Overview

The objectives of this course are to gain a basic understanding of the interrelationships among the earth's major physical and biological systems and to gain an appreciation of past and potential future global environmental changes. The role of humans in propagating and mitigating global change will also be examined. We will discuss changes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere and biosphere, and the impacts of human actions. Aspects of the forecasted global warming as well as other important issues will be discussed. This is an introductory physical geography course and is required for all Geography majors. This course also serves as a physical science (PS) course for GenEd requirements. The emphasis of this course is on the physical relationships between earth system components, not on public policy or political issues.

Texts

The Earth System, 3rd Edition, by Kump, Kasting, and Crane, 2010

Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming, by Mann and Kump, 2009

The textbooks are available at the UMass Textbook Annex. They are bundled together there and are sold at the price of the first book alone. So the second book is essentially free if you buy from the campus textbook annex.

Lectures

Lecture outlines are being made available within a day or two of each class lecture. These are just outlines -- you still need to come to class to hear the lectures, to take notes, and to do the in-class assignments!

Evaluation

Class attendance is mandatory for this course! If you don't plan on attending the lectures, don't register for this course.

Students will be responsible for lecture and video content and all assigned readings. Each exam will cover material assigned since the previous exam. Each of the four exams will be of the form of a modified "pyramid exam". The exam will be taken as a regular exam for the first ~35 minutes of class and then retaken with the help of books, notes, and classmates for the last ~40 minutes of the period. The score of each exam will be the sum of 75% of the first-try score and 25% of the second-try score. Make-up exams will only be given for documented, excusable absences. The format of any make-up exam will be decided by the instructor and may include oral and essay questions. Each exam is worth a maximum of 100 points, so the four exams are worth a total of 400 possible points.

You will also be given 20 written assignments that are intended to foster critical thinking and to help you master the basic concepts of the course. The assignments will be completed during class time and handed in at the end of the class. Each writing assignment is worth 5 points for a total of 100 points toward your total score in the course. There are generally no make-ups for these unless you have a legitimate, documented, prearranged absence.

Your final grade will be based on the total number of points you accumulate out of the maximum possible 500 points. Grades will be earned as follows:

Grade Number of Points
A More than 450
A- 435 - 450
B+ 420 - 435
B 405 - 420
B- 390 - 405
C+ 375 - 390
C 355 - 375
C- 340 - 355
D+ 325 - 340
D 305 - 325
F Fewer than 305

Topics

A list of many of the topics to be covered follows and a detailed syllabus is available.