Latitude/Longitude Grid Composite of Earth from Space June 21 Los Angeles Underwater Map

Physical Geography 5 Lecture and Lab Spring 2011 Section 2197   2:15p-5:20p MW   HSS 251   

This course surveys the distribution and relationships of environmental elements including weather, climate, landforms, soils, natural vegetation, wildlife, and hydrography. It covers the effect of the sun and moon on environmental processes.

The lab portion of class will involve using maps, charts, graphs and other tools to model and develop a more detailed understanding of the process involved in the Earths atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere.

Physical geography teaches us a holistic view of the intricate supporting web that is Earth’s environment and our place in it. Dramatic changes that demand our understanding are occurring in many human-Earth relations, as we alter physical, chemical, and biological systems. All things considered, this is a critical time to be enrolled in a physical geography course! – Robert Christopherson

Instructor: Dr. Patricia Kellner

Class time :2:15 -5:20 Monday & Wednesday

Office Hours: After class (no appointment) and before class by appointment

Classroom: HSS 251   

E-Mail: E-Mail: SMCgeography@socal.rr.com

Please do not email me at the official SMC faculty site – I rarely read email sent to that address.

Class Website: www.gondwanan.com

If you have difficulty getting to this website, send me an E-mail and I will send you a hyperlink to the site. If necessary, I can e-mail you the material.

On this website you will find copies of your syllabus and class schedule, study guides, lecture outlines, lecture notes, relevant articles, links to interesting websites, and other materials. It is recommended that you print out the chapter outlines before coming to class. This will help you to take more organized notes

YOU MUST HAVE YOUR LAB WORKBOOK WITH YOU BY THE SECOND WED CLASS OR YOU WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE CLASS..

Lecture Text: REQUIRED

Christopherson Geosystems Book PACKAGE
ISBN: 0321618661

A used copy of the sixth edition of this text is OK

Lab Text: REQUIRED

Hess, Darrel, 2008 Laboratory Manual: Physical Geography, A Landscape Approach, (Spiral-bound). Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc. Tenth Ed.)

.

Note: DO NOT BUY THE LAB TEXT USED

Every used lab manual I’ve seen has the most important exercises removed from the book. If you don’t have the exercise (not yet filled out) than you will not get credit for that lab. NO Exceptions.

bRING YOUR LAB BOOK TO EACH CLASS

Use of Cell Phones, Computers, and Electronic Devices is prohibited in class. If you need a English dictionary, you can use a paper one. Note taking will be by hand. Notes are provided for each lecture, so this should not be a hardship. If you use your device in class, you will be asked to put it into the electronic garage until the end of class or to leave class. EFFECTIVE MULTI-TASKING is a myth. Partial attention produces partial results

Materials: Please bring the following items to each class:

- CALCULATOR (not a cell phone)

- metric-English ruler (measures both centimeters and inches),

- colored pencils,

- highlighter,

- protractor, (Big Lots has cheap ones)

- eraser,

- Also bring your Geography 1 textbook to each lab class.

Dropping the Class and Exclusion Policy

If you miss two classes in a row, the instructor may exclude you from the class. If you decide not to continue taking the class, it is your responsibility to officially drop the class. If your name remains on the official class grade roster I am required by California law to give any student who doesn’t take the final an F for the class. Even if you only attended the first class, you may end up with an F on your transcript if you fail to officially drop the class. Usually, I manage to exclude students who are not attending, but sometimes I overlook someone and they end up with an undeserved F. Please do not let this happen to you. Unfortunately, there is no recourse if this happens, because dropping the class is your responsibility.

Course Requirements

Eight Quizzes 20% *

Lecture Midterm 26%

Lecture Final 26%

Lab Participation 6%

Lab Midterm 7%

Lab Final 7%

Filed Trip 8%

Total: 100%

*Quiz grades: If you show me that you have bought the text before the midterm, I will drop the lowest quiz grades. Quizzes will be given promptly at the beginning of lecture class. There will be no makeup quizzes. Many of the questions on the quizzes will appear again on your midterm or final.

Grade distributions: The normal grade range will be: 90-100 A; 80-89 B; 70-79 C; 60-69 D; less than 60%, F, but I may adjust these category boundaries when assigning final grades.

Lab Exams

Lab exams will consist of exercises very similar to the ones you did in lab. They will require you to interpret maps, make calculations, read and interpret tables, make graphs, etc..

