The stunning landscapes seen from Bennington’s campus were sculpted by geologic processes over millions of years. Bennington College lies near an ancient boundary, along which the Proto-North American continent’s coast collided with other continental fragments over 400 million years ago to build the continent as we see today. The Bennington region is an excellent natural laboratory to study both internal and external Earth processes, and learn how continents are built. This course will introduce basic geologic concepts, including: Plate Tectonics, geologic time, Earth materials, rock-forming processes, the water cycle, erosion, and glacial flow. Students will explore how these processes acted locally by applying field, mapping, and laboratory techniques to study rocks, sediments, and landscapes. Students will be expected to participate actively in field excursions and laboratory exercises, and independently acquire and analyze data. Field trips may require moderate physical activity.