2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Basic science and technology courses
Earth and Space Sciences, Laboratory and Field Studies (geophysics) A
- Academic unit or major
- Basic science and technology courses
- Instructor(s)
- Taro Okamoto / Masaki Matsushima
- Class Format
- Experiment (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 7-10 Mon / 7-10 Thu
- Class
- A
- Course Code
- LAS.A110
- Number of credits
- 001
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
The primary themes in Earth and space sciences include exploring the interiors of Earth, planets, and other celestial bodies; elucidating the mechanisms behind phenomena occurring within them; and uncovering the history of Earth, the solar system, the universe, and the evolution of life. This laboratory course serves as an introduction to the experimental methods employed in Earth and space sciences. Orientation meetings will be held in room M-123 of the Ookayama Main Building, from 12:45 to 13:15 on both April 9 and April 11 (the content of both meetings is identical). During the orientation, we will provide a brief overview of the course content and explain a "special application form" that must be completed in addition to the standard course registration to enroll in the course. Students who wish to participate in the course must attend either the first or the second orientation meeting.
Course description and aims
By completing this course, students will be able to
(1) Experience and understand physical measurements and data analyses used in Earth and space sciences.
(2) Understand basic theories for physical phenomena and methods to analyze acquired data.
(3) Understand the fundamentals of underlying physical processes and extend their view to other phenomena in Earth and space sciences.
Keywords
earthquake, crater, sun, spectroscopic analysis
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
The class is divided into small groups, each consisting of three to four students. Prior to class, each student is required to submit preparatory work. We engage in discussions about the methods and theories before conducting the experiment, and also analyze the measured data afterwards. Students are expected to submit their reports approximately one to two weeks following each experiment.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Explanations of each experiment and experimental safety. | Understand the course objectives and safety instructions. |
| Class 2 | Dynamic Earth [1] Earthquakes (measurement): the Earth is a dynamic planet where plate tectonics are in action and various dynamic processes such as earthquakes, volcanos, and crustal movement continuously occur. Here we simulate one such process, the occurrence of earthquakes, using a spring-slider model. We measure the movements of the sliders. | Understand the similarities between natural earthquakes and the spring-slider experiment. |
| Class 3 | Dynamic Earth [2] Earthquakes (analysis): using the computers, we apply statistical analysis methods to the measured movements of the sliders. | Apply the statistical methods to the experimental data. |
| Class 4 | Solar system and planets [1] Impact Craters (measurement): we study the impact crater as a clue to investigate the origin and history of the solar system and planets, as well as the interior of the Earth and planets. We make a small impact crater, measure the size of the crater, and record the processes with a high-speed camera. | Understand the origin of a crater and conduct experiments. |
| Class 5 | Solar system and planets [2] Impact Craters (analysis): we analyze statistically the size distribution of the experimentally made craters. We also analyze the recorded high-speed movie of the impact craters and depict the physical parameters of the impact dynamics. | Apply the statistical methods to the experimental data. |
| Class 6 | Sun and the Earth [1] spectroscopic analysis of sun light (visual inspection): sun light includes information from both the sun and the atmosphere of the Earth. We first inspect the sun light by using a spectroscope and measure the wavelength of the Fraunhofer lines. | Understand the principle of the spectroscope and do the observations. |
| Class 7 | Sun and the Earth [2] spectroscopic analysis of sun light (instrumental measurements): we use quantitative instruments to measure the spectroscopic features of sun light, and analyze the obtained data. | Observe sunlight using a quantitative spectroscope and study the observed data. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend a certain length of time outside of class on preparation and review (including for assignments), as specified by the Science Tokyo Rules on Undergraduate Learning (東京科学大学学修規程) and the Science Tokyo Rules on Graduate Learning (東京科学大学大学院学修規程), for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
We will hand out a specified textbook.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
References are found in the textbook.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Students' knowledge and understanding of each experiment and data analyses will be assessed by contents of laboratory reports. Also the attendance is highly considered.
Related courses
- LAS.A101 ： Earth and Space Sciences A
- LAS.A111 ： Earth and Space Sciences, Laboratory and Field Studies (earth materials)
- LAS.A112 ： Earth and Space Sciences, Laboratory and Field Studies (astronomy)
- LAS.A102 ： Earth and Space Sciences B
Prerequisites
None.