Below are the slides from the last two class days. If class seemed too slow, today, then I appreciate you sticking it out and working through the lab problems with those who needed more time to process the material. If it was too fast, then I hope you'll contact me in one way or another so we can find a way, together, to get the material stuck in your brain. I know you're all capable--and I know you know it, too! One thing I will ask is that you try hard to keep from getting distracted by social media, texts, email, or websites that are not related to the things we're doing in class. If you would be embarrassed to share it with everyone if I asked you to, then it's probably best to fight the urge. (I know, I know...it's as addictive as crack...but you can do this.)
Close that distraction in the other window, turn off alerts, and focus for a bit, this week. And don't eat all of your Halloween candy (or those leftovers from trick-or-treaters) all at once, tonight. Save some for keeping awake in class! :)
The journey of learning the science that will make your future travels more exciting is unfolding before you...don't miss out on a life more amazingly lived. Study. Right. Now.
The slides for Chapter 4 are posted below. Next week, on Wednesday, Oct. 26th, I'll be testing your knowledge on what we've covered so far. Exam #1 will cover Chapters 1 through 4. You will need to bring Scantron#882 (the long, green one with 50 answers on each side) and a #2 pencil.
There will be a Review Day on Monday, Oct. 24th, complete with sample test questions and a hint about the extra credit question. Bring your completed Labs to the review; I will give them back to you that day. Also bring the study guides and lecture note outlines to class. I'll go over them in detail to let you know which portions you need to focus on.
To prepare for the exam, I recommend going over Chapters 1-4, as well as the slides, lecture notes, and study guides for those sections.
Any questions? Feel free to text (fastest response times), call (not late, though!), or email me.
Well done surviving today's extra long lecture section. Monday should be fun--I plan to do a longer lab with more experiments, the kinds you can observe, touch, hear, even smell and taste. It will be a sensory overload, so prepare accordingly.
Lots of great questions, today. My favorite was, "Why does Indian Summer occur?" We will definitely be discussing global air circulations, soon, but I can tell you it's certainly related to the position of the dominant high pressure zones in the Northern Hemisphere during the autumn months. The one out in the Pacific, called the Hawaiian High, is the main reason we have dry summers and its seasonal shifts, as well as its intensity or weakness, definitely affect when and how our summer shifts into autumn and winter. Its position will also cause changes to the position of the jet stream, which drives the movement of storm systems in the midlatitudes, where you live. More on this, soon!
For now, you can veg out on this mesmerizing Global Wind Map. I think I'm going to project this on the wall at my next party. Very chill. Speaking of chill..
Don't forget to review the slides. And have a great weekend!
Lecture and lab went well, today; thank you all for participating in the demonstrations. I hope all of the walking around and tapping each other helped you understand the concept of conduction and why air is so poor at passing heat from molecule to molecule. Also, if you enjoyed the section on ozone, are curious to learn more, or just want to watch the animations again, check out NASA's Ozone Hole Watch.
We will be keeping a Weather Calendar for the next month, as an experiment. I'm curious to see what we can all learn from the information we'll be recording and sharing. Put in as much data as you can find and don't worry if isn't perfect--I know the symbols are confusing for a first-timer. Just do whatever you can handle. Record date, time, location, and the current temperature; push yourself to try to find the other information, too. Ask someone to help you make entries on days when you're not in class, just to raise the interest level. Who knows what it will lead to?
What's the point of learning about maps? Perhaps it helps us to realize how connected we all are. Here's a little more inspiration for you. Keep dancing. Badly.
Once we hit the door of the classroom and head out into the glaring sunlight, something happens to most of us: we mentally move on to other activities and forget all about Geography class.
Oops.
Maybe that was the teacher's fault...because the Monty Python song was so memorable. (BTW, here's a cool version, especially if you like astronomy.)
Okay, so back to studying.
What to do before Monday:
Focus this weekend on the readings, first. Break them down into manageable sections and read a few pages a night.
Take notes on the reading material.
Try answering the study guide questions at the end of the lecture notes.
Ask someone to quiz you on the study guide questions.
Review the slides.
Work on the last of the lab work, if you still have some to finish. You don't want to be pulling an all-nighter to get lab work done before exam day! Read the text on those lab pages--there's good info there to support the lab work.
When you're done with all of that, if you'd like to check out more supporting material, check out the first three videos in this Khan Academy segment on Earth's Rotation and Tilt. Or watch the whole Vsauce video, How Earth Moves, that we saw a very small portion of, today. Most of it is pretty advanced, so consider it dessert after your main study meal.
There are so many resources out there on the Internet and in the Real World, you could totally hack your education and test out of this course, if you were feeling driven. But then I wouldn't have a job. And I know you wouldn't want to make your teacher homeless. O_o
Don't forget, you can email, text, call me, or come by my office if you're ever stuck. I'm here to help!
A quick pivot made a world of difference in today's lab portion of the class. I was exceptionally excited to see everyone up and walking around, helping each other out, sharing information, writing on the board, and really trying to learn the material. Well done, everyone. I look forward to hearing your feedback as the weeks go on; being able to adapt to the class' learning needs and preferences is a critical component of a successful learning environment. Not that you care about pedagogy (there's Jack's word for the week!). Just sayin'. It works.
If you have questions about the last portion of the lab, feel free to write, text, or call. We will be going over the whole thing (quickly) in class on Wednesday, so you can ask questions then, too. Please read the lab worksheets' text--there's a lot in there to provide a good lecture back-up.
FYI: For those of you interested in a deeper look at Earth's magnetic declination, here is a great website showing shifts in magnetic north and south from 1900 to the present and into 2020. The webpage is part of the website for the World Data Center for Geomagnetism in Kyoto, Japan.
And, finally, the part you've all been waiting for: THE SLIDES. We didn't finish the whole presentation, but you can view the last few, here, on your own. They're very much related to the West Wing video we watched (see previous posts for todays vids). Enjoy.
Earth is a crazy place. Figuring out its size and shape took a very long time, which seems even crazier to people living in a time of overwhelming access to knowledge, and the technology to gain and share it. Poor Eratosthenes. Maybe if he'd gotten out of his armchair once in a while, he might have been able to discover--and enjoy--more of this amazing planet. (Note: The link on "Eratosthenes," above, points to the Carl Sagan video we watched in class.) Please review the slides below. And cut up some round fruit for someone! Use it to try to explain the geographic grid.
Which brings us to the lab. Although the lecture went well, the lab was more time consuming than planned. A remedy is forthcoming.
Welcome to the new Foothill Physical Geography blog site!
Class slide presentations, announcements, and extras will be posted here on a regular basis. You can review course material, keep track of what's going on in class, and share additional, Geography-related items with the class.
With no further ado, here is your first slide show.
