Instructor:
Dr. S. A. Isiorho
Office (SB-236) Hours T (3:00p.m. - 4:00
p.m)
Text: Physical
Geography ....An Introduction to Physical Geography: Geosystems, 8th
Edition by Christopherson. Pearson (Prentice Hall)
Course Description:
The course is designed to give students a basic
understanding of the
physical environment, which we will view as a complex system of
interacting components
(climate, soils, and other Earth materials and
processes). Emphasis will be given to the dynamics of the individual
components, the way these interact, and the
global patterns that result
when the components are integrated. Students would be required to
'travel' around the world making observations of the climates,
time
zones, and vegetation type and other environmental features. Students
will also be required to make observations (using a scientific method)
for two weeks
of an aspect of the environment and write a
report. The
report should use the observations, apply knowledge gained from the
course, and student activities that
could affect the outcome of
observations.
As part of this course, students would be required to travel outside
the
North American continent, examine how
location, gender, class,
economics,
and politics affect water quality and quantity. Students who
successfully
complete this course will relate their activities to the
environment
and
the environment to their activities. Students will be assessed through
exams,
class projects and reports.
NOTE: Check the syllabus
weekly as it is a
living document. The content will not change, but new
and useful materials may be added.
You may also use the Blackboard
Discussion board
for posting questions.....and you can answer any questions posted
on the discussion board.
ALL REPORTS MUST BE SENT THROUGH
BLACKBOARD ASSIGNMENT DROP BOX (as a file in a
portable digital format (pdf)).
ALSO,
INCLUDE
YOUR NAME AND REPORT TITLE IN YOUR REPORT, AND AS PART OF THE FILE NAME, EXAMPLE,
IsiorhoaboutRpt. You will loose points if you do not
include your name as part of your file name as given in the above
example
Exams/Reports:
Three exams and a finals. Course grades
will be based on any two
exams (50%), finals
(25%),
Group
project
(5%),
and
class
assignments (One rock
and two video reports OR one rock,
one video, and another video and or field trip reports (8%)). In class
assignments to be given at any time (4%).
Mastering Geography to be assigned throughout
the semester (8%). No make up will be allowed
without prior notice on missing class (which must be in
writing through
Blackboard email).
NO
CLASS ON EXAM DATES AND NO
MAKE UP EXAMS
NOTE: All reports must be sent as attachment (as
portable digital format (pdf)) (unless instructed not to by the
instructor) to me through
Blackboard assignment dropbox. Also, your name and subject must be part
of your
file name (e.g.
Isiorhoabout Rptfile). Failure to follow these simple rules will cost
you points. Your
report
must
be sent before 5:00 p.m or as posted. Any report received
after 5 p.m. or as posted, will have points deducted and report will
not be graded if
received a day late. You are responsible for all materials in the
textbook and or internet links and you could get questions outside of
lectures...applied questions. PLEASE
DO NOT ASK FOR EXTRA CREDITS... I
DO NOT CURVE...WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU GET. Grading scale:
A=90-100;
B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=<60...may use + & - in the final
letter grade.
Mastering Geography is available
and would encourage all students to avail themselves of this resource.
Students are strongly
advised to
know the “Code of Student Rights, Responsibility, and Conduct” that can
be
found in the “Student handbook and planner that is published each fall
semester”
I expect students to read and understand the “Code” especially as it
relates to Cheating, Plagiarizing, and Aiding and Abetting Others to
Cheat or
Plagiarize. Students caught cheating on exams/tests, projects or
reports (plagiarizing)
will receive a zero for that portion of the course.
"If
you have a disability and need assistance, special arrangements can be
made to accommodate most needs. Contact the Director of Services for
Students with Disabilities (Walb, room 113, telephone number 481-6658),
as soon as possible to work out the details. Once the Director has
provided you with a letter attesting to your needs for modification,
bring the letter to me. For more information, please visit the web site
for SSD at http://www.ipfw.edu/ssd/ "
(Start early, no extension, no
exemption, and no excuses will be accepted)
All reports MUST be submitted in
electronic format in a portable digital format (pdf)
Introduction... write a couple
sentences on why you are taking the course and what you intend to
learn. It should be an attachment in pdf.
