Our Earth: Its Climate, History, and Processes

Instructors: Prof. David M. Schultz

Skills you'll gain

Critical Thinking

Details to know

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Assessments

5 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 5 modules in this course

What's included

15 videos7 readings1 assignment

15 videosTotal 97 minutes

What's in store ...2 minutesPreview module
Video 1.0: Introduction and Philosophy7 minutes
Video 1.1: How does science work?6 minutes
Optional Video: How do scientific papers get published?10 minutes
Video 1.2: Introduction to the Earth's climate system8 minutes
Video 1.3: How do we measure geologic time?9 minutes
Video 1.4: Geological Time Scale Song2 minutes
Video 1.5: Minerals and Rocks2 minutes
Video 1.5.1: Igneous Rock3 minutes
Video 1.5.2: Sedimentary Rock6 minutes
Video 1.5.3: Metamorphic Rock5 minutes
Video 1.6: Using radioactivity to date rocks - Dr. Ray Burgess7 minutes
Video 1.7: Using stable isotopes to understand Earth processes - Dr. Ray Burgess6 minutes
Video 1.8: How do we know how old the Earth is?5 minutes
Video 1.9: What are those rocks doing lying around?10 minutes

7 readingsTotal 70 minutes

Course Guide10 minutes
Grading & Logistics10 minutes
Building Blocks of Earth’s Climate System10 minutes
Google Earth Tour 110 minutes
Activity 1: Introduction10 minutes
Eloquent Science10 minutes
Our Earth 001 Course Book10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Assessment 130 minutes

What's included

14 videos2 readings1 assignment

14 videosTotal 107 minutes

Video 2.1.1: How did the Moon form? - Dr. Katherine Joy 14 minutesPreview module
Video 2.1.2: Why is the Moon important to life on earth? - Dr. Katherine Joy 3 minutes
Video 2.2: What came before plate tectonics?5 minutes
Video 2.3: How did plate tectonics get discovered?6 minutes
Video 2.4.1: The Earth's magnetic field7 minutes
Video 2.4.2: The magnetic poles flip? You're kidding me, right?6 minutes
Video 2.5: How earthquakes happen14 minutes
Video 2.6.1: What's inside the Earth?6 minutes
Video 2.6.2: How do we know about the insides of the Earth?6 minutes
Video 2.7: How do the plates move?3 minutes
Video 2.8: How does magma form?11 minutes
Video 2.9: How were the Himalaya formed?7 minutes
Video 2.10: Supercontinent Pangaea9 minutes
Video 2.11: The supercontinent cycle4 minutes

2 readingsTotal 20 minutes

Formation, evolution, and processes of the solid Earth10 minutes
Google Earth Tour 2 and 310 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Assessment 220 minutes

What's included

14 videos5 readings1 assignment

14 videosTotal 123 minutes

Video 3.1.1: Where Did the Oceans Come From?6 minutesPreview module
Video 3.1.2: Are the Oceans in Steady State?13 minutes
Video 3.2.1: How the oceans work - Dr. Gregory Lane-Serff9 minutes
Video 3.2.2: The oceanic conveyor belt - Dr. Gregory Lane-Serff12 minutes
Video 3.3.1: What is the Atmosphere Made Of?6 minutes
Video 3.3.2: What Controls the Temperature Profile of the Atmosphere?5 minutes
Video 3.3.3: Three Radiation Laws4 minutes
Video 3.3.4: What if the Earth had no Atmosphere?7 minutes
Video 3.4.1: How does the Atmosphere Work?9 minutes
Video 3.4.2: How do the Jet Streams Control the Weather?7 minutes
Video 3.5: Extratropical cyclones8 minutes
Video 3.6: The Rise and Fall of Ice on Earth12 minutes
Video 3.7: How do Glaciers Control the Height of Mountains? – Dr. Simon Brocklehurst10 minutes
Video 3.8: Why the Arctic is Crucial to Earth's Climate - Dr. Bart Van Dongen and Dr. Robert Sparks 7 minutes

5 readingsTotal 50 minutes

Water in Earth’s Climate System: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Cryosphere10 minutes
Google Earth Tour 410 minutes
Activity 2: Further Exploration10 minutes
The Thinking Persons’ Guide to Climate Change10 minutes
The shaping of storm tracks by mountains and ocean dynamics10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Assessment 320 minutes

What's included

17 videos2 readings1 assignment

17 videosTotal 116 minutes

Video 4.3.2: The Earliest Life on Earth6 minutesPreview module
Video 4.3.1 The Formation of Organic Molecules and the Tree of Life13 minutes
Video 4.1: The Earth's primitive atmosphere10 minutes
Video 4.2: Fossils6 minutes
Video 4.4.1: Welcome to The Manchester Museum - Prof. Phil Manning0 minutes
Video 4.4.2: Apex Chert and Stromatolites - Prof. Phil Manning 3 minutes
Video 4.4.3: Ediacaran Fauna - Prof. Phil Manning 5 minutes
Video 4.5.1: How Oxygen Changed the Earth Forever11 minutes
Video 4.5.2: The Arrival of Multicellular Life and the Cambrian Explosion11 minutes
Video 4.6.1: How Plants and Animals Came Onshore - Dr. Victoria Egerton7 minutes
Video 4.6.2: Colonization of Land3 minutes
Video 4.7.1: Devonian: From Fish to Tetrapod - Prof. Phil Manning7 minutes
Video 4.7.2: Carboniferous - Prof. Phil Manning2 minutes
Video 4.7.3: Jurassic Coast - Prof. Phil Manning3 minutes
Video 4.7.4: Dinosaurs - Prof. Phil Manning 4 minutes
Video 4.7.5: Chemical Fossils - Prof. Phil Manning 4 minutes
Video 4.8: Controls on Life on Earth: Mass Extinctions12 minutes

2 readingsTotal 20 minutes

Life, and its Effect on Earth’s Climate System10 minutes
Google Earth Tour 510 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Assessment 430 minutes

What's included

5 videos4 readings1 assignment

5 videosTotal 39 minutes

BYOE Video 1: Introduction to Build Your Own Earth4 minutesPreview module
BYOE Video 2: How to Use Build your own Earth8 minutes
BYOE Video 3: How to Interpret Climate Properties: Surface Temperatures, the Jet Stream, Clouds, and Precipitation 9 minutes
BYOE Video 4: Using Build Your Own Earth to Study Past Earth Climates 10 minutes
Video 5.0: Synthesis and Anthropogenic Climate Change7 minutes

4 readingsTotal 40 minutes

Build Your Own Earth10 minutes
Activity 1: Introduction10 minutes
Activity 2: Further Exploration10 minutes
Activity 3: Assessment10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

BYOE Assessment30 minutes

Instructors

Instructor ratings

4.8 (149 ratings)

Prof. David M. Schultz

University of Manchester

1 Course30,534 learners

Dr Jonathan Fairman

University of Manchester

1 Course30,534 learners

Offered by

University of Manchester

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4.7

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Reviewed on Jul 15, 2023

I have little knowledge about climate, history, and processes but this course give me a tough time and Alhumdullih has done it and this is my first course on Coursera

Reviewed on Mar 28, 2017

It is a dry subject, but these folks do a good job of making it as relevant as possible. I like the variety in the video lectures and the BYOE is a neat tool.

Reviewed on Dec 3, 2023

This course is very interesting. I spend at least 10 hours a week, so that I could complete in five weeks. Thanks for this comprehensive course.

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