lecture1 intro

Welcome to Earth’s Environmental Systems:PhysicalGeography

GEO 110

Instructor: Dan CadolOffice: McGlothlin-Street 216Email: dcadol@wm.eduPhone: 221-2446Lectures: MWF 9:00-9:50am

in McG-S 20Office hours: Mon 10am-noon;

Tues 1-4pm; or by appointment

Text: Strahler, A. and A. Strahler. 2005. Physical Geography: Science and Systems of the Human Environment. 3rd edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

The Earth in General (intro to geography)

Rocks (aka. the Lithosphere)

What do you expect… this is the geology department.

Water (aka. the Hydroshpere)

Air (aka. the Atmosphere)

Life (aka. the Biosphere)

What is geography?

Quantitative• number• length• temperature• time• concentration

Qualitative• description• type• classification• color• relative amount

“We sure are burning a lot of fossil fuels, and it seems like there’s more CO2 in the air than there used to be.”

Optional math review sessions

• Thursday 4-4:45 pm

• Monday 4-4:45 pm

• Wednesday 4-4:45 pm

Room 230 McG-S (subject to change)

Grading

Quizzes 10% (throw away the 2 lowest scores)

Problem sets 20%

Exam 1 15%

Exam 2 20%

Final Exam 25%

Class participation 10%

• maps

• GIS

• remote sensing

• statistics

• mathematical models

• LOGIC!

The Tools of GeographyU

SG

S 7.5’

Topographic Q

uadrangle

Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly, AZ

1941 2003

The Tools of Geography

• maps

• GIS

• remote sensing

• statistics

• numerical models

• LOGIC!

Geographic Information Systems

The Tools of Geography

• maps

• GIS

• remote sensing

• statistics

• numerical models

• LOGIC!

Air Photos, Satellite Images, LiDAR

The Tools of Geography

• maps

• GIS

• remote sensing

• statistics

• numerical models

• LOGIC!

Spatial Statistics

The Tools of Geography

• maps

• GIS

• remote sensing

• statistics

• numerical models

• LOGIC!

Numerical Model of Reservoir Filling

• maps

• GIS

• remote sensing

• statistics

• numerical models

• LOGIC!

Which object best Which object best approximates the approximates the

shape of the Earth?shape of the Earth?Frisbee Beachball

The Tools of Geography

Quiz #1 (take home, due Friday)3 simple questions:

• Who are you? (name, year, major)

• What do you hope to learn in Geology 110?

• Where is home?

(This could be where you were born, where you were raised, where you live now, where your folks live... Whatever feels most like home to you.)

Quiz #1 (take home, due Friday)

1 question that requires a tiny amount of effort:• What are the coordinates of home in latitude

and longitude? I grew up in Jackson, WY, USA, so I would say: Decimal degrees: 43.472° N, 110.771° W

or Degrees, minutes, seconds: 43°28′19″ N, 110°46′16″ W