Antarctica: Can you spot the four “spheres” in this image? A bonus point for a fifth sphere!
Bored flying cross-country? Do long road trips in the car drag on endlessly? After completing GEOG 102: Physical Geography, you will be fighting for the window seat on the plane or demanding that your friends to take the long route to your spring break destination. Come trivia night, your friends will beg you to be on their team.
In GEOG 102 we explore the surface of the Earth through five interrelated themes:
- An introduction to the essentials of geography – exploring basic geographical concepts and ideas.
- The energy-atmosphere system – incoming solar radiation drives earths physical systems influencing weather and climate patterns and living things.
- The hydrosphere – the distribution and circulation of water in the atmosphere and hydrosphere influence weather and determine the water available to us and all living things.
- The Earth-atmosphere interface – the Earth’s surface is shaped by internal and external processes that create the landscape around us.
- Soils and ecosystems – Soil is the link between plants, the lithosphere and the rest of earths physical systems;
This is a Baccalaureate Core Course (physical science with lab). Many non-science majors take the class to meet Baccalaureate Core requirements. It is also gateway course to our new BS in Geography and Geospatial Science for undeclared majors.
On campus enrollment ranges from 120 to 170 students per year. Our once a week in-person 80-minute lecture combines with reading the textbook, completing online assignments and quizzes and attending labs to create a student-centered learning experience. Students have the choice of hardcopy or etext. They have access to an extensive online Pearson Mastering Geography library of video material, quizzes and other learning exercises managed by the instructor.
