Textbook in PDF format This laboratory manual is based on our collective 70-plus years of teaching and coordinating introductory geology courses. Those experiences have helped us understand not only how students best learn geologic principles, but also how to stimulate their engagement with the material to enhance their learning process. Our manual provides (1) an up-to-date, comprehensive background that addresses the hands-on tasks at the core of any introductory geology course; (2) patient stepby- step explanations that are more easily understood by students than those in textbooks; (3) text and exercises that lead students to think like geologists, engaging them in solving real-life problems important to their lives; and (4) the passion and excitement that we still feel after decades as teachers and geologists