Syllabus

Date: Lecture Topic: Assignment*: Lab Topic: Assignment*:

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9/3 Introduction None

9/4 Place Names Class Handout

9/5 Earth Structure; 320-329 &

Chemistry Lab Man Ch.1,

Part III

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9/10 Mineral ID; Howard &

Silicates Hamblin, Ch. 1

& 2 (on library

reserve)

9/11 Minerals Lab Manual, Ch. 1

(Read Part III before

coming to lab!)

9/12 Silicates As above

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Date: Lecture Topic: Assignment*: Lab Topic: Assignment*:

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9/17 Minerals: Other As above

9/18 Minerals Lab Manual Ch. 1

9/19 Mineral Exam Prep As above

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9/24 MINERAL EXAM

9/25 Igneous Rocks Text pp. 330-335 &

Howard & Hamblin-

Igneous Rocks

9/26 No Class

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10/1 Rocks: Text pp. 335-339 &

Sedimentary Howard & Hamblin-

Metamorphic Sed & Meta Rocks

10/2 Rocks Lab Manual Ch. 2

Read Part III before

coming to lab!

10/3 Plate Tectonics 340-355

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10/8 ROCK EXAM

10/9 Weathering Lab Ch. 3 (Read Part

III before class!) &

text Pp. 398-409

10/10 Plate Tectonics 356-375

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Date: Lecture Topic: Assignment*: Lab Topic: Assignment*:

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10/15 EXAM I

10/16 Plate Tectonics

& Slide Analysis

10/17 Earthquakes 375-383

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10/22 Volcanism 383-397

10/23 Topo Maps & Text pages 13-28 &

Volcanism Appendix A (at end

of text); Lab Manual

Chs. 4 & 5 (Read

Part III before class!)

10/24 Volcanism 383-397

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10/29 Glaciers: Intro 518-528

10/30 Mountain 528-532

Glaciers Lab Ch. 9 (Read Part

III before class!)

10/31 Continental 528-553

Glaciers

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11/5 Field Trip Prep

11/6 REQUIRED FIELD TRIP TO KETTLE MORAINE (9:30 AM – 4:30 PM)

11/7 FT Wrap-up

Wind Created 462-474

Landforms

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11/11 Last day to drop or withdraw!

11/12 EXAM II

11/13 Fluvial-Intro 428-441

11/14 Fluvial-Humid Areas 441-461

Date: Lecture Topic: Assignment Lab Topic: Assignment:

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11/19 Fluvial-Arid Areas 474-487

11/20 Fluvial Lab Manual Ch. 6

(Read Part III before

class!)

11/21

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11/26 Rock Structure 365-370 & 482-

483 (both review)

11/27 Rock Lab Manual Ch. 7

Structure (Read Part III before

class!)

11/28 Happy Thanksgiving!

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12/3 EXAM III

12/4 Slide Analysis

12/5 Mass Movement 411-427

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12/10 Karst 410-411

12/11 Karst Lab Manual Ch. 8

(Read Part III before

class!)

12/12 Coastal 488-517

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12/17 FINAL EXAM 8:00 AM – H204 (Geo Lab)

10:00 AM

· Most lecture assignments are in the text, Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, 5^th edition, by Robert W. Christopherson, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2003. If you have a used copy of the fourth edition of the text, you may use it instead of purchasing a new text. However, it is your responsibility to check with a classmate’s fifth edition so that you are aware of and learn any material added in the fifth edition. Text assignments are noted by page numbers; Assignments on rocks and minerals (by Hamblin and Howard) are on library reserve in the campus library (second floor of the Founders Hall). Ask at the main desk for the reserve readings for Geography 124. Lab assignments are in the lab manual (noted by chapter numbers or "Part III") or in the text (noted by page numbers).

Description of Course

Geography 124 (Physical Geography: Landforms) is a five credit laboratory science. It will partially fulfill your requirement for mathematics and laboratory science credits necessary for your AAS and bachelors degrees. In addition to fulfilling this program requirement, one of my major aims is to make you more aware of the physical environment in which we live, including the materials and processes that have created that environment. Another of my primary aims is to have fun – I love teaching and learning and geography, especially landforms, so I am doing exactly what I want to do. Furthermore, I am doing it exactly where I want to – in a fabulously rich state geographically and in a small university that gives me the contact with students that I think is essential in good teaching and effective learning. I hope that some of my enthusiasm for what we’re about here rubs off on you and that by the end of the semester, you’ll have an enhanced appreciation for our environment and for learning about it.

A landform is a shape or a structure at the earth’s surface. It may be quite small, such as a pedestal rock, or gargantuan, such as a huge mountain chain like the Himalayas. This course will consider a variety of topics commonly covered in any introductory landforms class. These topics include:

1) minerals and rocks, the materials from which landforms are made;

2) location on the earth, as represented on maps;

3) analysis of topographic maps, air photos, and slides;

4) plate tectonics and associated activities such as vulcanism and earthquakes;

5) a variety of landforms, their characteristics, and the processes that create and destroy them.

