The 1122 final exam will consist of three parts:
Part 1) A section of multipe-choice, matching, and short-answer questions similar to your previous exams. This section will cover the portion of the course since Exam II.
Part 2) An essay question from among the five below. These questions cover material from parts of the course prior to Exam II.
Part 3) An essay question about one of four creation stories, as discussed below.
Final Exam Part 2:
In the second part of your final exam, you will be asked to answer one of the following questions by writing an essay in response. You will be expected to produce a summary that is both (a) factually correct and complete and (b) coherent and well-organized. You will not be allowed any notes in writing your response. The specific question that you will have to answer will be chosen by a random procedure at the beginning of the exam.
The purpose of this part of the exam is to encourage you to develop a well-integrated understanding of some of the main themes in historical geology. At the same time, it frees you from memorizing peripheral details that you might otherwise expect to find on a less focused cumulative final exam. If you go away from the course remembering only your answers to these questions, you'll depart with an understanding of the most important aspects of the first two-thirds of the course.
1. One of our class readings was called "What is science". How did that reading define science, and what are some other definitions of science that it provided? Furthermore, what is a scientist's attitude toward knowledge produced by previous scientists?
2. Define "fact" and 'theory" as we discussed them in class. Of which is there greater certainty, and why? Which is more useful in predicting future events or observations, and why? Give an example of a scientific theory, a fact used to buttress it, and a prediction made by it.
3. Historical geology, like any historical field, must interpret phenomena that happened in the past. What principles or rules regarding possible processes have geologists used to interpret events that happened long before humans were present to observe and record them? What biases in the data inevitably skew our efforts to interpret the geologic and biologic past?
4. According to our modern understanding, what is the age of the earth? How do we know the age of the earth?
5. Describe the modern scientific understanding of the evolution of chordates from the earliest chordates to the five2 major modern classes of vertebrates. Your account should include the periods in which each class first appeared as well as the class from which it arose. It should also mention what capabilities each group had that its immediate ancestor lacked.
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2Amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. This list will not be part of the question asked at the exam (i.e., you're expected to know the list).
Final Exam Part 3:
For one of four creation stories, you will be asked to answer the following question. We will pick the four stories after we finish our last story, and one of those four will be chosen by a random procedure at the time of the exam.
For the story and cultural group indicated,
(a) give the time the story was written or the context in which was written, if such information is provided in Creation Stories From Around the World,
(b) recount the story, in no more than 200 words, as told in Creation Stories From Around the World,
(c) indicate whether or not you think the story is a literal account of the origin of the earth and/or its life and/or its peoples. If your answer is "yes", indicate why you pick this story rather than one of the others. If your answer is "no", indicate why you reject this story.
(d) comment on the story in terms of how it portrays the human relationship to nature or in terms of its implications for the society from which it comes.
Whether you answer "yes" or "no" to part C will have no effect on your grade, so long as you justify your response as indicated above.
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