MIDTERM – Expectations -

Urban Environmental Geography SPRING 2010

Reminder… GEOG3330-Urban Environmental Geography, syllabus, course listing:

Urban Environmental Geography takes an Earth systems approach to two questions: (a) how do environmental conditions impact urban development, and (b) how has urbanization impacted local, regional, and global environments. Subsystems of Earth systems are the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and anthrosphere. Students integrate relevant content of physical, biological, and social science disciplines. Skills, such as interpretation of spatial data, geological cross-sections, hydrologic profiles, weather maps, and census data, are used to evaluate differences among urban settings.

The midterm addresses the sections in bold:

· Earth systems approach (systems have subsystems that are interrelated)

· How physical conditions impact urban settings (subset of larger question… how does physical geography impact human geography… COACHING AND DANGER… midterm is focuses on geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere AND how they affect cities… repeat this is URBAN environmental geography. So… the biosphere is not the direct focus of the midterm exam, although it can be discussed indirectly; the midterm is NOT testing your knowledge of how cities impact the physical world (we’ll do that in the final exam), it’s testing your knowledge of how physical setting impacts urban setting.

· Geog3330 meets an “explorations in physical and biological sciences” general education requirement and the midterm will ask you to show you can explore concepts of physical science, specifically Earth science, and specifically The Big Science Concepts of the course to the midterm.

· Skills you’ve learned are: contours, profiles, and Google Earth.

This “expectations” page is DRAFT… so you can study… if there are major changes, I’ll let you know before the midterm.

OPEN BOOK… and you can take your notebook home with you anytime.

OPEN COMPUTERS… but, obviously, do not share ideas, information, web links, text messages etc with classmates during the midterm.

HANDWRITTEN. No files turned in. No printouts or attachments. I’ll provide you the paper for your exam… but consider bringing colored pencils.

Expect TWO PARTS to the midterm.

PART ONE -- NO CHOICE -- show me you understand how physical settings impact urban settings.

Outline (25%); long essay with discussion (25%); observations (25%); and examples (25%).

How do Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere affect a city -- this can be "your urban setting" or any city of your choice. Essentially, it is a summary of the many of the main topics of the labs. If you've done the labs and thoughts about concepts, great. I'll give you a structured outline to fill in and follow.

Express complete thoughts… meaning, use complete sentences in your discussion sections. Complete sentences generally express relationships and this course is all about relationships. I don’t expect excellent grammar. I do expect thoughtful expression. The more you express, the better you can do. Don’t assume I know, you know, more that you write. Short, cryptic responses that are “right” receive less credit than longer responses that demonstrate a willingness to express critical thinking.

PART TWO -- ANSWER ONLY ONE OF THREE CHOICES: (no extra credit for responding more than one). JUST one of these three:

A: explore and discuss physical science concepts successfully.

Take one of the Big Science Concepts of Geog3330 and explore its relationships with the subsystems of Earth systems.

Outline (not complete sentences - 25%); long essay with discussion (complete sentences - 25%); observations (25%); and examples (25%).

B: demonstrate skills associated with continuous data… contour data and draw a profile.

Given a map showing barometric pressure across the United States, contour the data (50%), draw a profile for the indicted profile (25%), and interpret low and high pressure patterns (25%).

C: show mastery of terms and usage.

Define and use eight terms. Complete sentences required. Definition (25%); grammatical usage (15%); usage that shows understanding of how or why it affects cities (60%).

The terms will be the bold headings of each of Encounter Geosystems’ chapters, for example for Chapter One: latitude and longitude; time and time zones; map scale; remote sensing; and GIS.