GEOG. G107 Physical Systems of the Environment (Fall, 2009) TR (1:30 - 2:45 p.m.)
Instructor: Dr. S. A. Isiorho
Teaching Assistant (TA): Ms. P.
Sundquist
Office (SB-236) Hours TR (3:00p.m. - 4:00
p.m)
Text: Discovering
Physical Geography by Arbogast
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
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.
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 (42%), finals
(21%), Water
report (21%), Group project
(2%),
Survey
(4%), 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 (2%)
NO
CLASS ON EXAM DATES AND WHEN THE WATER REPORT IS DUE. ABSOLUTELY, NO
MAKE UP EXAMS
NOTE: All reports must be sent as attachment (as portable digital format (pdf)) 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
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)
Group project (2%) would involve making a two-week (14 consecutive days) obervation of the weather in a given location (must give the name) 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 (1.5%) (3 pages, double space (excluding graphs, pictures, table, drawings, etc)) from each group, and this will be due Thursday October 22, 2009 to be presented Tuesday October 27, 2009. Each group will also submit the power point of their presentation to the assignment box by October 26, 2009 (0.5%). (suggestion: collect your weather data between September 1 and October 13, 2009)
Rock report (4%) A half page report (double space) on
any two rocks in the
Geogarden (need
not follow the report format given below) is due Thursday October 22,
2009 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 of the rock.
Water report (21%) Compare the effects of "CLASS
STANDING/STATUS"i.e.
social economic standing/status, on
water quality & quantity from
any two different locations (one location from Africa Continent
and the
other from North America
Continent (outside of Indiana)). NOTE:
YOU CANNOT COMPARE A COUNTRY TO A STATE OR A CITY...You compare a city
with a
city, state with state, or a country with a
country. For North America,
you can examine the
political, economic, class
and
environmental implication for irrigation in the United States (would
need
to specify a place or region). Your report must follow the
"Report Format"
given
below and it should also include the location
(village/town/city,
region,
or country) gender and class standing. I
will be looking for the role of diversity in water supply and your
personal reflection in your water report. Write a minimum of
6-page double space report (don't count pictures or maps or graphs or
tables as part of the 6 pages) with a minimum of three refreed article
references. Use the report format given at the bottom of the syllabus.
Draft report due October 29, 2009 by 6:00 p.m. (bonus 1%) and Final
Report (through
Blackboard Assignment Box
is due 3:00
pm
Thursday November 12, 2009 (This is an equivalent of a test and
so, NO CLASS Nov 12) (NO
EXCUSE WILL BE
ACCPETED. Report will not be graded if received late)
(NO HARD COPY WILL BE
GRADED).
All
Tests will be taken online in Blackboard
http://elearning.ipfw.edu/
NO CELL PHONES IN CLASS (I
don't want to hear any phone rigging or people talking on the phone
during class .... If you must have a phone in the class, put it
on 'vibrate' setting)
Optional PreQuiz:
(August 25-27) 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. 4)
Composition and structure of the atmosphere, elements of weather and
climate
Insolation and Temperature (Chpt. 5)
Solar energy (insolation), basic process of heating and cooling
of the atmosphere, mechanism of heat transfer, global temperature
patterns.
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. 9)
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 October 1, 2009 WebCT Blackboard
(6:0
a.m. -3:00 p.m.)
Video October 15, 2009. This video will serve as
one of the inclass assignments (1% of your course grade). A two
short-sentence report on what your learned from the video is due
October 16, 2009 by 5:00 p.m. through the Blackboard Assignment Box.
Soils (Chpt. 11)
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. 12)
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 16, 2008. (4% of
course
grade).
*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. 13)
Crustal rearrangement (continental drifts, plate tectonics), volcanism,
diastrophism (folding and faulting)
Structure and composition
of the earth
Weathering and Mass Wasting (Chpt. 14)
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 5, 2009 Blackboard
(6:00 a.m. - 3:00
p.m.)
The Hydrosphere (Chpt. 15)
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. 16 )
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. 18 )
The work of the wind (erosion, transportation, deposition),
characteristics of desert landforms
(
Dust aggravates droughts? )
Post Quiz: December 3, 2009 (from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) through Blackboard
Survey: December 3, 2009 (6:00 a.m.
- 6 p.m.) (4 % of course
grade) through
Important words
for test four
FINAL EXAM (Not
comprehensive): From 6:00 a.m. Wednesday,
December 16 through 2:00
p.m. Thursday, December 17, 2008.
Blackboard
REPORT FORMAT
Report Format (you must follow this format): Use the red lettered
words in your subheadings
Title (what is your report about? not more
than 15 words),
Abstract (a special type of summary of
your report that includes problem/question asked, method, result and
conclusion~half page max...your name should be above the word
abstract),
Introduction (what do you know about the
topic and what has been done and why this report i.e. purpose?),
Method/Approach (how did you you get your
information result, data etc.),
Result/Data (self explanatory...could put
your result(s) in table format and graph(s) your data if possible),
Discussions (what does your result
mean? .... include your opinion here),
Conclusion (two to four-sentence summary
of your report),
Acknowledgment (if any),
References (what works did you cite?
Minimum
of Three references in APA format...Wikipedia
citing is not an acceptable reference)
(call if I do not acknowledge receiving your report after two business
days).
NO HARD COPY WILL BE ACCEPTED
No class October 13 (Labor day) October 20 & 22,
& November 26,
2009... Thanksgiving
...observed
ALL EXAMS WILL BE SEVENTY MINUTES LONG
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
Buz Words....drawings/pictures from Prof. Williams Univ.
of Wisconsin River Falls
Water
UMAC
Check Dr.
Pamela Sandstrom for
your water report.
Fish...gravity,
moon, and tide...
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
Sept 25 VIDEO IS
NOW MOVED TO OCTOBER 2 AND THE REPORT WILL BE DUE OCTOBER 3 BY 5:00 P.M.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in
overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison
Updated July. 13, 2009
