Introduction to Environmental Geoscience
Course Syllabus Fall 2007

Tuesday and Thursday 9:35 AM to 10:50 AM
Room 303 CSA (Computer Services and Data Processing Addition)

Instructors

Office Hours

Course description

We will discuss key concepts and generalizations of global and regional environmental issues within an earth-systems-science framework including global climate change, air pollution, land and coastal degradation, water resources and pollution, and habitat loss; environmental ethics, economics, and politics; and environmental issues in Texas.

Course philosophy

The course is not simply fact-based, it is designed to generate discussion. We will discuss specific environmental problems within the framework of earth-system science. For example, we will discuss factors controlling climate including greenhouse gasses, the ocean, and earth's carbon cycle, or factors controlling land degradation, including climate, geology, atmospheric patterns, and land-use policy.

Reading

Reading material will be assigned for most class periods. We expect you to read this before class. Please come to class prepared to discuss what you have read.

Textbook

There is no required textbook for the course. All readings will come from the web or class handouts. We have not been able to find an environmental science text based on case studies, that is applicable to Texas or the southwest. Fortunately, there is an abundance of good material on the web.

Grading

Your grade will be based on homework (15%), two tests (40%), presentation and paper at the end of the course (10%), book review (10%), and a comprehensive final exam (25%).

A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = < 59

If necessary, test grades will be curved. Additional curving of grades at the semester's end will be at the discretion of the professor.

Tests

There will be two tests during the semester plus a cumulative final exam. They will be worth 20% + 20% + 25% = 65% of your grade.

Book Review and Class Presentation

You will be required to write a three-page, single-spaced, review of Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource by Marq De Villiers. This is worth 10% of your grade.

You will also be required to work in teams of three to write a short report on an environmental topic of your choice and make class presentation based on your report. We will give you more details in class. Each team will have 10 – 12 minutes to make a presentation and answer questions based on your report on one of the last two days of the semester. The time alloted for each presentation will depend on the number of students enrolled in the class. The presentation and report is worth 10% of your grade.

Academic Dishonesty

It is the responsibility of students and instructors to help maintain scholastic integrity at the university by refusing to participate in or tolerate scholastic dishonesty. Every act of academic dishonesty deflates the value of the TAMU degree you hope to receive. All cases of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Aggie Honor System Office and handled according to their guidelines. The report may result in disciplinary action. If you are reported twice, you will most likely be dismissed from the University.

Examples of scholastic dishonesty include: 1) acquiring answers for any assigned work or examination from any unauthorized source, 2) observing the work of other students during any examination, 3) providing answers for any assigned work or examination when not specifically authorized to do so, 4) failing to credit sources used in a work product in an attempt to pass off the work as ones's own, 5) attempting to receive credit for work performed by another, including papers obtained in whole or in part from individuals or other sources, and 6) fabrication of information. For more information, see TAMU Student Rules, Part 1 on Academic Dishonesty, and the library's web site on plagiarism complete with definitions and examples.

Know the Aggie Code of Honor. "An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do."

Disabilities

Texas A&M does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's disability and complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in its admissions, accessibility, treatment, and employment practices. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room B118 of Cain Hall. The phone number is 845-1637.

Revised on: 24 August, 2007