PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
(GEO 2200)
SYLLABUS 15 September 2009
Check Back Often. This syllabus can change, except for the exam dates.

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

Instructor: Michael W. Binford

Office Hours: Monday 4:00 - 5:00 PM, Wednesday 4:00 - 5:00 PM; or By Appointment (e-mail me)

Office: 3139 Turlington Hall

Phone: 392-4652 ext 215 (I don't use the telephone much)

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 8-9 (3:00-3:50 and 4:05-4:55 P.M.) on Tuesday, Period 9 (4:05-4:55 P.M.) 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. This course is a prerequisite for many others.

Primary Objectives of This Course: 1) For students to understand and be able to explain the patterns and processes that determine the human-scale characteristics of the surface of Earth, and 2) for students to understand and be able to explain patterns and processes of human interactions with their environment.

Secondary Objectives of This Course:

1. After taking this course, students will be able to make sounder, more scientifically informed judgments about social, political, and economic issues that are concerned with the environment.

2. Students will be prepared for further studies in Geography, other Physical and Earth Sciences, and other subjects.

Basis of Grade: Four equally weighted examinations with 40 multiple-choice questions on each. Grades assigned as A = 92% and above, A- = 90-91.9%, B+ = 88 - 89.9%, B = 82 - 87.9%, B- = 80-81.9%, C+ = 78 - 79.9%, C = 70 - 77.9%, C- = 68 - 69.9%, D+ = 65 - 67.9%, D = 60 - 65%, D- = 59 - 59.9%, E = below 59%.

No make-up exams will be given! No Exceptions. Plan ahead now to attend exam periods.

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

 Schedule (41 Lectures, 4 Exams)

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

 25 August - Reading Chapter 1 in Christopherson, Appendix 1.

1.  Introduction, Essentials of Geography; Geography and Science. Lecture 1 Slides, Lecture handout 6/page; Lecture 1 Questions 

2. Earth System and Systems Concepts. Lecture 2 slides, Lecture 2 handout 6/page. Lecture 2 Questions

27 August - Chapter 1 continued - let the topics of the lectures be the guide as to what you read.

3. Specifying the Earth system: Geodesy, Location, Latitude and Longitude, Time and Longitude Lecture 2 Slides pdf file, Lecture 2 6-slide handouts. Lecture 3 Questions
                                            For Fun: The Great Globe Gallery

1 September -   Finish Chapter 1, Begin Chapter 2

4. Representing the Earth , Maps: Scale, Projection, Symbolization pdf file; 6-slide handout; Lecture 4 Questions

5. Geographic Technologies and Energy pdf file, 6-slide handouts. Lecture 5 Questions

3 September -  Chapter 2 continued

6.  Electromagnetic Energy pdf file; 6-slide/page handout. Lecture 6 Questions.

8 September Finish Chapter 2, Read Chapter 3

7. Energy and Seasons; Atmosphere, Atmospheric Structure; Stable Atmospheric Constituents, pdf file; 6-slide/page handouts. Lecture 7 Questions.

8: Atmosphere: Thermal Structure and Variable Components including Pollution pdf file; 6-slide/page handouts. Lecture 8 Questions

10 September - Finish Chapter 3, Read Chapter 4

9. Variable Atmospheric Components; Energy Budget, Surface Energy Balance pdf files; 6-slide/page handouts. Finish Chapter 3, Chapter 4 Lecture 9 Questions

15 September  - Chapter 5 and 6

10. Electromagnetic Radiation in the Atmosphere pdf file, 6-slide handouts pdf file; Lecture 10 Questions 

11. Surface Energy Balance and Global Temperatures pdf file; 6-slide handouts. Lecture 11 Questions

17 September - EXAM 1 (11 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 6-9)

22 September - Chapter 6

12. Global Temperatures pdf file, 6-slide/page handout; Lecture 12 Questions

13. Wind, Atmospheric Circulation pdf file; 6-slide/page handouts. Lecture 13 Questions

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

24 September - Chapter 6

14.  More on Atmospheric Circulation, Oceanic Circulation; Physical Geography in History pdf file; 6-slide handouts. Lecture 14 Questions

29 September - Chapter 7

15.  Water and the Hydrosphere, Water and Atmospheric Moisture: Humidity pdf file, 6-slide handouts pdf file; Lecture 15 Questions

16. Adiabatic Rates, Lapse Rates, Gas Laws, Dry and Moist Adiabatic Rates, Stable and Unstable Atmospheres pdf file; 6-slide handouts pdf file. Lecture 16 Questions

1 October - Chapter 8

17.  Weather - Cloud Formation Processes, Air Masses, Fronts pdf file; 6-slide handouts pdf file. Lecture 17 Questions 

6 October - Chapters 8 & 9

18.  Weather - Air Masses and Modification, Fronts, Lifting Processes pdf file, 6/page handout pdf file, Lecture 18 Questions. 

