general policies, textbooks, grading

Physical Geography–Instructor, David Unterman Spring 2008 Thurs night
1. Contacting: When you need to reach me, use my home phone,
530-272-4650, or email dance7@ sbcglobal.net If you having major trouble with the material, or will miss more than one class, you should contact me.
first homework: by next Wednesday midnight, email me: Your home, cell, work phone #s; street mail address; career & college plans next 5 years; other science classes so far; how many semesters or years of college so far
2. Purposes of this course: *overview of several specialties in the earth sciences, such as weather and climate; hydrology; the earth’s crust and forces that shape it; natural hazards and how people relate with them; relations between the physical environment, its resources, and living things.
*to help you, as a voter, citizen, and future community leader, to understand the methods and language of Geography and other sciences.
*to practice how to work with maps and charts. If you think you don’t like maps and other graphics, take this time to improve your skills.
mailto:dance7@sbcglobal.net
*to get you ready to take classes in "Geographic Information Systems" (computerized mapping and data handling–available at most 4-year schools, also Sierra and American River JCs), and to look at career opportunities.
3. Materials: We use the text pretty heavily–"Elemental Geosystems",
5th edition, by Christopherson–the paperback. The library has a copy. There are no powerpoint notes, but for some topics, there’s a lecture outline or study guide. Bring textbook to class when possible.
A good atlas is recommended, not required. Size and detail are more important than newness for this class. If you don’t own one, you will need to spend time studying at any library. An excellent value is Goode’s World Atlas published by Rand-McNally and edited by Veregin. About 370 pages including the index. Either the 2006 21st edition or an older used one is fine, and it will help later in your academic career. A copy is at our library.
4. Methods: We don’t just memorize places or describe them. We analyze forces that affect places–for example, what does Rocklin have in common with Florence, Italy, and why? What causes tornado alleys and earthquake risk areas? Visual learning is big: pictures to identify, maps, and diagrams, and things to learn about them. When we show a video or slideshow, it’s for a reason-- make sure you write notes about it, and ask questions.
We’re in class about 3 hours a week, and your homework and studying should take 2 to 6 more hours. Text chapters should be read before the class discussion on them. Lectures can’t cover all the material, just the highlights and the tricky parts. Reading the material first is essential.
5. Testing and grading: We’ll have about 10 homework and in-class assignments, making up about 50% of your grade. If you do these well and deliver them on time at the start of the class when they’re due, you control much of your grade without the pressure of tests. Being sick or absent does not change the due date for assignments, so if you are not here, get them brought to class, or emailed, or faxed to 530-272-5124, or dropped at "adjunct mail room", just off the cafeteria. Late assignments get only half credit, and are still required.
Quizzes will always be early, about 6:05. Then we go on and study the next topic. Even though you study for quizzes, keep reading ahead so that you gain more from the lectures.
Exams will include very short essays to show that you understand ideas and processes. Memorizing definitions is not enough. At least one exam will allow open notebooks, so be on time and take notes during class. Taking lecture notes, studying them, and figuring what the teacher is emphasizing, are key skills. Good students will have about 3 to 6 handwritten notes most nights. Talk to me and to other students for advice on note taking, and start by assuming that everything that gets written on the board is important.
There will be a quiz every 2nd or 3rd class. Most quizzes can not be made up if you miss them, but we will drop one low or missing score. I’ll provide a grade summary 2 or 3 times during the semester, but you should also record scores as we go along. 90% and up is an A, 80 to 90% is a B, etc.
I’ll include a grade for being on time, in class, and participating. To stay awake for 3 hours, we need to be active and have discussion. If you tell me your interests, career plans, unusual places you’ve seen, we’ll work this into the curriculum, your photos too.
There will be 3 short, structured, written assignments, based on materials and topics that I provide. It’s OK if you’re not a strong writer.
6. Classroom: We have about 45 hours together to learn the whole planet, its systems and makeup, so let’s use our time well:
*Be on time. If you’re late or unprepared, come anyway.
*if you need a better explanation or can’t follow me, raise a hand right away. You’re probably not the only one, so this helps us all.
*turn off all cell phones, pagers, etc. Tell me now if you can’t do this.
*Read all handouts right away. They may contain an assignment.
Use a looseleaf binder and save all handouts and returned homework.
*Tell me right away about any concerns related to learning or testing.
*Early in the semester, find a few reliable classmates and exchange phone numbers. If you miss a class, check for notes and handouts.
*Most, but not all class handouts will be available via: Sierracollege. edu /
tab "online services" / Tab "access blackboard" / Log in /

