Syllabus
Analysis of Utah Landforms
GEOG 5810/6810-ENVST 5810
Spring 2010
Thursdays, 4:35 PM – 5:50 PM, OSH 131
Genevieve Atwood, Ph.D.: OSH 172; genevieve.atwood@geog.utah.edu; office hours Thursdays 2-4 and by appointment; 801-534-1896.
Tim Edgar, M.S.: OSH 109; tim.edgar@geog.utah.edu, office hours Monday & Wednesday 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM and by appointment; 801-581-4963
Prerequisite: Exposure to foundation concepts of Earth systems science and geography.
This can be demonstrated by a combination of geography, environmental science, and geology courses such as: geography of Utah (GEOG 3600); or, geography major with at least two courses in physical geography; or, environmental science major with introductory geology and physical geology courses; or, geology/geophysics major; or, geography or geology / geophysics graduate students; or permission of instructor.
Credit Hours: 4. Participants MUST go on field excursion.
Class dates:
Last day to drop (delete) classes Wednesday, January 20
Last day to register, elect CR/NC, or audit classes Monday, January 25
Last day to withdraw from classes Friday, March 5
Required texts:
Hamblin, W. K. (2004). Beyond the Visible Landscape: Aerial Panoramas of Utah’s Geology. Provo, UT: BYU Geology.
Hintze, L.F. (1997). Geological Highway Map of Utah. Provo, UT: BYU Geology.
Optional text:
Wyckoff, Jerome (1999). Reading the Earth: landforms in the making. Mahwah, N.J.: Adastra West, Inc.
Hintze, L.F. (2005). Utah’s Spectacular Geology: How it Came to Be. Provo, UT: BYU Geology.
Course fee covers 4 credit hours, vehicle cost. Participants should expect to pay an additional $100 to cover food costs, campsites and state/national park user fees.
Course Overview and Objectives
Course catalogue listing:
5810 - Field Seminar (4)
Cross-listed as ENVST5810 (new number) and meets with GEOG6810 (new number). Seminar and Spring Break field trip. Course focuses on field analysis of landforms in the western United States such as evidence of climate change in the Great Basin of Utah, Nevada, and California. Students are responsible for selected aspects of cultural and/or environmental patterns and processes. In recent years, students have analyzed contrasting geomorphic features and processes of Utah’s three physiographic provinces.
6810 - Field Seminar (4)
Meets with GEOG5810 (new number). Seminar and Spring Break field trip. Course focuses on field analysis of landforms in the western United States such as evidence of climate change in the Great Basin of Utah, Nevada, and California. In recent years, students have analyzed contrasting geomorphic features and processes of Utah’s three physiographic provinces. Graduate students should enroll in GEOG 6810 and will be held to higher standards and/or more work, specifically, they will research, apply, and instruct course participants on field techniques applicable to their research.
Course objectives:
GEOG 5810/6810, Analysis of Utah Landforms, is a physical geography field course designed to teach skills and concepts of geomorphology and apply those skills to reading Utah’s landscapes. Analysis of landscapes includes identifying landforms, describing them, observing clues of their origins, and interpreting their tectonic setting and the erosional and depositional processes that have sculpted them. Sessions before the field excursion review of foundations of Earth science (materials, the rock cycle, tectonics, and the hydrologic cycle), present concepts of geomorphology, and teach landform nomenclature. In the field, students will observe, describe, and analyze landforms of Utah’s Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range, and Rocky Mountain physiographic provinces. Graduate students for GEOG6810 will investigate research methods and field investigations appropriate to their research interests. They will demonstrate a field technique as part of the field excursion and write a brief report. The 8 day field excursion is over Spring Break (March 20-27, Saturday to Saturday).
Expected Time Commitment
In accordance with university, school, and department policies, this is a 4-credit course; participants should expect about 3 hours per week of homework for the weeks preceding the field excursion. In past years, some class sessions preceding the field excursion have lasted two hours with concurrence of participants. Attendance for the entire field excursion is required. If you are unable to attend classroom sessions and the entire Spring Break field excursion, you are urged to take this course another year.
Course Requirements and Grading Policy
Requirements
|
Percent |
Glossary Handout
Glossary Presentation
Session Participation
In-class worksheets (twenties) |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
Field worksheets (twenties)
Field presentations
Field trip participation |
25 |
25 |
10 |
Post-field trip exam |
20 |
Driver Training Course |
2 |
Additional for grad students: research methods report and demonstration |
25 |
Total |
100 |
Glossary Terms Presentation and Handouts
Students are expected to understand all terms of the textbook glossary. Each student will be responsible for explaining a few terms in the glossary of the textbook in class, preparing a handout that explains each of the terms, and pointing out examples in the field. Terms include vocabulary of Earth materials, geomorphic processes, and landforms. Glossary term handouts, one per term, form the core of the course field guide. Handouts are to be typed, no hand written work will be accepted. Class participation during presentations is expected.
