GEOGR 15: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

FALL 2008

MW 8:00 – 9:25A

CEDAR 1

Ted Hamilton

Office: 217 Tamarack Hall

Email: hamiltont@yosemite.edu

CENTRAL THEMES, CONCEPTS, AND PROCESSES

ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK:

REGION, DIFFUSION, INTEGRATION, ECOLOGY, LANDSCAPE

THEMES	CONCEPTS	PROCESSES
Science and Art of Geographical Analysis	Themes, Perspectives, Methods	Theoretical, Methodological, Empirical
Geographic Phenomena: Patterns and Interactions	Wind, Seasons, Water, Energy, Temperature, Weather, Climate, Topography,	Changes Over Time and Place; Rate, Scale, and Scope of Change; Causes and Consequences
Fundamental Processes	Tectonics, Gradation, Deposition, Atmospheric Violence, Weathering	Interpretation,
Ecosystems	Terrestrial and Aquatic	Succession, Stability, Utility
Practicing Geography	Fluvial, Arid, Coastal, and Glacial Landscapes	Patterns, Processes, Interactions, Change Over Time
Future Trajectories: Human-Environment Interactions	Forces of Change (Natural, Human-Induced); Unprecedented Challenges and Opportunities	Knowledge/Wisdom, Management, and Sustainability

THE ATLAS PROJECT

· 1^ST Project: (50 Points) Due September 24^th

· 2^ND Project: (50 Points) Due October 29^th

· Final Project: (100 Points) Due December 8^th by 10:00 am

For each exam, at least 5 thematic maps are required, each demonstrating the most significant spatial patterns in North America and a comparable region.

FIRST EXAM (100 POINTS)

ENERGY AND MATERIALS:

PATTERNS, PROCESSES, AND INTERACTIONS

1. List, describe and demonstrate the most significant processes and products attributed to cartographers. Demonstrate how the partnership between cartography and geography is fundamental to a holistic comprehension of earth.

2. Why is there wind? Describe and demonstrate the most significant causes and consequences winds, starting with global circulations and progressing to the winds most clearly evident in California.

3. Compare and contrast the most significant regions and locations which best demonstrate the causes and consequences of seasons. Be sure to focus on the current patterns of seasonal change and seasonal extremes.

4. Present an integrated, visual geography of the most significant patterns of water, temperature, and crucial interactions. Map and graph the crucial causal factors which modify temperature. Be sure to select at least 5 sites as evidence.

5. Are we getting warmer? Critically evaluate the current best evidence available regarding global temperature patterns. Geographically demonstrate the material and anthropogenic contributions to earth’s temperature trends.

Rules and Guidelines

n Use the ‘Ten Criteria.’

n Graphic presentations accompanying responses are strongly RECOMMENDED.

n Essay breakdown should approximate one-third each of the following: reading/class dialogue/original thinking (which does not mean opinion).

n Students must have notes and text books approved by instructor before outlines are due for each exam.

Practice ‘Learned Resourcefulness.’ Avoid procrastination, develop appropriate help-seeking behaviors, ask questions, learn to recognize & utilize resources (e.g. the library, fellow students, the instructor, tutoring, study groups, etc.) embrace realistic goals and priorities.

SECOND EXAM (100 POINTS)

WEATHER AND CLIMATE:

INPUTS, INTERACTIONS, AND OUTCOMES

1. Select four significant regions that best demonstrate the water-balance concept. For each, demonstrate the most significant patterns of natural change, human utilization, and appropriate management. Be sure to provide a comparison and contrast with the situation in California’s Central Valley.

2. Compare and contrast the most significant weather patterns and phenomena of North America with two similar and two dissimilar regions, demonstrating the costs and benefits of weather.

3. Why is water so essential to our understanding of weather and climate? Describe and demonstrate the unique properties of water, the most useful measurements of water and the means of distribution unique to water. Be sure to provide global and site specific examples.

4. Select four significant climatic regions that best illustrate the interactions of energy and water, latitude and elevation, and crucial topographic features. For each, demonstrate how distinctive weather conditions regulate the climatic range of extremes.

5. List, describe and demonstrate the ways in which humankind now contribute to climate change. Contrast these contributions to the climate controls beyond human impact. Assess the most likely short and long terms consequences of current trends on at least 4 significant climate regions.

Rules and Guidelines

n Use the ‘Ten Criteria.’

n Graphic presentations accompanying responses are strongly RECOMMENDED.

n Essay breakdown should approximate one-third each of the following: reading/class dialogue/original thinking (which does not mean opinion).

n Students must have notes and text books approved by instructor before outlines are due for each exam.

FINAL EXAM

LANDFORMS AND LIFE:

GEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS AND PROCESSES / HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS

TAKE-HOME EXAM (100 POINTS)

Provide a geographical interpretation of the processes of Tectonics, Gradation, Deposition, Atmospheric Violence, and Weathering. How has humankind attempted to control these forces? What is the most likely outcome of humankind’s efforts at control? Are there viable alternatives?

IN-CLASS EXAM (100 POINTS)

1. By interpreting soil as a life form, describe and demonstrate the processes which create soils, the most significant properties and chemical aspects of soils, and the most useful soils on earth. Assess the current state of global soil “management”.

2. Map, describe, and demonstrate the most significant aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In assessing significance, be sure to factor the concepts of ecological succession, ecosystem stability, and the utility for humankind.

3. Demonstrate how the geographical concepts of site and situation reveal the patterns of interaction between soil, natural vegetation, and appropriate human use of earth. In contrast, map the most vulnerable and damaged regions of earth. Be sure to assess the role of fire in this analysis.

4. It is suggested that “human destiny is tied to nature’s destiny and the arrogance of the engineering mind does not change this.” Assess the roles played by humankind in light of the claim that “most of the environmental problems being studied by scientists have known solutions or strategies for positive resolution, if only knowledge could be applied in a constructive way.”

5. Select the most significant fluvial, arid, costal and glacial landscapes. How would a novice geographer or educated traveler recognize which was which? Where would you select to demonstrate how these processes might interact and overlap with each other?

Rules and Guidelines

n Use the ‘Ten Criteria.’

n Graphic presentations accompanying responses are strongly RECOMMENDED.

n Essay breakdown should approximate one-third each of the following: reading/class dialogue/original thinking (which does not mean opinion).

n Students must have notes and text books approved by instructor before outlines are due for each exam.