PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
(GEO 2200)
SYLLABUS 14 July 2008
NOTE THAT THIS SYLLABUS IS BEING UPDATED FOR FALL 2008
  

25 Questions that You Should Be Able to Answer After This Class (pdf file)

Instructor: Michael W. Binford

Office Hours: Wednesday 10:00 - 12:00; or By Appointment (e-mail me)

Office: 3139 Turlington Hall

Phone: 392-4652 ext 215

E-mail: mbinford@geog.ufl.edu

Required Textbook: Christopherson, R. 2009. Geosystems. Prentice-Hall. Saddle River, NJ. 7th ed. (See also http://www.prenhall.com/christopherson/ )

Class Meetings: Period 7 (1:55 – 2:45 P.M.) on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays in Williamson Hall, Rm. 100.

Description: Physical Geography is the science that studies the spatial aspects of the physical elements and processes that make up the environment: energy, air, water, weather, climate, landforms, soils, animals, plants and Earth. This course will take a systems approach, i.e. studying the components of the physical environment and how they are linked by energy and material flows, to developing an understanding of the world we live in. Four different units of lectures, each followed by an exam, will describe energy and the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (water), the geosphere (earth), and the biosphere (life including humans).

 Prerequisites: None.

 Basis of Grade: Four equally weighted examinations with 40 multiple-choice questions on each. Grades assigned as A = 90% and above, B+ = 88 - 89.9%, B = 80 - 87.9%, C+ = 78 - 79.9%, C = 70 - 77.9%, D+ = 68 - 69.9%, D = 60 - 67.9%, E = below 60%. No make-up exams will be given.

After each lecture, 10-20 questions based on the lecture topic will be posted on the web site. The 40 questions on each exam will be a random selection of all the questions developed over the section.

Link to Exam Results page

COURSE OUTLINE NOTE THAT THESE DATES ARE FOR FALL 2006, AND NOT RELEVANT FOR FALL 2008.

 Schedule (39 Lectures, 4 Exams)

FIRST SECTION: ENERGY-ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM (Chapter 1 - 6)

  1. 26 August       Introduction, Essentials of Geography pdf file, 6-slide handouts Chapter 1, Appendix A, Lecture 1 Questions

  2. 28 August        More on Geography and Science; Earth System and Systems Concepts slides, 6-slide handouts Chapter 1, Lecture 2 Questions

  3. 28 August       Geodesy, Location, Time pdf file, 6-slide handouts. Chapter 1, Lecture 3 Questions
                                    For Fun: The Great Globe Gallery

  4.  30 August      Latitude and Longitude; Time and Longitude; Representing the Earth , Maps: Scale pdf file, 6-slide handouts. Chapter 1 finish, Chapter 2, Lecture 4 Questions

  5.  1 September   Maps: Projection, Symbolization; Geographic Technologies pdf file;  6-slide handouts. Chapter 2, Lecture 5 Questions

       4 September NO CLASS - LABOR DAY

 6.  6 September    Energy, Seasons pdf file; 3-slide/page handouts. Chapter 2, Lecture 6 Questions.

 7.  8 September   Atmosphere, Atmospheric Structure pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 3, Lecture 7 Questions

  8. 11 September  Thermal Structure; Variable Atmospheric Constituents pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 3 Lecture 8 Questions

  9. 13 September  Energy Budget, Surface Energy Balance pdf files;3-slide handouts. Chapter 4 Lecture 9 Questions

15 September - EXAM 1 (9 Lectures on the Energy-Atmosphere System) EXAM INSTRUCTIONS
NOTE: BRING YOUR PICTURE I.D. (Gator1 Card, Driver's License). YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SHOW PICTURE I.D. TO TURN IN EXAM.

SECOND SECTION: WATER, WEATHER, AND CLIMATE (Chapters 5-9)

10. 18 September   Surface Energy Balance pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 5 Lecture 10 Questions

11. 20 September  Global Temperatures, Atmospheric Pressure pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 5-6 Lecture 11 Questions

12.22 September  Wind and Atmospheric Circulation pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 6 Lecture 12 Questions

13. 25 September Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation; Physical Geography in History pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 6 Lecture 13 Questions

TOPICAL LINKS: 1. Scientific paper on the likelihood of increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes with global warming.
                                 2. Scientific paper on which forcing factors (natural variation vs. anthropogenic) drive increased
                                       sea surface temperatures in regions of hurricane development.
                                 3. Scientific paper on how much the globe has warmed recently, how the actual changes
                                      correspond to predicted changes, and what "dangerous" climate change is.

Note that an interesting thing to do is to use scholar.google.com to track the more recent scientific papers that cite the first one by Knutson and Tuleya. In scholar.google.com, enter Knutson, Thomas R. as the search term, then about the 6th entry down is this paper. There is a link below the title: Cited by 40. Click on that link to see a list of articles that cite (and often criticize) the main paper. Hint: this is a useful exercise for conducting part of the extra credit project.

