COURSE
SYLLABUS
Course: Physical Geography: Geography 120
Instructor: Dr. James Duvall
Text: Strahler. Visualizing
Physical Geography. John Wiley & Sons.
Office: LA-205, Hours: MW 7:30 – 8:00 A.M. and 12:30 P.M. - 1:00
P.M. Tues. 7:00 A.M. - 8:00 A.M. Thursday 7:00 – 8:00 A.M. and 9:30 – 10:00
A.M. 510/235-7800 Ext. 4284, Evening Hours: Tuesday 5:30 – 6:30 P.M., (email at
jduvall@contracosta.edu)
Website: See department
website on college website (http://www.contracosta.edu)
General
Requirements
Attendance and Tardiness:
School policy sets the
following guidelines which
I will follow.
At (2)
absences you may be
dropped from the class.
Tardies are discouraged
as they interrupt the
class and cause the
student to miss infor-
mation.
Grading Policy:
Tests, Special Homework
assignments, and the
annotated bibliography
will be given a point value.
Your grade will be based on a
percentage of total possible
points. A percentage scale will
be used to determine your
letter
grade:
90% - A, 80% - B, 70% - C,
60% - D, <60% - F.
Exams:
There will be a formal mid-
term and final exam.
These will be graded on a
curve determined by the
individual class.
Schedule
1st
Half (Read each chapter indicated and answer the Critical and Creative Thinking
Questions.)
Text: Strahler, Alan. Visualizing Physical Geography. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
1. Introduction: What is Physical
Geography? Text - Chapter 1
2. Maps:
Text C-1
3. Seasons and Time: Text - C-1 (Chapter 2 C& C Thinking
Questions due)
4. The Earth's Atmosphere: Text C-3
5. Meteorology: Text - C- 4 & 5
March 3, 2009 - Annotated
Bibliography due (10 sources). (I do not accept this late)
6. Precipitation and Weather Fronts: Text C-6
March
10, 2009 - Midterm Test
2nd
Half
7. Climate Classification and Climatic
Regimes: Text C- 7
8. Plate Tectonics: Text C-8
9. Earthquakes and Mass Wasting: Text C-9 & 10
10.
Landforms: Text Chapters 12, 13, &
14.
May
5, 2009 - Oral Presentations (50 pts
extra credit)
May
19, 2009 - Final Exam
The
student is required to write one short annotated bibliography on any of the
topic or sub-topics listed for the semester.
The paper must be a minimum of 10 articles or books long. Normal margins
(1") are required. Each annotation
must be at least 1/2 page in length.
One annotation per page, please. Include a title page.
1. Must be typewritten. New Times Roman, 12 pt.
1 inch margins.
2. Minimum 10 pages in length (plus title page).
3. May not use journal abstracts or any other
form of abstract. No encyclopedia articles.
4. Must be in alphabetical order by author.
5. Each annotation may include some descriptive
material. However, most of the annotation must be critical in
nature (think
movie review!). You must describe what you think of the work in question.
1. Be on Time!
Most students who are constantly tardy miss all of the announcements and
thus do not know what is going on. If
you are tardy come in quietly and check-in at the end of class.
2. Be There.
Most instructors test more heavily on lectured material. Absences should only be taken because of
extreme emergency or bad illness.
3. Get involved in discussions. If you are passive you probably won't remember as much. Don't be embarrassed to speak out.
4. Use Time Management. Schedule your study time each day. Don't let studying get away from you so that
you feel overwhelmed.
5. Write your term paper early. Get it out of the way. You'll feel better and you can then get on to
more important things.
6. Study all of your notes every day for every
class. Believe it or not this does not
take long. By the end of the semester
you'll nearly have them memorized without even trying and you will not have to
cram for final tests!
7. Do the Oral Report. Sure it's voluntary but it's very good
experience. You need to be able to speak
in front of groups with poise. College
is a very good, non-threatening environment in which to practice.
8.
Food or drink man not be consumed in the classroom.
9.
Cell phones and aural pagers must be off before entering the classroom.