Submit it through the assignment dropn box...this is a bonus
assignment...worth 1%. Due August 25 by 6:00 pm.....no extention will
be granted.
Group project (5%) would involve making a two-week (14 consecutive days) obervation of the weather in a given location (must give the name of the place) that may include precipitation, temperature, cloud type/cover, wind speed/direction. It is important that you work together in your group. Any member of the group could be called upon to give a 5-minute presentation using power point slides which forms part of the grade. You must follow the report format given below. Only one report (3%) per group (3 pages, double space (excluding graphs, pictures, table, drawings, etc)), and this will be due Tuesday October 4, 2011 before noon; to be presented October 4 & 6, 2011 (1%). Each group will also submit the power point of their presentation to the assignment box by October 4, 2011 (1%) before noon. (suggestion: collect your weather data between September 1 and September 24, 2011)
Rock report (4%) A half page report (double space) on
any two rocks in the
Geogarden is due Thursday October 27,
2011 by 4:00 p.m.
Your report should include the name of the specific rock,
mineral composition, why you chose the rock, and any use for the rock.
(NO HARD COPY WILL BE
GRADED).
All
Tests will be taken online in Blackboard
http://elearning.ipfw.edu/
NO CELL PHONES IN CLASS (if
your phone rigs or you talk on your phone during class, it will taken
from you .... if you fail to hand over your phone, you will be reported
to the dean of student. If you must have a phone in the class,
put it
on 'vibrate' setting)
Optional PreQuiz:
(August 23-25) through Blackboard
http://elearning.ipfw.edu/
Would recommend you take the prequiz as the score will be added to
one of your test scores.
Introduction to the Atmosphere (Chpt. 3)
Composition and structure of the atmosphere, elements of weather and
climate
Insolation and Temperature (Chpt. 2)
Solar energy (insolation), basic process of heating and cooling
of the atmosphere, mechanism of heat transfer, global temperature
patterns.
Video Sept 20... A sentence on what you learned in the video (optional.)
Atmospheric Pressure and
Wind (Chpt. 6)
Nature of atmospheric pressure and wind, nature of wind (direction of
movement, cyclones, anticyclones) general circulation of the
atmosphere, localized wind systems (sea and land breezes, katabatic,
chinook, Froehn, valley and mountain breezes).
Atmospheric Moisture (Chpt. 7)
Measures of humidity (absolute, specific, relative), condensation
(clouds, fog, dew, adiabatic processes), precipitation (processes,
forms, atmospheric lifting), global distribution of precipitation
(average
precipitation, seasonal precipitation patterns, variability).
Transient Atmospheric Flows and Disturbance (Chpt. 8)
Air
masses (characteristics, origin, classification, movement and
modification ), fronts (cold, warm, stationary, occluded), atmospheric
disturbances.
Climatic Zones and Types (biomes)
(Chpt. 10)
Climatic classification (purpose, classification schemes, modified
Koppen System, climographs), world distribution of climatic types
(Tropical Humid, Dry, Mild Mid latitude, Sever mid latitude, polar,
highland), global pattern. Hawaii
movie clip
CLASS NOTE
II
Draft power
point slide II
EXAM 2: Thursday Sept 29, 2011
Blackboard
(6:0
a.m. -3:00 p.m.)