schedule and reading thru Feb 5

Jan 15
**tasks + topics
Lat., Long., projecting world maps, scales
contour maps + slopes, learning locations
practice scales
this week:
**email teacher job/college plans

Jan 22
**Homwk #1in
read: p 3, themes; 6-11 systems + feedback; 15-18 Lat +Long; 22-25 scales+projectionsdistinguish GPS vs GIS;

Jan 29
QUIZ: Ch.1, map skills, slope,
locations list #1
MOVING RIGHT ALONG, read Chap 8 before class

Feb 5
earthquakes, volcanos
Chap. 9 (light on 295-7 and 299-305). DO note terranes/298, strike-slip/305
Graphics: *means quiz item*
8.5 generally
8.7, 8.13*p. 283 boundaries. 8.19,
9.6, 9.11, 9.12, 9.16*, 9.20, 9.21, 9.24*, 9.33*, 9.34

Feb 12
*QUIZ Ch 8, 9
*QUIZ locations list #2
start Chapter 11–read the chapter thoroughly; study guide soon

Intro unit–chap 1 and cartography and topographic mapping (3 classes)
Unit 1: Lithosphere/crust, earthquakes, volcanoes–Chap. 8,9 (2 classes)
Unit 2: landforms of river, desert, glacier; also soils and natural hazards
Chap. 11 carefully. Also highlights of 12, 13, 14, 15, 10, all in 3 nights;
Unit 3: Biogeography, Chap. 16 & climate, Ch 7 (2 classes)
Unit 4: Atmosphere, pressure, wind, weather, chap. 2, 3, 4, 5 (3 classes)
Unit 5: Natural resources, human connections (1 class) Ch 17
Leave the driving to us, take great pictures, liven up your Spring, sign up for
March 14, foothills geology, Earth Science 54D
April 18-19, Pt Reyes on the coast, Earth Science 16 D
April 25, Mother Lode geography, Geog 15
April 24-26 Mono Lake and Nevada mountains, Earth Sci 54D
May 1-3--likely extra credit for any Geography class--Calif. Geographic Society’s yearly meeting, this year at Solvang with field trips (coast, earthquakes, southern wine country, demos, new technologies, talks by undergrad and grad students, more.