19. Violent Weather  pdf file; 6-slide handout pdf file. Lecture 19 Questions

Earlier research in the Bolivian Altiplano demonstrated the ecological basis of the sustainability of the raised field agricultural technology, which allowed farmers to manage their fields more effectively. Carbon-exchange studies in north Florida are contributing to climate change understanding and may allow stand-level accounting for tradable carbon exchange credits. More recent research on land-use/land-cover change near protected areas in East Africa has informed conservation planning, and research in Thailand and Cambodia on social-ecological systems has had some influence on national-level lending policies for small holder farmers. All research becomes part of my teaching at all levels of my classes. Co-leader (with Charles Wood) of 1999 Inter-American Institute Summer Symposium on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Land-Use/Land-Cover Change Studies. Former Member, Board of Directors, Alachua Conservation Trust – responsible for identifying potential land acquisitions using RS and GIS technologies. Data from research projects has contributed to these land-conservation efforts.

8 October - Chapter 9

20.  Water Resources: Water Amounts,Hydrological Cycle, Water Balance, Soil Moisture Budget pdf file; 6-slide handout pdf file. Lecture 20 Questions

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

13 October - No readings for Florida groundwater and Surface Water - all lecture material

21.  Finish Water budget; Groundwater pdf file; 6/slide handout pdf file. Lecture 21 questions

22. Groundwater; Groundwater Resources in Florida pdf file; 6slide/page handout pdf file. Lecture 22 questions.

15 October - EXAM 2 (11 Lectures on Energy, Water, Weather, Water Resources) The day before Homecoming!

20 October - Chapter 10, 17 (pages 555-563)

23. Surface Water, Water-supply Problems, and Water-resources Management in Florida pdf file; 6-slide handouts pdf file. Lecture 23 questions

24. More Florida Water Resources; Global Climates pdf file; 6-slide handouts pdf file. Lecture 24 Questions

For your interest: St. Johns River Water Management District, Draft Water Supply Assessment 2008; Planning for northeast Florida’swater supply needs through 2030.

22 October - Chapter 10 (especially 309-317 including "News Reports") and 17 (555-563).

25.  Global Climates: Classification and Causes pdf file; 6-slide/page handout pdf file. Lecture 25 Questions

27 October  - Chapter 10, 17 in part (555-563).

26. Climate Variation  pdf file, 6-slide handouts pdf file. Lecture 26 Questions

27. Climate Variation - How we know: Paleoclimatology pdf file, 6-slide handouts pdf file.  There will be no Lecture 27 Questions!

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

29 October - Chapter 12

28. Climate Variation: Anthropogenic Forcing pdf file; 6-slide/page handout pdf file;  Lecture 28 Questions

                          Peer-reviewed scientific paper on Anthropogenic Forcing of Sea-level Rise

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

3 November - Chapter 13 & 14

29. Dynamic Earth: Depth of Time, Structure of the Earth pdf file, 6 slide/page handout pdf file. Lecture 29 Questions

30.  Orders of Relief, Plate Tectonics, Geomorphology and Relief pdf file,  6 slide/page handout pdf file. Lecture 30 Questions

5 November - Chapter 14

31. Crustal Formation Processes, Crustal Formation and Deformation Processes, Surface Processes: Mass Movements, Weathering, Karst pdf file, 6-slide handouts. Lecture 28 Questions. 

10 November  - Chapter 16 

32. Surface Processes: Fluvial Geomorphology; Fluvial Patterns and Processes pdf file; 3-slide handouts. Lecture 29 Questions

33. Surface Processes:Fluvial Geomorphology - Erosion, Transport, Deposition, Meanders, Deltas pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Lecture 30 Questions.

12 November EXAM 3 (11 Lectures on Water Resources in Florida, Climate, and Earth Surface Processes

17 November - Chapters 16 & 18

33. Introduction to Oceans and Coastal Systems, Waves and Beaches pdf file, 4/slide handouts, Lecture 31 Questions

34. Waves and Beaches, Barrier Islands pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Lecture 33 Questions

34. Florida Coasts, Coral, Wetlands pdf file, 4/slide handouts. Lecture 34 Questions.

19 November - Chapter 19

35. Biosphere Beginning - Soils pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Lecture 35 Questions.

24 November - Chapter 19

36. Practical Soils; Ecosystems: Definitions, Processes, pdf file; 3-slide handout file. Lecture 36 Questions

37. Ecosystems: Energy Flow, Nutrient Cycling, Trophic Pyramids pdf file, 3-slide handouts. Lecture 37 Questions

26-30 November Thanksgiving Break – No Classes

1 December - Chapter 19.

38. Life Zones, Biomes pdf file, 4/slide handouts. Lecture 38 Questions.

39.  Biogeography pdf file, 4/slide handouts. Lecture 39 Questions.

3 December - Chapter XX

40.  Biogeography pdf file, 4-slide handouts. Lecture 40 Questions.

Orphan Lectures

41. Human-Environment Interactions I pdf file, 4/slide handouts. Lecture 41 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.

 8 December - EXAMINATION 4 (8 Lectures on Biosphere: Soils, Ecosystems, Biomes, Human-Environment Interactions)

  

Academic Honesty
Students are required to do their own work on the exams. It is fine, and can be very effective to consult with each other about the questions. Form study groups and argue about the answers. The penalty for cheating is to receive zero points for that exam, 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/studentguide/studentrights.php#academichonestyguidelines). For additional guidelines regarding academic honesty, including definitions of violations, refer to the Academic Honesty Student Guide at the same web site.