14. 27 September  Water and the Hydrosphere, Water and Atmospheric Moisture: Humidity pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 7 Lecture 14 Questions

15.  29 September Adiabatic Rates, Lapse Rates, Gas Laws, Dry and Moist Adiabatic Rates pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 7 Lecture 15 Questions

16.  2 October      Stable and Unstable Atmospheres; Weather, Clouds, pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 7, 8 Lecture 16 Questions

17.  4 October      Weather - Air Masses, Lifting Processes pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 8. Lecture 17 Questions

6 October - HOMECOMING - NO CLASS

18.  9 October     Weather - Violent Weather pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 8, Lecture 18 Questions

19.  11 October    Water Resources: Water Amounts,Hydrological Cycle, Water Balance, Soil Moisture Budget pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 9 Lecture 19 Questions

13 October - EXAM 2 (10 Lectures on Energy, Water, Weather, Water Resources)

THIRD SECTION: EARTH-ATMOSPHERE INTERFACE (Chapters 10-13)

20. 16 October      Water Budget and Groundwater pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 9 Lecture 20 Questions

21. 18 October      Groundwater and Groundwater Resources in Florida pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 9 continued and No Readings for Florida groundwater resources- all lecture material; Lecture 21 questions

22. 20 October       Surface Water and Water-supply Problems in Florida pdf file; 3-slide handouts. No Readings - all lecture material; Lecture 22 Questions

23. 23 October       Water Resources Management in Florida, Introduction to Global Climates pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 10, 17 (pages 555-563) Lecture 23 Questions

24. 25 October        Global Climates and Climate Variability pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapter 10, 17 (pp 555-563) Lecture 24 Questions

25. 27 October      Climate Variation  pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapter 10 and 17 (pp 555-563) Lecture 25 Questions

26. 30 October    Climate Variation - Anthropogenic Drivers pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Chapter 10 (especially 309-317 including "News Reports") and 17 (541-548) Lecture 26 Questions   PLEASE NOTE THAT I REVISED THESE QUESTIONS (ADDED SEVERAL) ON 1 NOVEMBER. PLEASE USE THE NEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDY.

                                  Why we should be concerned: BBC story on "Climate Costs: The Next Generation"

27.  1 November  Dynamic Earth: Depth of Time, Structure of the Earth, Plate Tectonics beginning pdf file, 3-slide handouts.  Chapter 11 Lecture 27 Questions

28.  3 November   Orders of Relief, Plate Tectonics, Geomorphology and Relief, Crustal Formation Processes pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapter 11, 12 Lecture 28 Questions

29. 6 November Crustal Formation and Deformation Processes, Surface Processes: Mass Movements, Weathering, Karst pdf file; 3-slide handouts;  Chapter 13 Lecture 29 Questions

8 November EXAM 3 (10 Lectures on Water Resources in Florida, Climate, and Earth)

10 November - No Class: Veteran's Day

FOURTH SECTION: FLUVIAL SYSTEMS, OCEANS, SOILS, ECOSYSTEMS, AND BIOMES (Chapters 14-21)

30. 13 November   Surface Processes: Fluvial Geomorphology; Fluvial Patterns and Processes pdf file, 3-slide handouts; Chapter14 Lecture 30 Questions

31. 15 November   Surface Processes:Fluvial Geomorphology - Erosion, Transport, Deposition, Meanders, Deltas pdf file, 3-slide handouts.Chapter 14; Lecture 31 Questions

32. 17 November  Introduction to Oceans and Coastal Systems pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapter 16  Lecture 32 Questions

33. 20 November   Waves and Beaches, Barrier Islands pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapter 16 Lecture 33 Questions

34. 22 November   Florida Coasts, Coral, Wetlands pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapters 16, Lecture 34 Questions

23-26 November Thanksgiving Break – No Classes

35. 27 November  Biosphere Beginning - Soils pdf file, 3-slide handout file; Chapter 18 Lecture 35 Questions 36. 29 November Practical Soils; Ecosystems pdf file; 3-slide handout file. Chapter 19 Lecture 36 Questions

37. 1 December    Ecosystems: Nutrient Cycles, Energy Flow, Trophic Pyramids pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Chapter 19 Lecture 37 Questions

38.  4 December   Human-Environment Interactions Synthesis pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Lecture 38 Questions;

   Additional material for people interested in human-environment interactions at the global Scale.
        Reading:  Vitousek et al. 1997. Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems_Science 277:494-499.pdf, Costanza et al. article on valuing ecosystem services.

6 December EXAMINATION 4 (10 Lectures on Rivers, Oceans, Soils, Ecosystems, Biomes, Human-Environment Interactions)
 

Academic Honesty
Students are required to do their own work on the exam and in the workshops. It is fine to consult with each other on how to make measurements, etc., but each of you must submit your own work separately except for the final project which is a group effort. The penalty for cheating is to receive zero points for that exam or paper, and the incident will be reported to the Student Honor Court. You are required to review the UF Academic Honesty Guidelines (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/procedures/honestybrochure.html). For additional guidelines regarding academic honesty, including definitions of violations, refer to the Academic Honesty Student Guide at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/procedures/academicguide.html.