ENV 280 (4 units)
Physical and Chemical Processes in the Atmosphere & Hydrosphere Fall 2009
TTh, 12:45 – 2 pm: PS 321
(Bldg 19) Section
A (W): PS 113 (Bldg 19) 9:00-12:00 AM
Section
B (Th): PS 113 (Bldg 19) 2:00-5:00
PM
Dr. Diana Anderson Dr.
Michael Ort
Office: PS 137 (Bldg 19) Office:
209 Geology Annex (Bldg 13)
Phone: 523-1276 Phone:
523-9363
E-mail: diana.anderson@nau.edu E-mail:
michael.ort@nau.edu
Office Hr: 11-12 TTh Office
Hr:
(also by
appointment) (also
by appointment)
?????? (TA)
Office: (Bldg 19)
Phone:
E-mail:
Office Hrs:
Course
description
ENV 280 is the second course in the core curriculum for
Environmental Science majors. The
course focuses on the Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere, emphasizing
composition, chemical processing, and physical transport, while addressing
aspects of human impact. The lab
focuses on computer-based data analysis skills, scientific writing skills, and
air/water quality sampling techniques.
Required
textbooks and lab manual
á Botkin,
D.B., and Keller, E.A., 2007, Environmental
Science, Earth as a Living Planet: Wiley and Sons OR Environment: The Science Behind the Stories, 3th Edition. Withgott & Brennan,
2008, Pearson Benjamin-Cummings
Publishers Note that these are both from ENV 230, either last year or
the year before, and either will suffice
á Ahrens, Meteorology
Today, 2009, 9th Edition, Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning (ISBN-10:
0-495-55573-8; ISBN-13: 978-0-495-55573-5). Selected Chapters:
1, 2, 6, 16, and 18 will be used in the course. You may buy the full text at the
bookstore or other source on on-line through http://instructors.coursesmart.com/students, or you may simply download the relevant
chapters through http://www.ichapters.com/.
á
Thompson and Turk, 2007, Earth Science and the Environment, 4th Edition, Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
(ISBN-10:
0-495-11287-9, ISBN-13: 978-0-495-11287-7), chapters 10, 11, and 12, http://www.ichapters.com/tl1/en/US/storefront/ichapters?cmd=catProductDetail&productID=513620886810504182477973993313954579
á
ENV 280 lab instructions will be posted on the VISTA
Web site or distributed in class
á
a lab notebook to record your field and lab data
Learning
outcomes
ENV 280 is taught in three parts: (1) EarthÕs atmosphere (Anderson);
(2) EarthÕs hydrosphere (Ort), and (3) biogeochemical cycling (Ort). Learning
outcomes for each part are described below.
Part 1: EarthÕs Atmosphere DIANA REVISE
The first part of the course focuses on the science that
underlies familiar issues such as the atmospheric dynamics, air pollutions,
ozone depletion and climate change.
Students will
á Identify
the major ÒlayersÓ of the atmosphere and describe their major characteristics
á Understand
the role of atmospheric stability in pollution concentration or dispersion
á Explain
why the sky is blue, clouds are white, and sunsets are red
á Explain
why ozone in the stratosphere is ÒgoodÓ but ozone in the troposphere is ÒbadÓ
á Outline
the steps that led to the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole
á Outline
the steps that led to the formation of photochemical smog
Part 2: EarthÕs hydrosphere
The second part of the course will investigate the EarthÕs
hydrosphere with emphases on water quality and quantity in surface and
groundwater. Chemical cycling will
be used as a linking concept throughout.
You will
á Understand
how human-caused pollution is remediated
á Describe
how the many parts of EarthÕs climate system interact
á Understand
the biogeochemical cycling of carbon
á Be
familiar with how major nutrients cycle through soils and plants
á Understand
how soil minerals control the movement and availability of nutrients
You are expected to attend the lectures, laboratories, and
field trips and to study the assigned sections in textbook and class
handouts. All homework and
laboratory assignments must be turned in on time. No material will be accepted after the due date and there
will be no make-up exams, unless by prior arrangement.
