GEO 130-002 - Earth's Physical EnvironmentUniversity of Kentucky

College of Arts and SciencesDept of Geography - Fall 2016

Time: MWF 9:00 - 9:50Location: 238 Whitehall Classroom Bldg

Home Page: Available in Canvas

Required Text: Discovering Physical Geography

(Arborgast; 2nd Ed)Buy an inexpensive used copy online

Instructor: Dr. Jon Anthony (Tony) Stallinsja.stallins@uky.edu

Office: Room 869 Patterson Office Tower

Office Hours: 12:00 - 2:00 Tues

1:00 - 3:00 Wed or by appointment

Phone: 859-257-2138

COURSE CONTENTObjectives:This course is designed to provide a background in physical geography, an essential component ofcomprehending human impacts. Broadly, our goal is to examine the natural systems that shape our physicalenvironment over the temporal and spatial scales applicable to human agency. Students will learn about theatmospheric processes that shape weather and climate; the broad-scale patterns of soils, plants, and animals;and the land-modifying agents that shape the earth’s topography. Upon completion of the requirements for thisclass, the students will be able to:

Explain some of the conceptual tensions that underlie the study of pattern and process in earth surface systems

Describe the basic workings of a generalized climate system and what components of it are altered by humaninputs.

Discuss the basic processes that produce generalized weather patterns of temperature and precipitation in NorthAmerica and on a global scale

Describe the basic mechanisms that cause natural hazards in earth surface systems and discuss theirgeographic patterns of distribution.

Detail the basics of biomes and biogeographic controls on the distribution of organisms

Describe a variety of geomorphic surface processes and their characteristic landforms

UK Undergraduate CoreThis course meets the UK Core requirements under the category of Intellectual Inquiry in theNatural/Physical/Mathematical Sciences. For a full description of the learning outcomes for this course, go to:http://www.uky.edu/registrar/bulletinCurrent/ukc.pdf

COURSE STRUCTURE

Required textDiscovering Physical Geography by Arbogast (2nd edition) should be available online in used and electronicformats.

GradingFinal letter grade is based upon the percentage of points you earn out of a possible 450 points. All grades will beposted in Blackboard.

Test 1 -100 points 100 20%A (100 - 90%)

B (80 - 89%)

C (70 - 79%)

D (60 - 69%)

E (<59%)

Test 2 -100 points 100 20%

Test 3 -100 points 100 20%

UK Core project 100 20%

Attendance 100 20%

Total points 500 points

TestsTest material will come from in-class notes, discussions, sketches drawn in class on the whiteboard, Powerpointslides, lecture outlines, small group work, or any videos, images, or web sites shown in class. Test format willconsist of multiple choice, definition, short answer, slide identification, and essay questions. Tests are notcumulative. Please consult the online class schedule for all test dates.

UK Core ProjectThis activity consists of downloading, managing, and analyzing weather-related data sets. Students will collectthe daily National Weather Service observations for Lexington from Sept 1 - Nov 31. These will be assessed forthe patterns of weather indicative of the passage of a mid-latitude cyclone and other significant weather events.The final project will be submitted through Blackboard as a Powerpoint file. Electronic submission due no laterthan 5:00 pm on Friday of exam week.

AttendanceAttendance will be taken at each class meeting. This may be as simple as calling roll, or in some cases,students will be asked to complete a short activity in class.

COURSE POLICIES

Attendance: If a student has excused absences in excess of one-fifth of the class contact hours for the course,the student shall have the right to receive a withdrawal (W), or the instructor may award an incomplete (I) for thecourse grade if the student declines to receive a W. As this course meets aaproximately 45 times, 9 absencesconstitutes this threshold for a W or an I. Attendance will be taken regularly. Unexcused absences can alsoimpact your final grade. Four unexecused absences can result in the reduction of your final grade by one letter(from an A to a B, a B to C...)

Communication: Communications in the classroom will be prioritized over electronic media. However, youshould expect to receive emails from the instructor on a regular basis. Please check your UK email regularly.

Excused Absences. The university defines the following as acceptable reasons for excused absences: a)illness, b) illness or death of family member, c) University-related trips, d) major religious holidays, and e) othercircumstances found to fit “reasonable cause for nonattendance” by the professor. Job interviews, job fairs,

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standardized test administrations, family weddings, possession of airline tickets, and Greek events do notautomatically qualify as excused absences. Students with chronic medical conditions that impact attendancemust go through UK Disability Services to have these absences investigated and documented.

Verification of Absences. Students should notify the professor of absences prior to class whenever possible.The instructor has the right to request appropriate verification to document the status of an absence as excusedor unexcused. Written notification or verification must be provided within one week of the absence. Appropriateprior written notification of absences due to university-related trips will consist of a formal letter or email sent bythe faculty in charge of your travel

Students must contact the instructor the night before the administration of a test if they become ill and expect tobe absent the next day. Students whose notification of an illness come just before or after a test or who areabsent without any notification up through the end of the class period on the day of the test will receive a zero. No tests will be administered to late arriving students once the first test has been completed. The instructorreserves the right to offer makeup tests until exam week.

University Health Services (UHS) recognizes the important public health and policy reasons why a sufficiently illstudent ought to be absent from class and also not make a visit to UHS. UHS provides in this circumstance an“Explanatory Statement of Absence from Class” that students may complete and submit to the Instructor todocument an excused absence from class. This is a UHS “Tier 1” document. Faculty will decide whether this Tier1 document is acceptable as “appropriate verification” of the student’s illness. Whether a Tier 1 excuse isacceptable will be decided in each individual circumstance, with the final decision also contingent upon overallattendance record for the semester.