Lecture exams

Lecture exams will consist of multiple choice and short answers. The final exam will have an additional essay question. The objective (multiple choice) portion of the final exam covers only the material presented since the midterm. The essay question on the final exam will concern material covered since the beginning of the class. Bring Scantron Form 882 ES (50 questions each side) to each exam. Exams will be given promptly at the beginning of class Makeup exams will only be allowed for well-documented emergencies and will consist entirely of essay questions..

Field trip: As part of your lab grade you will be taking a self-guided field trip of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. This will be an interesting and beautiful trip and you will see things that are directly related to the topics of this class. I estimate that this trip will take 6 hours, including travel time from Santa Monica College. I encourage you to take this trip with your fellow class members, but remember that the work you turn in must be your own, in your own words. Please do not turn in group reports. Typed reports are not necessary – just answer questions asked in the field trip report and include the requested photographs, labeled, on a separate sheet. You must include a photo of yourself as requested to get credit. Field trips are due the last class meeting before the final. Do not turn them in early. Absolutely no late field trips will be accepted as I do not want you taking a field trip when you should be preparing for finals. The field trip will be available for downloading from www.gondwanan.com by week two of class.

Class Participation AND ATTENDANCE

Class participation is encouraged. Your questions and insightful comments can help me get to know you and can make a positive difference for students who have a class grade on the borderline between one grade and the next higher one. By missing classes, you will miss quizzes and your class grade will be significantly impacted.

Lab exercises will frequently (but not always) be held on Wednesdays. If you miss class, you miss credit for that lab exercise. Missed lab exercises cannot be turned in at a later date – they must be done in class. NO EXCEPTIONS

Academic honesty

Any violation of academic honesty or integrity, including cheating, plagiarism (presenting another’s work as your own), or falsifying attendance will be reported to college officials and may result in failing the course.

QUIZ CONTENT

Quizzes are usually given in the class following the lecture covering the quiz content. Quiz dates will be announced in class.

Latitude longitude Quiz 1

Be able to plot latitude coordinates on a grid, such as: 30° S Latitude, 10° E Longitude. Understand the difference between lines of latitude and longitude. Which are parallels? Which are meridians? Which meet at the poles? Which ones measure your distance E & W of the Prime Meridian? Which measure the distance N or S of the Equator? Is the Equator a line of latitude or longitude?

Earth- Sun Relationship Quiz 2

You will be given Diagram 2.15 titled “Annual march of the seasons.” Identifying dates will be removed from the diagram. You will have to determine which of the positions of the Earth represents the Winter and Summer Solstices, and the Spring and Fall Equinoxes. Also know the dates for the Solstices and Equinoxes and the location of the subsolar point for each of the four dates.

Atmosphere Quiz 3

You will be given Figure 3.2(Modern Atmosphere Profile) with the words “Composition, Temperature, and Function” removed. Thus you need to know which divisions of the atmosphere fall under each category. Understand the air composition differences between the homosphere and the heterosphere. In which of the spheres denoted by temperature (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere) does most of our weather occur? What are the functions of the ionosphere and the ozonosphere? Know the composition of the gases in the atmosphere, from greatest to least (exact percentages unnecessary, see Figure 2.19, page 51).What happens to air temperature as you increase in elevation in the troposphere? In the stratosphere? Which sphere protects us from incoming x-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays? Which sphere protects us from too much UV light?

Highs and lows Quiz 4

Understand the different properties of high and low pressure areas. Do winds converge or diverge at the surface? Are parcels of air ascending and cooling or descending and heating through compression? Do winds circulate in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction? Which are called cyclones? Which anticyclones?

Phase Change Quiz 5

Quiz on Phase Changes of Water will cover this material. Know what phase changes are involved in evaporation (liquid water to water vapor gas), condensation, freezing, and sublimation. Also, know if energy is released from the water molecule into the environment (thus heating the environment) or absorbed from the environment into the water molecule (thus cooling the environment) for each phase change.

