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GEOGRAPHY 2051

Section 1

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY:Land and Water Surfaces

Fall 2012 Mon Wed Fri 9.30 10.30 3 credits

Professor: Dr. Patrick Hesp

Department of Geography and Anthropology227 (old) Howe/Russell Geoscience Building

Office Hours: 10.30-11.30 Monday

Teaching Assistant: Josh Gilliland

Office Location: Howe Russell Geoscience Building E330

Email: jgilli7@lsu.edu

Office Hours: 10.30-11.30 Wednesday or by appointment.

Textbook: Christopherson, R.W., 2012. Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical

Geography (8th Edition), Prentice Hall.

Introduction:

Physical Geography is the science which studies the nature of the Earths surface. It is

concerned with understanding the elements that compose our environment, the processes

that shape it, and the complex inter-relationships of forms and processes. At the broadestscale we can identify four natural spheres of the earth system the atmosphere, the

hydrosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere. This course primarily aims to provide a

broad introduction to the latter three spheres with a particular concentration on thelithosphere and the development of landforms.

The course consists of lectures supplemented by reading from Geosystems. It will be

necessary to both read the assigned material andattend lectures. It is essential you takegood lecture notes. It is desirable that you read the appropriate section or chapter from the

textbook before you come to class.

General Education Learning Objectives

This course satisfies three credits of the universitys general education natural (physical)

sciences requirement. As such, it addresses in a sustained way many of the following

criteria:

the structure and properties of atoms and matter;

chemical reactions, motions, and forces;

the conservation of energy and the increase in disorder;

the interactions of energy and matter;

energy in the earth system, geochemical cycles, and the origin and evolution ofthe universe and the earth system

The learning goals for students in GEOG 2051 are to:

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Demonstrate knowledge of a broad survey in the discipline, including the

underlying principles that govern the natural world

Demonstrate the ability to use inductive and deductive reasoning to understandscientific phenomena;

Demonstrate an ability to relate the field of study to other fields in the natural

sciences.

Learning Strategy

I strongly encourage you to (a) attend every class and take notes, (b) keep up with thereading, and (c) ask questions in class if you wish to (your classmates will appreciate

this), (d) make an appointment or see the TA or me after class if you have further

questions.

To help with the note-taking process, I will post a template of the lectures with many ofthe figures to be discussed in class. I will not necessarily post the full lectures notes

online, and I will not give them out to students by request. Therefore, you must

attend class and take notes if you wish to have all the material for the exams covered. If

you miss a class, you will need to get the notes from a classmate, not from me! All of theexam questions will be drawn directly from material presented in lectures and textbook;

thus, the notes can serve as a very useful study guide for each of the exams.

So that all students can benefit from the lecture, I ask that you observe a few simple

rules: Try your best to be on time, but if you are late, tiptoe in. Please turn off cell

phones, iPods, and other electronic devices. You may use your laptop during the class

exclusively for accessing the lecture material being presented in class. Any other use

shall be regarded as inappropriate and you may be reported to the Dean of Students.

Attendance should be considered mandatory, but you're on your honor. I do not take a

roll. I figure you're paying to be here, and it's up to you whether or not you would like toget what you pay for by coming to class. Attend class and TAKE NOTES.

Course Requirements and Methods of Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on thebasis of 3 examinations: Two tests (worth 30% each) and a final examination worth 40%.

Test/exam dates are provided in the schedule below. The format for the tests and exams is

multiple choice and true/false questions. Exam material is from lectures AND

textbook. You will need a scantron sheet for each exam. The final exam will not be

cumulative; instead, the material covered in the examinations will be spaced throughout

the semester.

The final grade will be determined on a ten-point scale (90-100% A; 80-89% B; 70-79%C; 60-69% D; below 60% Fail). Students should keep in mind that grading is an

assessment of quality, not a measure of effort. Please do not interpret my attempt to makethe classroom environment friendly and welcoming as any indication of relaxed academic

expectations. On the contrary, you should expect a rigorous learning experience, and I

will set a high academic standard for the class. Extra credit activities will not be made upin any circumstance, no exceptions!

