonic and kinematic synthesis of the Alps and the Apennines 3) Hot spots Hot spots on oceanic and continental crust; Magmatic provinces and mass extinctions; Yellowstone Superpink; 4) Plutonism (outline) and Volcanism Geological contexts of development of Volcanism; Magmatic series; Viscosity, T, silica content, gas content; Demonstrations related to volcanism (pyroclastic processes and products); Anatomy of shield and volcano volcanoes; Example situations: Krakatoa, St. Helens, Paricutin, Pelee, Santorini, Vesuvius, Etna; Volcanic risk.

 

SECOND PART

Paths and strategies to be used in the teaching of geo-sciences; references to the territory (both regional and national) and to its geological and geomorphological evolution.

 

LESSONS

FIRST PART: 2 October 2019 - 15 November 2019

SECOND PART: 10 February 2020 - 28 February 2020

 

Readings/Bibliography

1) LESSONS Course pack (from the .ppt)

2) LABORATORIES Course pack (from the .ppt)

3) SI FORMA, SI DEFORMA, SI MODELLA: come il territorio si modifica attraverso il tempo geologico. Corrado Venturini, 2010 – Geoworld (xerocopy)

4) Notes from the Lessons (edited by Margherita Tomasi) or, alternatively:

4bis) Notes from the Lessons (edited by Angelica Riciputi)

[view them both before choosing the most suitable for you]

Teaching methods

Lectures with laboratory experiences

Assessment methods

Oral examination, 30' (questions on topics concerning the first part of the course). The title of a frontal Lesson and the type of class to which it is addressed are assigned [duration 30 ']. 

Teaching tools

.ppt for frontal lessons, topographic and geological maps, tools and everyday objects to be used in teaching experiences, rock samples, thin sections, compass, lens.

Links to further information

http://www.corradoventurini.it

Office hours

See the website of Corrado Venturini