Spatial
Concepts Office: Butte 504 Email: jclaflin@csuchico.edu
Fall
2003 Hours: M,F 1-2; W 9-10
This
course offers a broad overview of the field of Geography. Emphasis is placed on an understanding of the
major themes in Geography and how they can serve as a mental construct for
evaluating spatial information. In
addition, the course will focus on the relationship between the natural
processes that have shaped the Earth’s surface and the development of cultural
practices around the globe.
·
Goode’s World Atlas (20th edition) Rand McNally
·
Introduction to Geography:
People, Places, and Environment Updated 2 ed. by Bergman & Renwick
·
Places and People and outline maps (provided in class)
·
To help students develop an understanding of geographical concepts,
including
1. The five themes of Geography
and how they are interrelated;
2. The physical processes that
have shaped the Earth’s natural environment;
3. How these physical processes
influence human cultural and economic development;
4. The location of important
physical and cultural regions around the globe.
·
To help students acquire some of the techniques used to illustrate
geographical concepts, including the mapping of data, creating charts and
diagrams, and interpreting information contained in an atlas.
·
To help students develop the ability to speak and write effectively.
Students are responsible for
all class materials and should be prepared to discuss readings on the assigned dates. Discussion will be both written and
oral. Specific requirements include:
·
A midterm and a final exam, combining objective, essay, and map
questions;
·
An in-class presentation and brief written description of a
geographical concept or technique;
·
Twelve regional map quizzes (the ten highest scores will count);
·
A final world map quiz;
·
Take-home exercises that expand on geographical concepts being studied.
·
Students are expected to attend all
classes. If you miss class or leave
early because of other important commitments, you are still responsible for
materials presented.
·
Students should take careful and extensive notes; exams will be
taken in large part from lecture materials, videos, in-class exercises, and
classroom discussions.
·
Students must turn off cell phones during class; points will
be deducted for phones going off during class.
·
Eating, reading outside materials, or carrying on private conversations
is prohibited.
·
Students are expected to respect one another and the diversity of
opinion, viewpoint, experience, and interpretation that is expressed in class.
·
Students are expected to staple properly all multi-page
assignments; points will be deducted otherwise.
·
It is the instructor’s responsibility to be organized, informative, and
enthusiastic about the course material
·
As a guide to the learning process, the instructor will make every
effort to accommodate different learning styles by using various methods of
instruction—including traditional lecture, class discussion, hands-on
activities, and film and video when available.
·
It is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that classroom decorum
is maintained. Any behavior that
disrupts the learning process will be dealt with in a prompt manner and may
lead to the student(s) being dropped from the class.
·
The instructor will be available during office hours (and beyond as
necessary) to answer questions about course materials, assignments, or exams.
·
No makeup work will be permitted, except in the case of a bona-fide
illness or emergency, in which case the instructor expects to be notified as
quickly as possible.
·
Assignments are due in class on the dates indicated in the syllabus or
as otherwise informed.
Note: Late papers will have 20% deducted for each
class period they are late. All
assignments must be completed by the last day of class. There will be no extra credit; put your
effort from the first day into the assigned work!
·
In accordance with university literacy requirements, spelling, grammar,
and composition will be taken into account when grading written assignments.
·
Please see the instructor if you have any special test-taking or other
needs.
Activity Points
Exams
(2) 200
Map
Quizzes 100
Final
Map Quiz 30
Presentation/Write-up
40
Course
grades will be determined in the following manner:
420 -- 450 A 350
-- 359 C+
405 -- 419 A- 325 -- 349 C
395 -- 404 B+ 315
-- 324 C-
370 -- 394 B 305
-- 314 D+
360 -- 369 B- 270
-- 304 D
<270 F
Additionally,
class participation will be heavily considered when resolving borderline
grades.
Add/Drop: September 5 is the last day to add
or drop classes, without special permission of
department chair. Students
will need a serious and compelling reason to add and drop
classes after this date. See CSUC
catalog for further details. Students
who have not contacted the instructor by the second day of class will be disenrolled.
United
States ___/10
Canada ___/10
Middle
America ___/10
South
America ___/10
Europe ___/10
North/Central
Eurasia ___/10
Middle
East ___/10
South
Asia ___/10
East
Asia ___/10
Southeast
Asia ___/10
Northern
Africa ___/10
Southern
Africa ___/10
Total (Best 10 scores) ______/100
Ex.
I ___/10
Ex.
II ___/10
Ex.
III ___/10
Ex.
IV ___/10
Ex.
V ___/10
Ex.
VI ___/10
Ex.
VII ___/10
Ex.
VIII ___/10
Ex.
IX ___/10
Ex.
X ___/10
Ex.
XI ___/10
Ex.
XII ___/10
Total (% of 80) ______/80
Midterm ____/100
Final ____/100
World Map* ____/30
Oral Presentation ____/20
Written Report ____/20
TOTAL ______/450
*This will cover the countries
of the world only (but all of them); there will be no cities, nor physical
features.
Course
Schedule (Approximate)
Aug25 Intro/Geography
27 Themes of Geography/ Location pp. xvi-xix
29 Atlas BRING
YOUR ATLAS pp. 8-30
Sep 1 No class on Labor Day
3 Earth-Sun
Relationships pp.46-49
5 Latitude/Longitude United
States
8 Maps/Place pp. 30-39
10 "
12 Region/Climate/Weather pp. 53-63
Canada
15 Climate
pp.
65-85
17 "
"
19 Climate
Change pp.
85-90 Middle America
22 Biomes pp.151-157
24 Plate
Tectonics/Earthquakes pp.
97-104
26 Volcanoes/Mountain
Building
South America
29 Environmental
Hazards p. 124
Oct 1 Human-Environment
Interaction Europe*
3 " " "
6 MIDTERM
8 MIDTERM (cont.)
10 Population
pp.152-186 North/Central Eurasia
13 "
"
15 "
"
17 Food Ch
8 Middle East
20 Water pp.
131-136
22 Energy pp.
352-362
24 " South
Asia
27 Forests pp.
371-374
29 "
"
31 East
Asia
Nov 3 Movement/Migration pp. 186-197
5 Diffusion/Transportation pp. 197-206
7
" " Southeast
Asia
*For Europe, we will cover only the countries in the left-hand column on
page 16, only the cities in the center column on page 16, and only the physical features on
page 17. We will use the map entitled “Countries
of Europe.”
Nov
10 Political
Geography pp.
422-431
12 " " pp. 456-459
14 " " Northern
Africa
17 Place/Jerusalem pp. 271-276
19 " " pp. 277-280
21 Urban
Geography Southern
Africa
Enjoy your break
Dec 1 Student
Presentations
3 " "
5 " "
8 Student
Presentations
10 " "
12 " "
FINAL EXAM (and final map**):
Wednesday @ 10:00
**This will cover the countries
of the world only, no cities, no physical features.