UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND

Department of Geography

GEOG 201

Geography of Environmental Systems

DRAFT SYLLABUS-Fall 2007

 

 

Instructor: Dr. S. D. Prince; Office, Room 1169, LeFrak Hall

Phone: (301) 405-4062 (Please restrict use of phone to urgent messages.)

E-Mail: sprince@geog.umd.edu

Office Hours: TuTh 2:00-3:00 pm or by appointment.

Teaching Assistants: TBD

 

Course Web Site: Go to http://www.geog.umd.edu/homepage/courses/201/index.htm

Lecture Times and Room: Tu & Th...... 9:30am-10:45am (LEF 2205)

 

Textbook: Robert W. Christopherson, Elemental Geosystems, Pearson Prentice Hall, 5th edition, 2007. The textbook is supported with a variety of Internet materials such as review exercises and practice test questions that may be used in this class (www.prenhall.com/christopherson).

 

CORE Laboratory Science Requirement: You may have chosen this course as part of your CORE Liberal Arts and Sciences Studies Program, the general education portion of your degree program. CORE Distributive Studies courses are designed to ensure that you will experience several different academic disciplines and the way they collect and analyze knowledge about the world. A faculty and student committee approved this CORE Distributive Studies course because it promises to involve you actively in the learning process. Please take advantage of the opportunities this course offers.

Lecture and lab courses GEOG 201 and GEOG 211 must be taken in the same semester to count for CORE Laboratory Science. If taken alone, GEOG 201 does not count as a non-lab science.

 

Course Description: A systematic introduction to the processes and associated forms of the atmosphere and earth's surface emphasizing the interaction between climatology, hydrology, geomorphology and the biosphere.

Rationale: Geographical literacy and understanding are crucial to well-informed citizens in today's interrelated and interdependent world. This course provides students with a spatial, that is, geographical frame of reference for understanding the earth's physical systems and their interactions with humans. In particular, the geographical perspective emphasizes where physical features are located, why they occupy these locations, and how environmental elements interrelate with each other in systems and are expressed in geographical distributions.

 

Course Objectives: Major objectives of the course are as follows:

• To learn the nature of the geographic approach and its value in understanding human-environment relationships.

• To understand the nature of the physical processes that account for and influence the Earth's environment, and the value of a systems approach in the analysis of interactions between them.

• To identify and account for global patterns of landscape, weather and climate, soils and vegetation and the interconnections between these elements.

• To explore reciprocal links between the physical environment and human activities.

 

Attendance and Participation: You are strongly advised to attend and participate in all lectures since exam questions will reflect not only the textbook but also lecture material unavailable elsewhere. It is important to do assigned readings before class and come prepared to take notes.

Please note that attendance in GEOG 211, the laboratory course, is mandatory.

 

Students with Special Needs: If you have a documented physical or learning disability, please contact the Instructor at the beginning of the semester so that we can make appropriate accommodations.

 

Grading: Your course grade will be based on two one-hour exams and a two-hour comprehensive final exam. These exams will consist of multiple-choice, short answer and essay questions with content drawn from the lectures and textbook. The one-hour exams will each count 100 points, while the final exam will constitute 120 points. Examination dates are listed on the attached class schedule. If an adjustment of these dates is necessary, it will be announced in class and on the course web page. The final examination date and time is set by the University and cannot be changed.

Missing an exam is a very serious matter. If an exam is missed, immediately contact your instructor by e-mail explaining the circumstances, and be ready to provide a documented excuse for your absence as required by the university guidelines.

Please note that the grades earned in GEOG 211 are independent of the exam grades in GEOG 201 and have no influence on the final grade in GEOG 201.

Extra Credit: An extra credit project will be available on the course web site. Successful completion of the project will be worth up to 15 points of extra credit. For full credit, the project must adhere to the guidelines indicated on the web site and be submitted by the due date.

 

Academic Integrity and the University of Maryland Honor Pledge: The Student Honor Council has asked us to include the following statement in each class syllabus:

“The University is one of a small number of universities with a student-administered Code of Academic Integrity and an Honor Pledge. The Code prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures.”