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2015-2016

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Science Academic Plans

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Common Earth and Environmental Science Requirements

Legend

Symbol/
Abbreviation
Description
*
These Academic plans are administered jointly by the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the Department of Chemistry. For details consult "Geochemistry" in the Department of Chemistry section of the calendar. 
**
These Academic Plans fulfill the academic requirements for professional membership in the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO). Students who are interested in applying for an APGO membership should review APGO academic requirements. A judicious selection of elective courses and/or extra term(s) of study may procure the academic knowledge base required for APGO membership.
Core
Core courses
Elec
Elective courses
n/a
Not applicable

Honours Major Academic Plans

Honours Earth Sciences**(Geology Specialization)
Honours Earth Sciences**(Geophysics Specialization)
Honours Earth Sciences**(Hydrogeology Specialization)
Honours Environmental Science (Geoscience Specialization) 
Honours Geochemistry * (joint with Chemistry) - see Chemistry
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences**(Geology Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences**(Geophysics Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences**(Hydrogeology Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Environmental Science (Geoscience Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Geochemistry * (joint with Chemistry) - see Chemistry
Minor in Earth Sciences

Honours Major Academic Plans

Continuation in all of our department's Honours Major Academic Plans requires an overall cumulative average of 60%, and a cumulative average of 60% in all EARTH courses. In order to graduate the following requirements must be met:

  1. Successful completion of 20.0 lecture units.
  2. "SCI"-labelled units may not be used as Science/Mathematics electives and no more than 1.5 "SCI" -labelled units may be used as free electives.
  3. Mandatory courses as listed under the specific Academic Plans and elective courses distributed in various subject areas as indicated below.
  4. Completion of the English Language Proficiency requirement.
  5. For students studying in the co-op format, find detailed information on co-op program requirements in the Co-operative Education and Career Action section of the Academic calendar as well as the Science department work term report guidelines.

In addition to required laboratory (and field course) units, all plans administered within the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences require completion of 20.0 lecture units. The following table is a breakdown of these lecture units and indicates how your electives must be apportioned in various subject areas. In each area, "Core" units denote the lecture courses that are specified in a program; "Elec" units denote the elective lecture courses that you decide on. A table of acceptable courses for the Science/Mathematics electives follows.

1 Normally excludes SCI and EARTH courses. Students who plan to do graduate work in Hydrogeology are advised to take Advanced Calculus, such as MATH 217 or CIVE 221, during their 4th year.

2 Arts Core: The Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG) recommends that acceptable professional practice requires technical writing ability, oral communications effectiveness and awareness of regulatory and legal issues of practice for interprovincial mobility. Currently, the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO) only requires a one term course (0.5 units) to address this issue. Although many courses are suitable to fulfill this requirement, the following address the oral and written communication area: SPCOM 223, ENGL 109, ENGL 129R, ENGL 140R, ENGL 210E, ENGL 210F, PHIL 145, ERS 215.  

Courses acceptable to fulfill Science/Mathematics electives include most 200-level or higher BIOL, CHEM, PHYS, MATH, AMATH or CS courses. A list of recommended courses for specific plans in Earth and Environmental Sciences, is available on the Earth and Environmental Science website. In some cases, courses in areas other than those listed above (e.g., Engineering) or 100-level courses may be acceptable as a Science/Mathematics elective but would have to be approved by the Undergraduate Advisor. 

Subject Area Subject Type
Geology
Geophysics
Hydrogeology
Geoscience
Earth Sciences Core
8.5
8.5
10.0
7.5
Elec
3.0
2.5
1.0
2.0
Science/Mathematics/Engineering1 Core
4.0
5.0
5.0
3.5
Elec1
1.0
2.0
1.0
2.5
Geography/
Environmental Science

Core
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.5
Elec
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Arts Core2
n/a
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
Free electives
n/a 3.0
1.5
2.5
3.5
Total Lecture Units
n/a
20.0
20.0
20.0
20.0

Information for Co-operative Earth Sciences plans

The Co-operative Earth and Environmental Sciences Academic Plans offer a comprehensive academic training, as well as, considerable practical experience.

Transfer to a Regular Honours Academic Plan will be permitted if all requirements of the Co-op Academic Plan have been met up to the time of the transfer.


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