Climographs and Climate Quiz 6

Know the main difference between Microthermal (cold winters) and Mesothermal (midlatitude, mild winters) climates? Which type has greater weather variability? What are the characteristics of a Mediterranean climate? What type of climate do we live in? Be able to read a climographs. Given a selection of climographs, be able to distinguish which ones represent: tropical rain forest, Asian monsoon (humid subtropical winter dry), humid subtropical rainy all year; sub arctic, low latitude desert, Mediterranean (northern hemisphere). ( I’ll use figures 10.7. 10.8, 10.11, 10.16,10.20, and 10.26)

Earth Structure Quiz 7

Know the sequence of the structure of the earth, from the surface to the center: Lithosphere and crust, Asthenosphere, Upper mantle, Lower mantle, Outer core; and Inner core. Given a diagram of the layers of the earth, be able to match names to layers. The layer of the Earth’s structure made of molten iron is responsible for generating the Earth’s magnetic field. Which layer is it? Which layer is composed of solid iron? Which of the layers has pockets of increased heat, capable of deformation, and is responsible for the movement of crustal plates?

Plate Tectonics Quiz 8

Given Diagram 11.6a (The geologic cycle), with the labels removed, be able to identify where the following occurs: Extrusive igneous rocks on land surface; Intrusive igneous rocks (plutons); basaltic lava flows; sea floor spreading; mid ocean ridge; subduction; granitic crust; oceanic crust; Asthenosphere; extrusive volcanic lava; metamorphic rocks; and lithified sedimentary rock.

Tentative Schedule for Geography 5 Spring 2011 Section 2197 Exact dates for labs may differ, but quiz dates are dependable
Week	Date	MONDAY		WEDNESDAY
1	14-Feb	Chap 1: Essentials of Geog	16-Feb	Chapter 2: Solar Energy to Earth & The Seasons
2	21-Feb	Holiday: President’s Day	23-Feb	Latitude Longitude Quiz
3	28-Feb	Chapter 3 Earth’s Atmosphere Chapter 4: Surface Energy Balance	2-Mar	Earth-Sun Quiz
4	7-Mar	Chapter 5: Global Temperatures	9-Mar	Atmosphere Quiz
5	14-Mar	Chapter 6: Atmospheric & Ocean Circulation	16-Mar
6	21-Mar	Chapter 7: Water and Atmospheric Moisture	23-Mar	Highs and Lows Quiz
7	28-Mar	Chapter 8: Weather	30-Mar	Phase Change Quiz
8	4-Apr	Chapter 8: Continued	6-Apr	Lecture Midterm Chapters 1-8
9	11-Apr	Spring Break	13-Apr	Spring Break
10	18-Apr	Chapter 10: Global Climate Systems	20-Apr	LAB Midterm
11	25-Apr	Chapter 11: The Dynamic Planet	27-Apr
12	2-May	Chapter 11: The Dynamic Planet	4-May	Climograph Quiz
13	9-May	Chapter 12: Tectonics, Earthquakes and Volcanism	11-May	Earth’s Internal Structure Quiz
14	16-May	Chapter 12: Tectonics, Earthquakes and Volcanism	18-May
15	23-May	Chapter 13: Weathering, Karst Landscapes and Mass Movement	25-May	Subduction Quiz
16	30-May	Memorial Day Holiday	1-Jun	LAB Final
17	6-Jun	FIELD TRIPS DUE at start of class Chapter 13: Weathering, Karst Landscapes and Mass Movement	8-Jun	FINAL EXAM Lecture Final: Chapters 10-13 and Lab Final 3:30 – 6:30 HSS251

Name: _______________________________

Mark and label with name of the latitude these important lines of latitude:

Tropic of Cancer = 23 1/2 ° N Latitude

Tropic of Capricorn = 23 1/2° S Latitude

Arctic Circle = 66.5°

Antarctic Circle at 66.5° S

Mark these locations with an A B C D & E :

A. 40˚ N Latitude, 40˚ W Longitude

B. 0˚ Latitude, 0˚ Longitude

C. 60˚ N Latitude, 30˚ W Longitude

C. 20˚ S Latitude, 30˚ E Longitude

E. 50˚ S Latitude, 100˚ W Longitude

Name: ________________________

Write Latitude and Longitude Coordinates for each location. Begin by locating the Equator and the Prime Meridian.

Remember, Latitude is always listed first and is always N or S, and Longitude second and is always E or W.

Example: 14º N Lat, 100º W Long.

A)__________________

B)__________________

C)__________________

D)__________________

E)__________________

F)__________________

G)__________________

H)__________________

I)__________________

J)__________________

K)__________________

L)__________________

M)__________________