CONVERSIONS TO MEMORIZE for first quiz, Jan 29:
12 inches = 1 foot 5280 feet = 1 mile 640 acres = 1 square mile
100 centimeter (cm) = 1 meter (m) 1000 meters = 1 kilometer (km)
1 km = aprx .62 mile 1 m = aprx 3.3 ft 1 inch = aprx 2.5 cm
LOCATIONS LIST #1: Quiz is Jan 29
Seas etc: Mediterranean, Black, Baltic, North, Caspian, Aral, Red, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, South China, East China, Yellow, Andaman, Sea of Okhotsk, Coral Sea, Gulf of California (=Sea of Cortez), Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, Gulf of Guinea
Lakes: Baikal (Asia), Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa (Africa)
Straits and strategic channels: English Channel, Bosporus Strait (outlet of Black Sea), Suez Canal, Gibraltar Strait (outlet of Mediterranean), Hormuz Strait (narrow part of Persian Gulf), Molucca Straits (near Singapore), Bering Strait (US/Russia), Strait of Juan de Fuca
Mountain Ranges:
Sierra Nevada (USA), Cascades, Rockies, Appalachians, Guiana Highlands, Andes, Alps, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Balkans, Urals, Himalaya, Tien Shan, Western Ghats, Atlas, Ethiopian Highlands, Kilimanjaro
Peninsulas and other: Kamchatka Pen., Malayan Pen., Tibetan Plateau, Yucatan, Baja California; Great Basin (of USA)
LOCATIONS LIST #2: Quiz is Feb 12
Island groups: Indonesia, Phillippines, Azores, Lesser Antilles, Galapagos, New Zealand, Japan, Maldives, Seychelles
Individual islands: New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Taiwan, Hainan, Sakhalin, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, Madagascar, Iceland, Greenland, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Vancouver
Rivers:
N. Amer: Mississippi, Colorado, Rio Grande, St. Lawrence, Columbia, Mackenzie, Yukon
S. Amer: Parana (Plata), Orinoco, Amazon
Africa: Zambesi, Zaire/Congo, Nile, Niger
Europe: Danube, Volga, Don, Dnieper, Loire, Rhine
Asia: Amur, Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Mekong,
Huang Ho (Yellow), Yangtze (Chiang Jiang), Lena, Ob/Irtish, Yenisei

"Planet Earth, the living machine" and science history–main points
Study of the earth advanced in the 1790's as part of revolutions in industry, science, religion, and politics. The religious establishment had taught that the earth was created suddenly 6000 years ago, and that the oceans and continents were unmoving and unchanging. This theory of a sudden creation is called "catastrophism".

James Hutton of University of Edinburgh, Scotland, challenged this view. He said that earth was much older, and that mountains and oceans change their shapes and locations slowly over a much longer time period–"with no beginning and no end." The idea of ongoing creation, destruction, and re-shaping is called "uniformitarianism" and is now accepted. The changes are caused, Hutton said, by "Earth’s great heat engine."

Hutton lived near a dormant volcano, "Arthur’s Seat." He noticed places where one type of rock intrudes into another type, which meant that creation of land was a multi-step process. With help from others, he found areas where distinct layers were atop one another, and where lake-bottom sediment layers had hardened, then tilted to vertical, and then gotten covered by other layers, as more proof of ongoing formation of the planet.

In the early 1900's, Alfred Wegener, a German scientist, studied fossils, finding hot-weather plants and animals up near the North Pole, and evidence of glaciers near the Equator. He theorized that the continents have moved.


As further evidence, Wegener showed underground patterns indicating that a mountain range in the Eastern US is linked to one in Europe–they formed as one range, but were later split by movement of the continents. His ideas
did not catch on, because people could not accept the idea of huge continents moving, and Wegener could not say what moved them.


In 1957-58, the "International Geophysical Year" attempted to get the USA and the USSR to cooperate peacefully by doing science together.
One project was to study and map the bottoms of the oceans using several methods. This found several surprises, which helped prove Wegener’s ideas:
*The oceans are not big basins, as they appear. Instead, there are ridges in the middle of the oceans.

*These ridges are volcanic, with lava spewing out. There are bigger and more obvious cracks in the earth’s crust underwater than there are on land.

*Magnetic research by Americans Cox and Dalrymple and others confirmed that newer crust is found near the mid-ocean ridges. The cracks there are spreading, but new lava keeps hardening to form new crust near the cracks. In 1962, Britishers Vine and Matthews calculated speeds of crust movement usually around 1 inch per year. Faster speed means faster plate movement.

By the 1960s, the former USA military scientists Harry Hess and Robert Dietz proposed "seafloor spreading" as the mechanism that pushes the continents.

We now know the largest plates’ location, shape, and direction of movement. Researchers keep finding smaller plates (microplates), and evidence where small plates have crashed into big ones and joined them. These additions are called "exotic terranes" (spelling is correct) or "accretions".