Syllabus Geography 101

SYLLABUS

Why Study Physical Geography?

A visit to Google Earth readily shows the diversity of earth’s landscapes. The southeastern United States appears greener than the southwestern United States. Northern Africa is covered with vast deserts while central Africa is not. Nepal has spectacular mountains but central Wisconsin does not.

Physical geography is the study of the geographic patterns to the earth’s physical environment. The environment we live in affects our daily lives, from what we wear, to how we get around, to the type of jobs we may have, and how our homes may be built. It affects the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. It affects what we can grow in our gardens, and thus the food we eat. Governmental bodies at all levels make policies and decisions that are affected by, and affect, our physical environment. Understanding the basic workings of the environment is critical to evaluating the impacts of these policy decisions. Because the characteristics and quality of the earth’s physical environment – its atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere – change from place to place, and because these characteristics affect our every-day lives, it is important to know what the physical environment is like in different places and why. In our global society, it is important to understand why people living in other places lead lives that may be quite different from our own. Although more than just the physical environment impacts the nature of how we live, the earth is our home. We have no place else to go. As a result, we should know something about how our home works, about why earth is the way it is. Why are places the way they are?

The goal of this class is to explore the geographic patterns to earth’s physical environment and discuss some of the processes responsible for these geographic patterns. We will do this through lectures that access a variety of internet resources, and through laboratory exercises that require you to apply principles and concepts covered in lecture.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of the semester you should be able to:

describe the geographic patterns to the earth’s physical environment, including global patterns of climate, ecosystems, soils, and landforms. Since this is a geography course, place and spatial pattern are very important.

explain basic environmental processes operating in the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere that produce geographic patterns.

give examples of connections between the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Everything is connected; there are no true “sound bites” when it comes to the environment.

apply some of the technical skills required for the study of geography and the environment. Technical skills include reading, interpreting, and creating maps; reading and interpreting air photos; reading, interpreting, and creating graphs and charts; collecting and interpreting data; and math.

use the skills and knowledge gained throughout the semester to predict the characteristics of different places and to solve problems or analyze situations related to physical geographic processes. It is not enough to know something; you also need to know when and how to use that information. You need to be able to apply what you know.

Format & Policies

Required Material

D. Hess (2011) McKnight's Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation (10th ed). Prentice Hall. Rental text.

Lemke, Ritter & Heywood (2009) Physical Geography Laboratory Manual. McGraw-Hill. ~$60.00.

Regular pencils, 2 colored pencils, eraser, calculator.

Attendance

You are expected to attend lecture. Lecture is 8:35-9:50 Tuesday and Thursday in Science A201. Lecture material provides the basis for our laboratory work and your textbook does not cover all of this material. Thus, if you miss lecture, you can can expect to have problems with the lab exercises. You are required to attend lab Monday and Wednesday in Science B338 from 12:00-1:50 (section 2) or from 2:00-3:50 (section 3). Some material required for lab may not be available outside of the scheduled lab time, and if you miss class, you may not be allowed to make-up that lab. You are expected to finish lab assignments during the lab period. You may not leave lab early unless you have finished your assignment or have received permission to leave early.

You are responsible for all material covered in class (lecture and lab). If you miss a class, even for a legitimate reason (e.g. a university sponsored event in which you are participating), you are still responsible for the material. You should get notes from a fellow student for any classes you miss. If you have a university sponsored event that requires you to miss class, please have the supervising instructor provide an excuse prior to the day you will be absent.

Class Participation

Please participate in class! Contribute comments and ask questions before, during, or after class (lecture and lab). Volunteer answers to questions I ask during class. If you’re lost, say so. Use my office hours to ask questions. Use email to ask questions. The more you participate, the more you will learn – and only you can learn the material – I cannot learn it for you. So participate in class!

Readings

Readings are listed in the course calendar on the course web site. You should do assigned readings before coming to class. Use the lecture outlines on the course web site to help guide you through the readings; use your textbook to fill in information or details missing from the lecture outlines. Key concepts and ideas in the textbook are indicated by an atlas icon in the lecture outlines.

