Details:

Fulfills natural science course requirement at BC.

Outcomes:

After completing this class, students should be able to:

• identify through mapwork and written work the details of the geographic grid; the earth’s rotation and tilted axis; and the elliptical orbit of the planet around the Sun. The student will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the interrelatedness of these phenomena and the importance of such movements in the seasonal differentiation in weather patterns.
• explain in short essays and relevant diagrams the composition of the atmosphere with specific reference to the troposphere and the dynamics of the oceans within this relationship. Students will be able to identify the importance of the flows of energy through these interlocking systems.
• demonstrate in written essays, in maps and in diagrams, a knowledge of atmospheric circulation, for example, the Earth’s energy budget; global surface and upper wind circulation; global patterns of pressure, precipitation and temperature. The student should be able to identify the immense role played by radiation of energy from the Sun.
• explain in written format the workings of moisture in the lower atmosphere and the underlying relevance of temperature in the determination of levels of atmospheric storage of moisture; the processes of evaporation and condensation; and the mechanisms of lapse rates upon weather phenomena.
• identify and explain the operation of weather systems at both macro and micro scales of enquiry. This will enable the student to analyze and interpret synoptic charts of weather conditions through mapwork and cartographic exercises.
• identify and interpret the methodology underlying the various attempts made to classify global climate. The student will be able to show through short essays the need for generalization at the global dimension and an understanding of the inadequacies that undermine attempts to classify such inherently unique phenomena.
• recognize and interpret in short essays and in class discussion the importance of climate in the framing of cultural attributes, such as the relevance of the Monsoon in the daily pattern of life in the subcontinent of India.
• demonstrate in written essays and maps the interrelationships that exist between the characteristics and distribution of global systems of vegetation, soil and climate. The student will be able to identify and discuss the influence of humankind by accident and by design, on the spatial distribution and characteristics of biotic environments and the complexities in the structure, distribution and dynamic nature of ecosystems at a variety of scales of enquiry.