ES1003 E2S2: SOLID EARTH (4.0 AU)

Year Taken: AY 19/20, Sem 2
Grade: A-

After the first semester of introductory courses, we finally delved into more specialised(though still foundation level) courses! Though I’m leaning more towards the ecology specialisation, I still found ES1003 really interesting and well taught. This course is taught mainly by Prof /daddy (oops) Aron Meltzner and Prof Emma Hill (2-3 lectures). It is interesting to note that Prof Aron’s research involves the study of corals to analyse earthquake interactions with sea-level changes, one example of the multi-disciplinary nature of earth sciences.

Quizzes (10%) | ~70.5%
A quiz is administered at the start of every week to test your understanding towards the topics taught in the previous week as well as 1 question from the current week’s topic (so you gotta read ahead if you want to score). Its relatively short and will be marked by your peers in the same session. Subsequently, COVID-19 happened and the quizzes were moved online. I tried studying for the quizzes but the questions were always parts that I happened to skim through, so I didn’t do as well as my peers.
Pros: Questions involving the drawing of diagrams were removed
Cons: Shorter time limit to discourage reference to own materials/cheating

Lab reports (20%) | ~80%
Lab sessions will be about the topics taught during the respective week and trust me, there will be LOTs of rocks to look at. Submission Deadline is typically 1 week after so take your time analysing the material given. Im not exactly into geology so IMO, the rocks were interesting to look at but wasn’t as fun to study. Still, we manage to pulverise rocks (to test the hardness of course) and taste them (Yes, its a rite of passage) which made studying them more bearable.

Midterms (10%) | ~76%
By the time midterms arrived, the pandemic was already worsening so it was in online format. It was supposed to be closed book but I’m guessing there were probably some referencing to materials to some extent… Nonetheless, the test was still tricky and the time limit didn’t really allow us to refer to our materials excessively.

Online Modules + Field trip (as proposed by Dr G. Oliver) |~80%
So the Solid Earth team tried something new this year- a virtual field-trip (narrated by Prof Aron)+ online report, followed by an actual field-trip (then final report). On hindside, the implementation was coincidentally appropriate for this year because COVID-19 measures called for the cancellation of the 2nd field-trip to Sentosa :(.
The 1st field-trip was to Pulau Ubin and we had to analyse the outcrops to determine how the island was formed. 2nd field-trip to fort-siloso never happened so we managed to only experience it virtually. Having a virtual tour of the location actually gave us more focus when we visited the actual site and Prof Aron was extremely patient and concise with his explanations on-site (just don’t fall behind too much… some of us eco kids got distracted by the sea-critters and wandered off).
Keep in mind that geological interpretations are never fully correct and even seasoned geologist have completely differing views on the same set of observation. Instead of seeking the “right” answers, the objective of the fieldwork is so that you can construct an argument that is consistent with your own interpretation of the observations.
Note: Prof Aron promised a make-up field-trip to Sentosa once the COVID situation blows over! Will update the blog again thereafter.

Finals (30%)
At this point, everyone was already having quarantine fatigue. To keep things going, Prof Aron requested us to submit some sample questions so that we will have a question bank to study from and the author of selected questions appearing in the test will receive bonus points. This time, the test was opened-everything as the academic team probably realised there was no point for restriction as online tests couldn’t really be regulated when it comes to referring to materials. Not surprisingly, the test was significantly trickier and there wasn’t really any time to refer to your notes, so ultimately those who studied diligently will benefit.

Final Lab report (10%) | 43/50
After gathering an entire semester of knowledge, going on field-trips and receiving feedback from the online module, you are expected to write a 2000 word report on Singapore’s geological history by putting together what you have learnt from the pulau ubin/sentosa field-trip/online module. Overall, there should be 2 differing arguments on the geological history of Singapore based on your interpretation (of course there is a final evidence that Prof Aron intentionally left out to facilitate the learning process). The marks are awarded based on how you argue for YOUR side of the story and of course presentation-which I lost a whooping 5 marks to because I wasn’t attentive to the rubrics.

This review was published with the kind permission of Roy. Originally published at https://djtangent.wordpress.com/2020/05/15/eess-y1s2-2020/