Tests

Exams and quizzes should be taken at the times listed in the course calendar. Make-up exams or quizzes are allowed only for extreme cause and with a verified excuse. All exams and quizzes are computer scored so always bring a #2 pencil to tests. Calculators may be used during tests; however, cell phones, PDAs, Blackberries or other electronic devices with calculator functions are not allowed; these devices must be turned off and put away during tests.

Cell Phones and Electronic Devices

Cell phones, Blackberries, PDAs, MP3s and other electronic devices should be turned off during class (lecture and lab). Talking on cell phones, text-messaging, checking for messages, emailing, and listening to music during class is not allowed. It is rude and distracting to other students in the class and to the instructor. Laptops are allowed with prior permission from the instructor. All cell phones and other electronic devices except for calculators must be turned off and put away during tests.

Internet Resources

The course web site contains assigned readings, lecture outlines, diagrams, links, review questions, practice tests, study suggestions, and grade information.

Office Hours

Monday from 4:00-5:00, Tuesday from 1:00-2:00, and by appointment. Office hours are times set aside for you! Please use them! If you have a conflict with my office hours I’ll be happy to arrange a time that works for both of us.

Email

Please feel free to email me questions, particularly if you have conflicts with my office hours. I usually check my mail twice a day – first thing in the morning and before I go home at the end of the day. I try to respond to all emails within 24 hours (except on weekends). Please use your university email account for all email to me regarding this course. Email from other providers (e.g. Yahoo, Hotmail) may not reach me due to the University’s spam filter.

Student rights and responsibilities

UWSP has specific guidelines regarding student rights and responsibilities, academic standards and disciplinary procedures, accommodation of religious beliefs, and conduct on university land available at:
http://www.uwsp.edu/admin/stuaffairs/rightsandresponsibilities.aspx .

Location List

Since this is a geography class, some basic place-name knowledge is important. Every time we take a test (lab quiz or unit exam) there will be some test questions on places randomly selected from the list below. Most of the locations listed below can be found on maps at the CIA World Factbook - Reference Maps. There are many other online atlases you can use, as well as atlases in the Library Reference Room, and in the lab room which you can use if you finish your lab work early. Blank outline maps provide a good way to learn these locations and may be obtained from the Arizona Geographic Alliance and from the University of Alabama Cartographic Research Lab. The University Bookstore may also carry outline maps.

1. Continents and Oceans

North America, South America, Europe & Asia (Eurasia), Africa, Australia, Antarctica

Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean

2. North America

Political features: Canada, United States, states of the U.S. including Alaska & Hawaii, Greenland

Physical features: Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Great Basin (Basin and Range Province), Columbia Plateau, Colorado Plateau, Ozark Plateau, Canadian Shield, Great Plains, Interior Plains, Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Aleutian Islands

Water features: St. Lawrence River, Hudson River, Ohio River, Tennessee River, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Arkansas River, Red River, Platte River, Canadian River, Colorado River, Rio Grande, Snake River, Columbia River, the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario), Bering Sea, Hudson Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of California

3. Middle and South America

Political features: Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile

Physical features: Baja California, Andes Mountains, Atacama Desert, Pampas, Amazon Basin, Brazilian Highlands

Water features: Amazon River, Parana River (Rio Parana), Caribbean Sea

4. Eurasia (Europe and Asia)

Political features: Iceland, United Kingdom, Norway, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, North Korea, South Korea, Japan

Physical features: Alps, Ural Mountains, Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau, Takla Makan Desert, Gobi Desert

Water features: North Sea, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, Persian Gulf, Lake Baikal, Rhine River, Danube River, Ob River, Irtysh River, Yenisey River, Lena River, Yellow River (Huang He), Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), Indus River, Ganges River, Brahmaputra River, Mekong River

5. Africa

Political features: Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Angola, Namibia, South Africa

Physical features: Atlas Mountains, African Rift Valley, Sahara Desert, Namib Desert, Kalahari Desert

Water features: Nile River, Congo River, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), Red Sea, Gulf of Aden

6. Australia and New Zealand

Political features: Australia, New Zealand

Physical features: Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Simpson Desert, Great Dividing Range, Southern Alps

Karen A. Lemke: klemke@uwsp.edu
Last revised August 30, 2011