DATES

Sept 6, 8, 11, 13



Sept 15, 18, 20



Sept 22, 25, 27

Sept 29, Oct 2, 4


Oct 6 (Friday)

Oct 9, 11

Oct 13, 16

Oct 18, 20


Oct 23, 25

Oct 27, 30, Nov 1


Nov 3 (Friday)

Nov 6, 8, 10, 13




Nov 15, 17, 20

Nov 22, 24

Nov 27, 29, Dec 1, 4


Dec 6 (Wednesday)

Dec 8

TOPICS, READINGS (with links to lecture notes in PDF format)

Introduction, Syllabus, Critical thinking, the scientific method and process (Chapters 1, 2)
• Handout: Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, chapter 12
• Lomborg (The Skeptical Environmentalist) critiques

Origin of Earth and the solar system (Chapter 10, 11)
• Handout: Ward and Brownlee, Rare Earth excerpts
• Planetquest website

Plate tectonics (Chapter 7)

Structure and composition of the oceans and atmosphere (Chapter 5)
SEPTEMBER 29 (Friday) - FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE

EXAM ONE

Hydrologic cycle (Chapter 4) [and in higher resolution]

The global nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) cycles

Acid deposition, acid mine drainage
Iron Mountain paper (Nordstrom and Alpers, 1999)

The global carbon (C) cycle (Chapter 8)

Solar radiation, ozone depletion, and the greenhouse effect (Chapters 3, 17)
OCTOBER 27 (Friday) - SECOND PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE

EXAM TWO

Anthropogenic climate change and predictions (Chapter 5, 16)
• IPCC document: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis (summary for policymakers)
• IPCC document: Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (SPM)
• Link to IPCC full reports on climate change

Human energy use, fossil fuels

Thanksgiving Break

Sustainable energy sources
DECEMBER 1 (Friday) - THIRD PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE

EXAM THREE

Review for final exam

FINAL EXAM

TBA, according to university schedule

OBJECTIVES

This course presents an introduction to the major physical and energetic processes that govern the Earth’s inhabitable environment. Students in this course will develop a working grasp of the fundamentals of Earth’s origins, plate tectonics, the oceans and atmosphere, the carbon cycle, the origin and evolution of life, and the climate. Furthermore, this course will examine perturbations to climate and to the atmosphere driven by human industry and energy use. Emphasis is placed in this course on fundamental geologic, chemical and biological forces and reactions controlling the movement of matter and energy through the Earth system.

GRADING

• Three short paper assignments (see handout): 15% of final grade
• Three in-class exams, each worth 20% of the final grade
• A final exam which will be worth 25% of the final grade

•   The in-class lecture exams are not technically cumulative from one to the others, but will rely on building knowledge that is learned in one part of the course and used in other parts. Don’t forget everything after each lecture exam: you will need that information in later exams.

•   Each lecture exam will be graded as a percentile score, regardless of how many “points” worth of questions are on each exam.

THE FINAL EXAM

•   The final exam will be comprehensive.

•   The final exam is OPTIONAL. If the final exam is not taken, your lecture score will be determined based on an average of your three in-class exams. I will probably have to explain this a number of times through the semester, but it's really pretty simple.

LETTER GRADES

Letter grades for the course will be determined on the following basis:

GRADE     PERCENTAGE
A               100 – 94%
BA             93.9 – 88%
B               87.9 – 82%
CB             81.9 – 76%
C               75.9 – 70%
DC             69.9 – 4%
D               63.9 – 58%
E               BELOW 58%

EXTRA CREDIT

No extra credit will be given for any reason. Your chance to earn a high grade in this course derives from your performance on the scheduled exams and quizzes. This is not negotiable.

ATTENDANCE QUIZZES

There will be periodic, random quizzes. These will be very easy and quick, will normally consist of a single question, and will be given primarily to encourage attendance. If you take a quiz and get a correct answer, you earn 1 point. If you take a quiz and get an incorrect answer, you earn 0 points. If you miss a quiz entirely you earn -1 point. At the end of the semester I add up everyone's total number of quiz points and apply that sum to the overall, final, total class score for each student. For people who come to class the quizzes can amount to a small but significant boost in their score (and their grade), but for people who routinely miss classes or come in late, the quizzes can cost them several points and might even drop them a letter grade.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is required for ALL meetings. You will be responsible for all material covered during an absence. If you find it necessary to miss an exam, see me as soon as possible before the exam to inform me of your impending absence. If this is not possible due to an emergency, contact me as soon as possible after the fact. Make-up exams will ONLY be given for legitimate excused absences (i.e. illness, death in immediate family, jury duty). Make-up exams will be much more difficult than regular exams, due to the narrower field of questions from which to compose the make-up. A surprising increase in the frequency of personal emergencies (dying grandparents, car trouble, oversleeping, measles outbreaks, etc.) tends to occur during finals week. For this reason you have the option of not taking the final exam at all, and keeping a score based on your previous exams. Be advised that for this reason make-up final exams WILL NOT BE GIVEN FOR ANY REASON, including weddings, vacations, deaths, global epidemics, thermonuclear war, or the apocalyptic manifestation of supernatural entities. I have never made any exceptions to this rule for anyone, and I won't start with you.

OFFICE HOURS

By appointment only. If you would like to talk to me outside of class, please send me an email and we can set up an appointment. Or, see me directly before or after class to set up a meeting time. I will meet with anyone who needs to talk to me. But, DO NOT look for me outside of class times or scheduled appointments… I WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE.

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS

•   Your payment of tuition gives you the privilege of pursuing a college education, but it does not give you a guarantee of the grade you desire. Your grade is up to you, and will be based on how hard you work, how efficiently you study, and how well you learn the material. Please understand: hours of time spent studying do not necessarily add up to a good grade.

•   Your "need" to have a particular grade in this course, due to major or graduation requirements, has no impact at all on what grade you will actually earn. Grades will not be 'bumped-up' to satisfy major or graduation requirements.

•   If you are having trouble in class, PLEASE COME AND TALK WITH ME. I will be happy to talk to you about anything in the course that is giving you trouble. BUT, if you wait to talk to me until the end of the semester, there is very little I can do to help you.

•   You are expected to arrive on time for class, not be late, and to stay in class until it is over. If these expectations are a heavy burden that you just can't carry, please drop the class now and save us all a waste of time.

•   If you come in late, do not walk in front of me while I am trying to lecture. There is a whole room available for you, so just walk through along one side or the other.

•   If students start to habitually arrive late or leave early, I will start to give pop quizzes. Pop quizzes will be very quick and very easy, but for those who are absent will also be very costly. Pop quizzes will either add (if correct) or subtract (if incorrect or absent) points from your overall final percentile score for the entire course.

•   TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND AUDIBLE PAGERS DURING CLASS. If your phone rings during class, I will point at you and talk about you in front of everybody.

•   DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR iPOD IN CLASS. Okay, do I really have to explain this one?

•   You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate (pp. 274-276) [Graduate (pp. 25-27)] Catalog that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.