In addition to the content to be covered, this course will enable you to develop or enhance certain skills (also called proficiencies), including the ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and interpret information and ideas. A large part of the final exam is slide interpretation, an exercise in which you can show off what you have learned during the semester. It is a fun and easy task that may be new to most of you but one that former students have mastered easily.

A second proficiency that you will hone during the semester is the ability to read and listen with comprehension and critical perception. This means that you will read, question, and understand your text and lecture material. Notice that I said, “Question your text and lecture.” Anyone can read a text and sit in a lecture, but doing so does not mean you learn anything. Learning requires that you become involved with the material, that you understand it, and that you question it. You must challenge the text and what I tell you in class. For you to read and listen with comprehension and critical perception you must be satisfied that what you are reading and hearing makes sense. Besides, the best teaching and learning take place when students are involved and questioning, so I may stop the class to force you to think about the material and develop questions to search for information you wish to know. Start thinking! Come to class tomorrow with at least one question about landforms – write it down on a 3 x 5 card so you don’t forget it. I will collect your questions and use them the rest of the semester. You will also earn five points for your question. These points will be counted as a daily quiz (see below).

A third proficiency that you will develop is the ability to interpret graphs, tables, diagrams, maps, and images such as air photos or satellite pictures. The essence of any geographic study is the place where something is found. Any topic can be made into a geographic study by asking several questions. First, what are we talking about? Where is that thing? Why is it there? and So what? Of course, to show where something is, geographers use maps, so a large part of this course will be studying landforms as portrayed on maps. We will use graphs, diagrams, and various types of images throughout the semester, as well.

Grading

Ah, yes. Now we get to the crux of the matter. You will have many grades in this class. These include daily quiz and study group points, twenty-point written quizzes, oral lab quizzes, lab exams, and exams covering lecture material. Keep reading.

Exams: Rocks, minerals, and weathering will cover roughly the first third of the course. A 40-point mineral exam and another 40-point rock exam will be given during the first few weeks of class. The last four topics from the list on the previous page will comprise the “heart” of the course and will occupy our time for the remainder of the semester. During lecture, landforms and landforming processes will be discussed, while lab will be devoted primarily to a study of landforms as illustrated by topographic maps, air photos, and slides. Three major exams will be given during the semester. A final lab exam will follow the end of the regular classes and will be given during the final exam period. Each of these exams will be worth 100 points. If you must miss an exam or will arrive late for an exam, I must be notified in advance or no make-up will be allowed. In order to notify me, please talk to me personally (office phone: 683-4729; home phone: 684-7590). In the event that you are unavoidably late for an exam, call the main office (683-4700) to leave a message for me with the secretary or send me an e-mail. Any make-up exam will be predominantly essay in format.

Study Groups: Because research has shown that group study is one of the most effective methods of learning, I will divide the class into study groups which will meet once per week for a minimum of one hour. During group, you will have time to work with each other to study lab and lecture material in preparation for quizzes and exams. Following your group meeting, each person is to write a summary of the topics discussed and/or answer questions that I ask you to address. Your answers are due to me no later than 10:40 on Thursdays (the beginning of class) and will be worth up to five points.

Daily Quizzes: Each day in lecture, I will give you a five-point quiz that covers the previous day’s class discussions and the reading assignment for that discussion. The quiz will be given promptly at the beginning of class, and there are no make-ups given. Therefore, you must be in class every day and you must be on time. Each day’s quiz will be quite brief, usually only two multiple-multiple choice questions.

Let me explain the theory underlying these daily quizzes. Pedagogical research (research on learning) has shown that the more attention students pay to their work, the better their learning. But you know, and I do too, that it is human nature to procrastinate on work such as reading a text assignment or reviewing class notes unless there is a direct payoff. A grade on an exam three weeks hence is so far off that many people are not motivated to do the reading. So they don’t, and as a result, many people don’t learn as much as they would if they did study their notes and did do the reading. So – the daily quizzes are a way to provide you with an immediate payoff. You do the reading, review your notes, and show up to take the quiz and the result is threefold for you: 1) you get points to add to your semester total; 2) you learn better than if you didn’t do the reading or note reviewing (or didn’t do it until right before the exam); 3) as a result, your exam grades are better.

Over the course of the semester, each person will complete approximately 15 study group summaries and 20-25 daily quizzes. Since each is worth five points, you will earn between 175 and 200 points from them. Your grade in the course will not be higher than your average on the daily quizzes and summaries. That means, for example, that if your average on the daily quizzes and summaries is a 76 (a C), but your average for the rest of the course is an 81 (a B-), you will receive a C for the semester. Therefore, it is imperative that you do the assigned reading, review your notes, and that you attend class and study group faithfully. Most students (usually about 95% - 98% of every class) raise their grades by these points. Because I am aware that students must occasionally miss class for legitimate reasons, I will drop your two lowest daily quiz grades and your two lowest study group grades, so if you absolutely must miss class or group, you have some cushion in terms of grades.