Your final grade will be based on the following distribution
of points:
Part 1 (425
pt, normalized to 34% of grade)
Lecture Exam 1 150
Homework
(3 @ 25 pts each) 75
225
Lab Activities
(4 @ 10 pts each) 40
Draft
of Methods section 20
Draft
of Results section 20
Draft
of Intro and References 20
Final
revised paper 100
200
Part 2 (normalized
to 40% of grade)
ENV 490C
presentations 20
Class
Evaluations???
5???
For each module, you will receive more detailed information
about specific assignments, their point distributions, and due dates. The final letter grade will be no lower
than the following: 90% = A; 80% =
B; 70% = C; 60% = D. Cutoffs may
be adjusted downward.
Laboratory
section
The ENV 280 laboratory focuses on procedures used by
environmental professionals and is an integral component of this course. You will gain important practical
experience as well as develop skills in scientific writing, data analysis
(Excel), and data presentation (Word). Laboratory activities and assignments
will be posted on the VISTA Web site or distributed as handouts during lab.
Attendance at lab is required. The first
lab is scheduled for Wednesday, September 2, 2009. (There are no labs the
first week of classes.)
Required
attendance at ENV 490C presentations
You must attend and review four ENV 490C student
presentations. The ENV 490C presentations
occur during a single afternoon late in every semester and are the result of a
lot of work by the presenting students.
In a few very short semesters, you will be presenting also, and this is
an excellent opportunity to get an idea of what is involved and the level of
professionalism of the presentations. This year, the presentations will
occur on Tuesday, November 24, in
the afternoon. This is the Tuesday
before Thanksgiving, so it is important that you do not plan to leave town
early.
Air monitoring station (GC) Friday,
Oct. 3 (noon to 6 PM)REVISE checking
with Marin
Verde
River water sampling Saturday,
Nov. 8 (tentative)REVISE
Exam dates
Exam 1 Thursday,
Oct 15
Exam
2 Wednesday,
Nov 12
Exam
3 Wednesday,
Dec 10 (10:00-12:00 AM)
Major
Paper Due Dates
Major
Paper 1 (Air) Monday,
Oct 20 (due in class) REVISE
Major
Paper 2 (Water) Wednesday,
Dec. 3 (due in class) REVISE
Course
policies
Special needs -- At any
time, we encourage students to come to us for help in understanding the
readings, lecture-discussions, writing assignments, or for other course-related
assistance. If you cannot make our scheduled office hours, make an appointment
at another time. Remember that our
telephones have Voice Mail, so you can always leave a message. We will respond!
Challenges to assigned
grades -- Challenges to assigned grades are welcomed because they
demonstrate that you are seriously thinking about the material in the
course. However, we will only
consider challenges in writing.
Our hope is that written challenges will accomplish two goals: (1) a
written format provides you with the opportunity to present an articulate and
well considered argument (and therefore more likely that we will favor your
challenge with an improved grade); and (2) a written request provides a record
of the grade transaction in case there are questions at a later time. Challenges must be submitted within one
week of the return of a graded assignment.
Plagiarism and cheating -- Any
form of misconduct including cheating, fabrication, fraud, facilitating
academic dishonesty, and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Violators will be subject to a failing
grade in this course. Please see
the Student Code of Conduct and the section on Academic Dishonesty in the
Northern Arizona University Student Handbook.
Incompletes -- We
will not assign a grade of Incomplete except in extreme circumstances beyond a
student's control. We never give
an Incomplete because a student is dissatisfied with a final grade and hopes to
complete additional post-course work to improve the grade.
Withdrawals -- The last day for Drop/Delete is September
18, 2008. Deadline to drop
with a W is October 23, 2008. For other deadlines, please refer to the
Fall 2008 Enrollment Calendar at http://home.nau.edu/registrar/enroll_1097_DT_other.asp
Other NAU
policies –This course adheres to policies set forth by NAU
(for a complete listing see http://home.nau.edu/universitypolicies). (1) The Safe Environment Policy seeks
to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety of all individuals within the
university. (2) Students with
disabilities may make arrangements for class assignments so your academic performance
will not suffer because of the disability. (3) The university takes an extremely serious view of
violations of academic integrity.
It is dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of honesty and is committed
to maintaining the academic integrity essential to the educational
process. (4) It is the
responsibility of each student to behave in a manner that does not interrupt or
disrupt the delivery of education by faculty members or receipt of education by
students, within or outside the classroom.