Regular participation points are now up to date.

Your semester grade is based on

1. 144 points from three midterms,
2. 48 points participation (i.e., making the mini-quiz deadline)
3. 96 points on the final exam, Dec. 7

Your regular participation points are now up to date, from mini-quizzes A - K. Therefore, items (i) and (ii) are on the books.

Note: your participation pointage from mini-quiz O are bonus points. That deadline is tomorrow, Nov. 27!

Your big grade ahead is the final exam, on Saturday, Dec. 7. It is 96 points, double the size of a midterm, but you get almost three hours to complete it. Check the syllabus handout page. It is cumulative.

THe final exam is mandatory, and no one may take it early or late, only during the free period on Saturday, Dec. 7, 10:05 AM - 10:00 PM. Be sure to schedule your Saturday carefully to leave a three-hour block of time between 10 AM and 10 PM. Clear everything NOW with your boss at work: academics has priority!

Mini-quiz O is ready now.

You can now log in to Mini-quiz O for Oceans. It is due next Wednesday, before the Thanksgiving Day vacation.

Learning module K is ready.

Your last learning module for Exam 3 is now ready. It includes a simple mini-quiz, calculating magma pressures underneath Mount Vesuvius.

Excellent.

Where your grades stand, as of today

You are probably wondering about where your semester grade is heading. Here is a short blurb about how to estimate the state of your grade, as of today.

1. Add up your two exam scores, total points possible = 96.
2. Add your semester subtotal of participation points, total points possible = 40.
3. So the total available right now is 136 points.
4. Next, calculate your percentage: (your points)/136.
5. Then look up your grade estimate on this table:

   Estimated grade	Points as of 11/3	Percentage
   A	123 or more	0.90
   B	102	0.75
   C	82	0.60
   D	68	0.50
   F	fewer than 68	< 0.50

The grades chart here rhymes with the grade scale in the Syllabus handout page except for the baseline pointage. Here the baseline is 136 points; for the true semester grade, the baseline is 288 points. We still have a lot of pointage ahead of us! You can still make a dent in a low grade.

Learning module for this week -- rocks and minerals

You have a new learning module for this week, concerning rocks and minerals, another application area for our understanding of the quantum world. We dip forward to Ch. 17.

On a side note, expect to see a few bonus points opportunities set up in Webcourses, for your grade-earning possibilities. Keep alert.