Written quizzes: During the semester, we will have six or seven written quizzes, each worth 20 points. Since scheduling make-up quizzes takes more organization, dedication, intelligence, cunning, and/or luck than I possess, absolutely no make-up quizzes will be given. Therefore, I will automatically drop your lowest written quiz grade, but if you miss more than one quiz, you will likely be in grade trouble.

Laboratory oral quizzes: Laboratory exercises are primarily learning, as opposed to testing, devices. Because group learning and learning communities have been shown to be very effective methods of mastering material, we will work on a weekly basis in group settings during the lab period. During lab the class will be divided into groups, different each week. You will be expected to work with your group in answering the questions in the lab manual. I will not collect your lab exercises – they are for your benefit. However, at the end of each lab period, your lab group will be given a graded oral quiz that will consist of one or two of the questions from the lab exercises. The person answering the questions will be chosen at random from your group, and everyone in the group will receive the grade earned by the person answering the question. Therefore, it is in your best interests to be certain that everyone in the group understands the questions and knows the answers to each of them – your grade will depend on it! We will have eight to ten lab quizzes. Again, because I am aware that you may have to miss lab for a legitimate reason and it is impossible to make up lab quizzes, I will drop your lowest lab quiz grade.

In summary, your final semester grade will consist of (approximately):

Daily quiz grades: 175-200 points

Written quizzes 100 points

Oral lab quizzes 100 points

Lab exams 180 points

Hour exams 300 points

Total Points Possible: 855-880 points!

Remember – this class is a five-credit lab science, which means that it is roughly the equivalent of two of your other classes. Semester grades will be figured on a percentage basis, with letter grades determined by a “curve” of points. Generally, the following curve applies:

A 93-100% D+ 68-69%

A- 90-92% D 63-67%

B+ 88-89% D- 60-62%

B 83-87% F <60%

B- 80-82%

C+ 78-79%

C 73-77%

C- 70-72%

Remember, however, that your final semester grade cannot be higher than your daily quiz/study group summary average so be certain that you are at class, on time, every day and have done your reading and reviewed your notes!!!

By the way, I do not grade students against each other – I grade you against my expectations of what you should learn. That means that the more you help each other learn, the better off everyone is. It also means that if everyone in class meets my expectations at a high level, you all get As. Therefore, concentrate on learning the material well and with great understanding. Work at explaining concepts and answering questions for your classmates, because the better able you are to explain and support each other, the more you learn. You must be certain, however, that the results of your learning are presented in your own words, not the words of someone else in the study group or of your text authors. Any students who present answers identical or very similar to the text or to the answers of other students will automatically receive a 0 for that assignment. Copying is called “plagiarizing” and is considered a very serious offense in academic work. Do yourself a big favor and don’t even think about plagiarizing anything from a written source or from a study partner.

Course Materials

Course materials include the text, Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, 5^th edition, by Robert W. Christopherson, and the lab manual, which I write. The lab manual was originally funded by a UW grant; it is constantly revised, reproduced, and sold to you at cost. In addition to the required materials, there are many books on physical geography in the library. They include textbooks that range in difficulty from elementary to advanced, as well as volumes of supplementary readings related to the topics we will discuss during the semester. In addition, I have many books, which you are welcome to check out and use – just ask.

Time Outside of Class

In college courses, a generally accepted “rule of thumb” for the amount of time required outside of class is two to three hours for every hour in class. Therefore, since we are spending about seven hours per week in class, you should allot roughly 14-21 additional hours per week for study group, reading your text and lab manual, and studying for quizzes and exams. Remember – college is not high school and the amount of effort necessary to do well here will likely be significantly greater than it was in high school. Don’t sabotage yourself by skimping on your primary activity – learning!

Attendance

I do not have a formal attendance policy. In other words, I do not automatically deduct points for absences, but it is impossible to do well in this course if you miss class since most points on quizzes and exams come from visual materials, lecture, slides, and class discussions that are not repeated in the text. Furthermore, you will earn points - in daily quizzes, study group summaries, 20-point quizzes, and oral lab quizzes - almost every day that we meet, and there are no make-ups for any of these points. Therefore, your grade is dependent in large part on your regular attendance.

A word of caution here – I expect that your education is a very high priority at this time in your life. (If it isn’t, you probably should get those priorities in order first and then attempt college.) That means that, except for health or critical family matters, your classwork comes ahead of other commitments. Work schedules, concerts, trips to Florida (or anywhere), deer hunting, car troubles, taking your little brother to his scout meeting, etc. must take a back seat compared to your school commitment. You need to be here, fully alert, on time, and ready to work hard every class day, and you need to get your assignments done well, on time, and in a thoughtful manner. If you must miss class, please don’t ask me later if you missed anything important – of course you did! But please do ask me what it was that you missed.

Accommodations

If you have a religious affiliation or a physical or learning situation for which you need an accommodation, please see Student Services as soon as possible. Also, please notify me so that I can make provisions in a timely manner.

Note

Please keep this handout and refer to it daily during the semester. Hopefully, doing so will prevent some misunderstandings that might otherwise occur. Now – let’s get started and have a fun semester. Anybody know what an orogeny is? (If you do, you probably don’t need to be in this class. If you don’t, find out before tomorrow.)