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Make-up Procedure: Make-up exams will only be allowed in cases where a test was

missed for a valid and documented reason (medical condition, bereavement, travel for an

athletic event or other university business) and MUST be completed no later than a week

after the regular test day. Mark test dates on your calendar now!! If you miss a test andyou have a valid excuse, you must notify the TA by e-mail before the exam begins or,

when that is logistically impossible, very soon afterwards on the same day. Use the same

study guide, notes, and text readings as the regular exam to study for any make up exam.Conflicts with jobs, other classes, and your personal life are not satisfactory excuses.

Personal travel is not, in any circumstance, a legitimate excuse. Please plan to be in

attendance for each exam, including the last exam which will be given during the officialuniversity final exam period.

Email Policy: Email will be a primary means of communication for this course. Students

must ensure that their email address on Moodle is accurate, as important course

information may be provided periodically by the Moodle email interface.

I encourage students to use email as their primary means of contacting the TA outside ofthe classroom. Whenever possible the TA will respond to a student email inquiry within

24 hours. Please dont forget to sign your name at the end of the email it is often

difficult to identify a student solely by email address. In addition, in order to make class-related email exchanges as efficient as possible, I will not respond to emails requesting

basic course information that is in this syllabus. This includes, but is not limited to,

questions about exam dates/times, grading policies, requests for extra credit, requests formissed class notes, etc.

STUDY TECHNIQUES WHICH WILL ALLOW YOU TO ACHIEVE HIGHER

GRADES WITH LESS EFFORT:

1. Do a quick reading of the topic to be covered in the lecture beforeattending class. Ten or fifteen minutes will be sufficient.

2. Attend class and TAKE NOTES.

3. Attend all classes. Yes I said all classes! Someone is paying for you toattend, so BE THERE.

4. Be on the alert for any indication by the instructor of possible testquestions, or obviously important statements.

5. DO SOME HOMEWORK!!Read over your notes after the lecture and clarify points;

Read the appropriate chapter in the textbook and TAKE NOTES.

6. If you are having trouble understanding something, ask. Go visit the TA orProfessor concerned.

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Lect DATE LECTURE TITLE Christopherson TEXT

(8th Edition)

1 Aug 20 Introduction Chpt 1

2 22 Earth Systems Chpt. 1: 1 - 13

3 24 Latitude and Time Chpt. 1: 13 - 15

4 27 Longitude Chpt. 1: 15 - 23

5 29 Maps, Scales and Projections; GIS Chpt. 1: 23 - 356 31 Journey into the Earth Chpt. 11: 294 - 304

Sept 3 LABOR DAY HOLIDAY

7 5 Igneous Rocks and the Rock Cycle Chpt. 11: 303 - 309

8 7 Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks Chpt. 11: 309 - 314

9 10 Plate Tectonics Chpt. 11: 314 - 329

12 TEST Review

14 TEST 1

10 17 Earths Surface Relief Features andOrogenesis

Chpt. 12: 330 338343 349

11 19 Tectonic Landforms and Third Order Relief Features

Chpt. 12: 338 - 343; 348-355

12 21 Volcanic landforms Chpt. 12: 355 - 367

13 24 Rock Weathering Chpt. 13: 368 - 387

14 26 Mass Movement Chpt. 13: 386-397

15 28 Fluvial Processes Chpt. 14

16 Oct 1 Fluvial Landforms Chpt 14

17 3 Structurally Controlled Landforms Chpt. 15: 489-492/Lecture

18 5 Deserts Chpt. 15

8-13 Mid-Semester Exams Period

19 15 The Dust Bowl Chpt. 15/Lecture

20 17 Coasts - Waves Chpt. 16/LectureOct 18-21 FALL BREAK

21 22 Coastal Landforms Chpt. 16/Lecture

24 TEST Review

26 TEST 2

29 Test Overview

22 31 Glacial Processes Chpt 17

23 Nov 2 Glacial Landforms Chpt 17

24 5 Global Climate and Glacials Chpt 17: 509-517/Lecture

25 7 Karst Landforms Chpt. 13: 380 - 385

26 9 Soils 1 Chpt. 18: 526 - 533

27 12 Soils 2 Chpt. 18: 533 553/Lecture28 14 Ecosystem essentials 1 Chpt. 19:

29 16 Ecosystem essentials 2 Chpt. 19:

30 19 Ecosystem essentials 3 Chpt. 19

21-25 THANKSGIVING

31 26 Terrestrial Biomes 1 Chpt. 20

32 28 Terrestrial Biomes 2 Chpt. 20

30 EXAM REVIEW

DEC 4th FINAL EXAM 7.30 9.30 am

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