There are no required textbooks.  There are two recommended books:
Simon and Schuster’s Guide to Gems and Precious Stones, ed. by Kennie Lyman
Gemology, by Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr. and Robert C. Kammerling
           (on reserve in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Library (EPSL))

Course website:
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~sarahpd/Geol210.html

Comprehensive Final Exam                      30%
Gem Journal                                            20%

Pop Quizzes                                            15%
Field Trip                                                  5%

Exams:  There will be two midterm exams and a comprehensive final.  Exams will consist of multiple choice, definition, short answer and/or essay questions.  You may not use notes or any other study aids on exams or quizzes.  There are no specially scheduled or makeup exams.  Exceptions will be made for students with disabilities or extenuating circumstances that have been officially recognized by the university.  Arrangements must be made at least one week in advance of the examination.  The date and time of the final exam are NOT negotiable.  I will not schedule alternative dates for the final exam.

Pop quizzes: Pop quizzes will be held at any time on any day during lecture and will be based on assigned reading, material covered in lecture, or information collected for your gem journal (see below).  Each quiz will be worth 5 points.  If you are absent from class you will receive 0 points on the quiz.  You may not use notes or any other study aids on exams or quizzes.

Late penalties: 5% of the grade will be deducted from the assignment (e.g. Gem Journal) for each day that it is handed in after the due date.  Exceptions will be made for documented university-approved absences.

At a date and time to be determined, we shall take a tour of the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.  The Smithsonian is home to the Hope Diamond, along with other famous and beautiful gems.  Attendance and active participation in this fieldtrip will count towards 5% of the total course grade.  Students who are unable to participate will be required to write a 5-page (double-spaced) written report on a topic approved by the instructor.

Each class day a new gem (or gems) is introduced, you will have the opportunity to gain one extra credit point to count towards midterm exam grades.  If you bring in an interesting (and correct!) fact about the gem to the first class discussion about that gem, written out on paper along with the source of that fact, I will award an extra credit point for the fact.  There are a few catches.  The first catch is that the fact must not be found in either the Gemology text by Hurlbut and Kammerling or the Simon and Schuster’s Guide.  The second catch is that the fact must be relevant to the course.  The third catch is that if more than one person brings in the same fact, the extra credit point will be split among the individuals (e.g. if 3 students bring in the same fact, each student will receive 1/3 of an extra credit point).  These two catches give you the incentive to look at sources other than the assigned textbooks, encourage you to look for extra credit on your own and to look for unusual or hard to find facts.  You must include the source of the fact, so that I can check its veracity.

Academic Integrity:  The student is expected to be familiar with and follow the principles of truth and academic honesty outlined in the Student Honor Council’s Code of Academic Integrity.  The Code can be found at: http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html.

For each gemstone discussed in class, you will be responsible for collecting the following information:

Chemical Formula

Sources for this information include:
Simon and Schuster’s Guide to Gems and Precious Stones, ed. by Kennie Lyman

http://list-socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/wisc/Lect1b.html

This outline is a rough guide.  I reserve the right to change the topics discussed in class and to add or change reading assignments prior to coverage of each topic.  The course website, http://www.geol.umd.edu/~sarahpd/Geol210.html, will have daily reading assignments posted.  (H&K is Hurlbut & Kammerling, S&S is Simon and Schuster's)