Undergraduate Course: Earth Modelling and Prediction 2 (EASC08026)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | A mathematical description of Earth systems can both aid in prediction of these systems and lead to deeper understanding. In addition, many disciplines in the geosciences are becoming increasingly quantitative. This course is designed to give students mathematical skills needed to understand geoscience problems involving differentiation, integration, differential equations and the derivation of conservation equations. These topics are presented in a geoscience context, with techniques applied to environmental fluid mechanics, geochemistry, geomorphology, glaciology and thermal properties of the Earth.
Students will learn through problem sets, online quizzes, readings and tutorial sessions.
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| Course description |
THERE ARE NO TUTORIALS IN WEEK 1
Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction, application of mathematics to natural systems
Week 2: Differentiation, applied differentiation
Week 3: Integration; introduction, rules, applied integration
Week 4: Partial differentiation and coordinate systems
Week 5: Ordinary Differential Equations and Applied partial differentiation
Week 6: Conservation equations: Diffusion within porous media
Week 7: Conservation equations: Diffusion of heat and energy (dynamic and steady-state)
Week 8: Hydrodynamics applications: River dynamics
Week 9: River dynamics continued; Ocean dynamics
Week 10: Review week
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment details
Written Exam: 60%, Course Work: 40%, Practical Exam: 0%.
Course work: 3 equally-weighted online multiple choice assessments based on course material and tutorial problem sets.
The exam will be worth 60% of the overall course. Of the exam, 60% of the marks are for short questions very similar to the tutorial problems and the online assessments; 40% of the marks will be for 2 longer questions that require some creative thinking. We will show you how to do well in the longer questions in Week 10.
Past exams are available from https://exampapers.ed.ac.uk/. The exam questions will vary in difficulty ¿ to get the best marks will require you to think creatively about new problems. Partial credit will be given for working.
Assessment deadlines
Problem Set 1: 12:00, Thursday of week 4
Problem Set 2: 12:00, Thursday of week 6
Problem set 3: 12:00, Thursday of week 8
Assessment and Feedback information
See course handbook on Learn
All details related to extensions procedures and late penalties can be found in the School of Geosciences General Handbook.
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| Feedback |
- Tutor-led tutorial sessions in which students will arrive having worked through some or all of the current week's tutorial problem set and ask the demonstrators to work through more challenging problems on whiteboard. The course organiser will be present at some of these tutorials as well to enable face-to-face contact.
- Answers to select problems from tutorial problem set will be posted on LEARN in following week
Examples of feedback can be found here: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/geosciences/teaching-organisation/staff/feedback-and-marking
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Differentiate simple equations
- Integrate simple equations
- Solve simple differential equations
- Derive and solve conservation equations for natural systems
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Reading List
Recommended reading
Stroud and Booth, Engineering Mathematics, Palgrave MacMillan
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Calculus,conservation,statistics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Daniel Goldberg
Tel: (0131 6)50 2561
Email: Dan.Goldberg@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Johan De Klerk
Tel: (0131 6)50 7010
Email: johan.deklerk@ed.ac.uk |
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