Course Description
Addresses spatial patterns and underlying processes of the physical environment and biosphere, including climate, vegetation, soils, landforms, and water resources. The role of human activity in shaping and influencing the behavior of the earth's biophysical systems is examined from local to global spatial scales.
Athena Title
Intro Physical Geography Hon
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in GEOG 1111, GEOG 1111E
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will have a basic understanding of physical environmental processes that operate in the earth/atmosphere system.
- Students will have an appreciation of the diversity of physical environmental interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.
- Students will have an awareness of the dynamic nature of the earth's physical environmental systems, evident across a range of time and spatial scales.
- Students will gain an appreciation of the role of human activity in shaping and influencing the behavior of the earth's biophysical systems across multiple spatial scales from local, e.g., bank erosion to global, e.g., climate change.
- Students will learn how geoscientists investigate geographical phenomena such as earthquakes, severe weather, and sea level rise and use this knowledge to help increase resilience and decrease human vulnerability.
- Students will have the ability to recognize the reciprocal interactions between human actions, modification of the earth-atmosphere system, and past/future global environmental change.
- Students will have a greater cognizance of the importance of science in the everyday functioning of our planet and its crucial role in informing policy decision-making.
Topical Outline
- Course Introduction; Latitude and Longitude
Earth/Sun Geometry and Seasons
Composition and Structure of the Atmosphere
Energy, Heat, and Temperature
Energy and the Atmosphere
Global Energy Balance and Temperature Patterns
Water and the Atmosphere
Adiabatic Processes and Atmospheric Stability
Clouds, Fog, and Precipitation
Hydrologic Cycle and Water Balance
Air Pressure and Winds
Global Atmospheric Circulation
Midlatitude Wave Cyclones
Upper-level Atmospheric Circulation
Severe Weather
Tropical Climates
Midlatitude Climates
Polar and Highland Climates
Global Climate Change: Past, present, and future; mitigation, adaptation, and human impacts
Tectonic Activity and Earthquakes: Related to human activity such as hydraulic fracturing
Global Atmospheric Circulation: Atmospheric teleconnections and associated human impacts
Properties of Ecosystems
Vegetation Patterns in the Landscape: Influences of human activity
Tropical Vegetation Transect: Rainforest to desert
North American Vegetation Transect: Gulf to Arctic
North American Vegetation Transect: Atlantic to Pacific
Disturbance and Vegetation Dynamics: Extreme weather events to human influences
Physical and Chemical Soil Properties: Impacts on and by agricultural practices
Soil Forming Processes and Factors
Soils of Forested Settings
Soils of Grasslands, Deserts, and Other Settings
The Nature of the Lithosphere
Plate Tectonics
Volcanic Processes and Landforms
Tectonic Processes and Landforms
Weathering, Erosion, and Gravity
Drainage Basins and Streams
Hydrographs and Stream Flow
Stream Dynamics
Sediment Load and Stream Capacity
Stream Erosion and Deposition: Influences of past human land use histories
Arid Landforms
Coastal Processes and Landforms
Glacial Processes and Landforms
General Education Core
CORE II: Physical Sciences