Soils (Chpt. 18)
Soil and regolith, soil forming factors (geologic, climatic,
topographic, biological, chronological), soil components (inorganic,
organic, air, water) Soil properties (color, texture, structure),
chemistry (colloids, cation exchange, acidity/alkalinity) soil
profiles, pedogenic regimes
(laterization, podzolization, gleization, calcification, salinization),
soil classification, global distribution of major soils (entisols,
vertisols,
andisols, inceptisols, aridisol, mollisol, spodosol, alfisols,
ultisols,
oxisols, histosols)
Check this site for detailed Soil
Science course (Univ. of Minnesota)
Amazon
Rain
Forest...forest fire...soil
Earth Materials (Chpt. 11)
Composition of the crust (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic), some
critical concepts (basic terms, uniformitarianism, geologic time),
internal and external geomorphic processes.
(Geogarden : write a half-page (double space) report on any two
rocks in
the garden and
send your report to me through Blackboard assignment box before 5:00 p.m., Thursday October 27, 2011. (4% of
course
grade).
Will not grade anything report that is more a 3/4 (three quarter ) page.
*Your report must inlcude 1)
specific rock name (not rock group or class), 2) why you chose the
specific rock, 3) the
mineral
composition, and 4) the use(s).
The Internal Processes (Chpt. 12)
Crustal rearrangement (continental drifts, plate tectonics), volcanism,
diastrophism (folding and faulting)
Structure and composition
of the earth
Weathering and Mass Wasting (Chpt. 13)
Weathering (physical, chemical), mass wasting (fall, slide, slump,
flow, creep) Landslide from the USGS websites. See class notes.
draft
power point slides
EXAM 3: Thursday November 10, 2011 Blackboard
(6:00 a.m. - 3:00
p.m.)
The Hydrosphere (Chpt. 9)
The hydrologic cycle (surface to air, air to water, movement on
and beneath surface, residence times, surface water (lakes, swarms and
marshes, rivers and streams)
Underground
water (aeration, saturation zones, aquifer, pumping, drawdown)
Hydrologic Cycle animation... New
Orleans flood
area animation?
Water Facts
The Fluvial Processes ( Chpt. 14 )
Fundamental concepts (drainage basins), stream channels, stream
systems (basins), valleys (deepening, widening, lengthening)
River Meanders....River? Power point slides (Quick review) for rivers and groundwater
Water Cycle
YouTube Video or maybe you prefer the water cycle song
River meander video
(by Prof. Isiorho).... description by Prof. Farlow
Spectacular pictures
for 2003 Courtesy of Kristi Emely
Glacial Terrain ( Chpt. 17 )
Impact of glacial on the landscape, types of glaciers (continental,
mountain, how glaciers form), how glaciers form. Glaciated land forms
... glaciers
from the interenet
CLASS NOTE IV (see chapters)
The Topography of Arid Lands ( Chpt. 15 )
The work of the wind (erosion, transportation, deposition),
characteristics of desert landforms
(
Dust aggravates droughts? )
Optional Post Quiz: Points from this will be added to test 4 in claculating your course grade. December 6, 2011 (from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) through Blackboard
FINAL EXAM (Not
comprehensive): From 6:00 a.m. Wednesday,
December 14 through 2:00
p.m. Thursday, December 15, 2010.
Blackboard
NO HARD COPY WILL BE ACCEPTED
FOR ANY REPORT
No class November 24,
2011... Thanksgiving
...observed
NO
CLASS ON EXAM DATES AND NO
MAKE UP EXAMS (Sept. 13, Sept 29, November 10, & Dec 14)
ALL EXAMS WILL BE SEVENTY MINUTES LONG
Mastering Geography...
10% of course grade...check to see when the materials are available.
Isiorho's
webpage Geogarden
IPFW
e-mail
Other Links
When there is global
warming
Katrina Cloud related Pictures
in PPt
Water Conflict Ppt
Women Children
and water ppt
Cool 3-D pictures of National
Parks
What on earth made this?
CNN website
Why Earth Science?
YouTube videoWhy Earth Science?
Produced by Americal Geological Institute
Earth System
Science video by NASA
Some useful Resources on Science & Theology
Sample water report... just for
your information
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in
overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison
Some Water Glossary website
Wetland class video
Updated August 22, 2011