The UHS Tier 2 document is an email sent to the student, at the student’s request. The email confirms that thestudent made a medical visit to UHS. In order to provide the Instructor with verification of an illness, the studentwill forward the email from UHS to the Instructor of Record. The forwarded Tier 2 email informs the facultymember that she or he may confirm the UHS visit by emailing the identified sender of the confirming email andrequest that the sender verify the authenticity of the Tier 2 email sent to the student. Tier 2 excuses are notautomatically excused absences. Whether a Tier 2 excuse is acceptable will be decided in each individualcircumstance, with the final decision also contingent upon overall attendance record for the semester.

The Tier 3 document emailed to students “states any applicable restrictions [on the student] based on illness orinjury.” Such a restriction may be that the student must be absent from class for a defined number of days.Whether a Tier 3 excuse is acceptable will be decided in each individual circumstance, with the final decision alsocontingent upon overall attendance record for the semester.

Whether outside doctor or hospital notes are acceptable will be decided in each individual circumstance by theinstructor, with the final decision also contingent upon the student’s overall attendance record for the semester.

Academic Integrity. Per university policy, students shall not plagiarize, cheat, or falsify or misuse academicrecords. Students are expected to adhere to University policy on cheating and plagiarism in all courses. Theminimum penalty for a first offense is a zero on the assignment on which the offense occurred. If the offense isconsidered severe or the student has other academic offenses on their record, more serious penalties, up tosuspension from the university may be imposed. Plagiarism and cheating are serious breaches of academicconduct. Each student is advised to become familiar with the various forms of academic dishonesty as explainedin the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

A plea of ignorance is not acceptable as a defense against the charge of academic dishonesty. It is important thatyou review this information as all ideas borrowed from others need to be properly credited. Part II of Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/Code/part2.html) states that allacademic work, written or otherwise, submitted by students to their instructors or other academic supervisors, isexpected to be the result of their own thought, research, or self-expression. In cases where students feel unsureabout the question of plagiarism involving their own work, they are obliged to consult their instructors on the

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matter before submission. When students submit work purporting to be their own, but which in any way borrowsideas, organization, wording or anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgement of thefact, the students are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism includes reproducing someone else’s work, whether it be apublished article, chapter of a book, a paper from a friend or some file, or something similar to this. Plagiarismalso includes the practice of employing or allowing another person to alter or revise the work which a studentsubmits as his/her own, whoever that other person may be.

Students may discuss assignments among themselves or with an instructor or tutor, but when the actual work isdone, it must be done by the student, and the student alone. When a student’s assignment involves research inoutside sources of information, the student must carefully acknowledge exactly what, where and how he/sheemployed them. If the words of someone else are used, the student must put quotation marks around thepassage in question and add an appropriate indication of its origin. Making simple changes while leaving theorganization, content and phraseology intact is plagiaristic. However, nothing in these Rules shall apply to thoseideas which are so generally and freely circulated as to be a part of the public domain (Section 6.3.1). Pleasenote: Any assignment you turn in may be submitted to an electronic database to check for plagiarism.

Accommodations due to disability. Students with a documented disability and requesting academicaccommodations must provide the instructor with a Letter of Accommodation from the UK Disability ResourceCenter (DRC). If the student is not registered with the DRC, she or he may contact David T. Beach(dtbeac1@uky.edu). The DRC is located in Suite 407 of the Multidisciplinary Science Building, 725 Rose Street,0082. To contact the DRC by phone‚ please call V/TDD (859) 257-2754.

Classroom behavior policies. Use of electronic devices must be discrete and respectful of all persons in theclass, including the instructor. I do not forbid the use of smartphones for non-class related communications, but ifused inordinately during class time you will be asked to conduct your business outside of the classroom

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GEO 130 - Fall 2016Earth's Physical EnvironmentsSyllabus9:00 - 9:50 MWFRoom 238 Whitehall Classroom BldgUniversity of KentuckyDepartment of GeographyCurrent grades

Date Powerpoint slides SummaryTextbook

reading pages(Arbogast 2nd ed.)

Aug

24 WedIntroduction to Physical Geography 1 1- 8

26 Fri

29 MonMapping the Earth 2 16-32

31 Wed

Sept

2 Fri Earth-Sun Geometry 3

5 Mon Labor Day

7 Wed Radiation and Heat Balance

9 Fri Local Temperature Controls

12 Mon Humidity and Atmospheric Stability

14 Wed Air Pressure and Winds

16 Fri Clouds and Precipitation

19 Mon Global Atmospheric Circulation

21 Wed El Nino - La Nina: The Southern Oscillation

23 Fri Midlatitude Cyclones

26 Mon TEST 1

28 Wed Thunderstorms and Tornadoes

30 Fri Hurricanes

Oct

3 Mon Climate and Vegetation

5 Wed Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics

7 Fri Crustal Motion

10 Mon Volcanics

12 Wed Weathering and Erosion

14 Fri Karst Processes and Landforms

17 Mon Fluvial Processes and Landforms

19 Wed Coastal Processes and Landforms

21 Fri Glacial and Periglacial Processes and Landforms

24 Mon Arid Landscape Processes and Landforms

26 Wed Soils

28 Fri

31 Mon TEST 2

Nov

2 Wed

4 Fri

7 Mon

9 Wed

11 Fri

14 Mon

16 Wed

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18 Fri

21 Mon

23 WedThanksgiving

25 Fri

28 Mon

30 Wed

Dec

2 Fri

5 Mon

7 Wed

9 Fri Last day of class

12 Mon TEST 3 (Final exam week)

16 Fri

UK CORE PROJECT DUE FRIDAY, DEC 165:00 pm

Upload your Powerpoint file in Canvas; each student must upload a file even though work mayhave been done in groups

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