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GEOG 2400—Environmental Geography

Three Semester Hours

NB 1/13

Prerequisites

None

Course Overview

Geographic survey of environmental changes caused by human activities. Focus on resource availability and use, pollution of air, water, and biosphere, energy problems, interactions of humans with plant and animal communities.

Methods of Course Instruction

All material for this course is print-based. Instructor and students communicate and exchange materials through postal mail. 

E-Print Option

In this course, an option exists to use e-mail to submit your lesson assignments. Your assignment will be returned to you either as an e-mail attachment or as a hard copy sent through the postal mail, depending on the preferences of the instructor and/or program. 

Textbooks and Supplies

Berg, Linda, David M. Hassenzahl, and Mary Catherine Hager. Visualizing Environmental Science, 3rd ed. Wiley, 2010. [ISBN: 9780470569184]

Number of Lessons

The course has 12 lessons, including one midcourse examination and final examination.

• Lesson 1: Environmental Dilemmas; Environmental Sustainability and Human Values 
• Lesson 2: Environmental History, Politics, and Economics; Risk Analysis and Environmental Hazards 
• Lesson 3: How Ecosystems Work; Ecosystems and Evolution 
• Lesson 4: Air and Air Pollution; Global Atmospheric Changes 
• Lesson 5: Freshwater Resources and Pollution 
• Lesson 6: Midcourse Examination Information 
• Lesson 7: Environmental Geology: Minerals and Soils; Environmental Geology: Land 
• Lesson 8: Agriculture and Food Resources; Human Population Change and the Environment 
• Lesson 9: Biological Resources 
• Lesson 10: Solid and Hazardous Waste: An Unrecognized Resource 
• Lesson 11: Nonrenewable and Renewable Energy Resources 
• Lesson 12: Final Examination Information

Types of Writing Assignments

The lesson assignments allow you to use a variety of resources—the textbook, tables, graphics, and additional readings—to respond to questions about the topics of the lesson. Questions may be completion, fill-in, or short essay. Some questions may require you to interpret a map or diagram. The assignments will be submitted for the instructor’s evaluation and feedback.

Grading Criteria

The course has two supervised examinations, consisting of questions similar to those in the lesson writing assignments. Two hours are allowed for each examination. All materials will be provided; no books, notes, or supplementary aids are permitted. All lesson assignments and examinations are graded. The final grade is weighted on the following factors:

• Lesson assignments — 20% 
• Midcourse examination — 40% 
• Final examination — 40% 
• Total —100%