Worksheets (Twenties)
“Twenties” is jargon for the worksheets filled out to encourage observation and analysis of landscapes and landforms. There will be four graded twenties before the field excursion, and at least 20 twenties during the field excursion.
Additional Resources
The field excursion includes long stretches of driving. Students will be provided with audio resources (e.g. CDs) that narrate portions of the trip between major field stops. Additionally, each vehicle will have a radio to facilitate class discussion when driving between field sites.
Field Presentation and Written Report
Groups will select, from the text book, a landscape for analysis in the field; and each member of a group will be responsible to teach the field trip participants about a landform of the chosen landscape including evolution to its current state and predictions of its future. Each group will compare and contrast landforms and describe relationships with surrounding vegetative, cultural, and climatic patterns of the region. The group’s written report about their landscape and sections by each group member about their landform and process is handed out to all participants as sections of the field excursion guidebook and includes a copy of a technical article about the landform or process.
Field Participation
This course is intended to be interactive and in order for us to interact, you must be present, prepared, and participate. This is a field course and participants will sign University waivers and use common sense vis a vis safety. Illegal and unsafe activities will not be tolerated and instructors will dismiss any participant for inappropriate behavior, specifically any actions that in the instructors’ opinion endanger safety.
Driver Training Course
Participants are required to complete the University of Utah approved Driver Training Video & Test, and the University off-highway driving instruction. Both videos and the test are completed in class on 18 March. While some test questions reinforce the video, most of the questions come from the "Utah Driver Handbook" and the "Utah Defensive Driving Guide/Driver Safety Guide" which can be viewed online. http://publicsafety.utah.gov/dld/handbooks.html
Post-Field Exam
The post-field exam tests understanding of Utah’s landforms and landform processes.
For GEOG6810 – Graduate credit
Graduate students are to demonstrate advanced understanding of research methods, specifically field techniques appropriate to their research. Reading and a brief report are required and a field demonstration of a technique during the field excursion.
Course Schedule and Topics
Bring Hamblin textbook to all pre-excursion sessions.
Date |
|
Topic |
Action Item |
Jan. |
14 |
Course overview; Methods for analyzing Utah landforms |
Step #1
Observe the scene |
|
21 |
Materials and Utah landforms; Bedrock vs. sediment; the rock cycle |
Step #2 Identify materials of landscape |
|
28 |
Discrete landforms; erosional remnants versus depositional features |
Step #3 Identify discrete landforms |
Feb |
4 |
Geomorphic processes; tectonics sets the scene; Utah’s 3 physiographic provinces |
Step #4 Interpret landform process,
Compare regions
Form groups |
|
11 |
Glossary term presentations |
Practice 20
Groups choose major field stops |
|
18 |
Glossary term presentations |
First 20
Discuss Equipment |
|
25 |
Glossary term presentations
Groups meet with instructors |
Second 20
Contact Information |
March |
4 |
Glossary term presentations
Groups meet with instructors |
Third 20
Bring check or cash to pay for field expenses |
|
11 |
Glossary term presentations
Groups meet with instructors |
Fourth 20
Groups decide on food and schedule expeditions for it |
|
18 |
Drivers Training – Mandatory!! |
Excursion reports and glossary terms due
Logistics |
|
20-27 |
Field Excursion |
April |
1 |
No Class |
|
|
8 |
Review for Exam |
Bring your field notebook and Hamblin |
|
15 |
Post-Field Exam |
Field worksheets (twenties) due
EXAM |
|
22 |
No Class |
|
*Note that the above schedule is subject to change.
OTHER:
Academic Honesty
Students are expected to comply with all university, school, and departmental policies and to pursue the highest standards of academic honesty in the course of carrying out all assignments. This includes, but is not limited to, refraining from cheating, plagiarizing, research misconduct, misrepresenting one’s work, or inappropriately collaborating. Plagiarism specifically refers to the use of another’s work, ideas and words as your own. All class work is expected to be original, unless there is appropriate acknowledgement of sources. All factual information reported is expected to be true (at least according to reliable sources); fabricated information is considered a form of academic dishonesty. Students that are found engaging in the above activities will receive a failing grade for the specific assignment and may fail the course.
Americans with Disabilities Act
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in this class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the instructor and to the Center for Disability Services, http://disability.utah.edu/, 160 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD) to make arrangements for accommodations. All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.
Student Responsibility
It is the student's responsibility to communicate with instructors when problems arise and to submit necessary forms in a timely manner. Field trips require teamwork. If you have a problem, please deal with it immediately and please communicate openly with instructors.
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