Geography of US/Canada Geography 320 Section ID 124035 Tentative Course Schedule Course syllabus can change over the semester. It is suggested to look at it on the web caucus periodically, though changes will be mentioned in class. General Class Information Your Instructor: Prof. Chris Mayda, Assistant Professor of Geography Where to find her: In person: Strong 217; by phone 734 487-7856; by email: cmayda@online.emich.edu Office Hours: TTh @ 11-12:30P; Tuesday, Thursday 5-5:30 or by appointment Required Text: Regional Geography of the United States and Canada; Tom L. McKnight. Third Edition Prerequisite: GEOG 110 or GESC 108 Web Caucus Course Caucus page: Geog 320 Mayda Winter 01 All students must go on line to participate with Web Caucus. Those not on the web caucus with their email address available will have their grade penalized. Lecture notes are available on web caucus but are not intended to replace lecture attendance. You are instructed to check web caucus regularly. Assignments announcements and any important communication will be found on web caucus. It is your responsibility to check web caucus at least weekly, or when classes might be altered. Instructions for getting on the Caucus begin at the school's home page: http://www.emich.edu From there go to "Library and Computing" if you have an email account. If you do not have an email account get one immediately. It takes at least a day to be able to access the web after registering for an email account. Once at "Library and Computing" page, go to the bottom where it will say "EMU Web Caucus" click on it. Once in Web Caucus you must register the first time. Takes a day to be accepted. Once in the Caucus go to Geog 320, Mayda and enter into the specific class and assignments. The syllabus will be part of the pages offered in case you should lose yours. Course Objectives This class is a regional treatment of the physiography and demography of North America. At the end of this course students should be able to connect the physical and human regional systems of North America as well as defining the various regions and their cultural realms along with their loyalties, interests and plans for the future. This will include but not be limited to: Describe how physical processes affect different regions of the US and Canada Identifying the physical and human factors that constitute a region Explain how changing conditions can result in a region taking on a new structure Explain why regions once characterized by one set of criteria may be defined by a different set of criteria today. Identify the differences among formal, functional, and perceptual regions Explain how functional regions are held together Identify the ways in which the concept of a region can be used to simplify the complexity of Earth's space Identify human and physical changes in regions and explain the factors that contribute to those changes Explain the different ways in which regional systems are structured ; Interpret the connections within and among the parts of a regional system Use regions to analyze geographic issues and answer geographic questions Explain why places and regions are important to individual human identity and as symbols for unifying or fragmenting society Explain how individuals view spaces and regions on the basis of their stage of life, sex, social class, ethnicity, values and belief systems ; Analyze the ways in which people's changing views of places and regions reflect cultural change Predict trends in the spatial distribution of population in response to environmental, sociocultural or economic conditions and changes Explain economic, political and social factors contributing to human migration Evaluate the impact of human migration on physical and human systems Analyze how cultures influence the characteristics of regions Explain how cultural features often define regions Analyze the relationships between various settlement patterns, their associated economic activities and relative land values; Analyze the internal structure, shape and functions of cities The role of technology in the capacity of the physical environment to accommodate human modification Analyze the relationships between the spatial distribution of settlement and resources Explain how the processes of spatial change have affected history Illustrate how technology has enabled people to increase their control over nature and how that has changed land-use patterns Class Lectures The basis of class will be lectures and discussion with PowerPoint presentations (available on web) to provide extra structure but not intended to provide a "distant learning" experience (not a justification for missing class). In fact missing classroom time will harm ones grade in that group presentations will depend on good attendance. The web is an aid to augment your class lectures and organize study. You are responsible for material presented in lectures, readings and presentations. Keeping current with reading assignments will allow enlightened classroom discussions, and be the cornerstone to good grades. By reading at the appropriate time your comprehension will increase. First read, then listen to the lecture and participate in discussions, and then reread the text for the best grades. Classroom attendance also helps preparation for exams. Videos Movies or videos will be shown occasionally in class. You are to take notes on them for testing and quizzes. You may be given a sheet of questions to be answered while watching movies or videos. They maybe turned in for an extra credit grade. Class requirements and Grading Your course grade will be based on: Periodic maps and census work (accumulation will add 5% to grade if done). Three short written papers (10% each, total of 30%) 3 exams and a final each exam worth 15% Final worth 25% final will cover both the last regional areas (15%) plus a cumulative section (10%) Makeup exams or missed or late assignments will only be offered if it is discussed in advance. Academic dishonesty (as cheating or plagiarism) will not be tolerated and will be heavily penalized. Exams and final will be multiple choice, short answer and matching questions. There will be approximately 20-25 questions per chapter. Question will be drawn largely from lectures but will also have an element from readings. Lecture notes will be posted on web caucus. Grading criteria for written papers available on web caucus Grades A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F less than 60 Class Policies Policy regarding missed work: You are responsible for all material covered in class, and all announcements made in class. Absence from class does not relieve you of this responsibility. Please get the telephone number or email address of at least 2 other students so that you can call them to find out what you missed. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact your classmates and to use the computer to get the lecture notes. The instructor does NOT give lecture notes to students who miss class or who are unable to keep up with the class. See web caucus for this. Attendance policy: Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and are responsible for all work missed when absent. Failure to attend class could have a detrimental result on the student's grade. Should a student wish to withdraw from the course, it is his or her responsibility to initiate the request. Policy regarding late assignments Each assignment has a specific due date. You will be told this date when the assignment is given. The assignment will be due on thedate specified. Late assignments will lose points (10% off for each day late). NO ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THEY ARE TWO WEEKS LATE. Questions in class Please feel free to ask questions of the instructor at any time, either in class, during office hours, or by email. Prolonged questions should be asked during the hour before class (office hour) and not immediately before class. As you review your notes from each class, make a list of any questions you have on material presented or in the textbook. At the beginning of each class you will have an opportunity to ask questions. If questions become excessive during a lecture, such that we are unable to stay on schedule, I may have to ask that you hold them until outside of class. Behavior Expectations Students are expected to maintain adult behavior at all times. Be punctual. I expect you to be prepared for class, attend class regularly,arrive on time and stay for the entire class. I will do the same. If you must leave early, it is courteous to inform the instructor in advance. Talking or any other behavior that disrupts the lecture, or disturbs other students, or distracts the instructor (talking, whispering, note passing….) may result in your being asked to stop the distracting behavior, to change your seat or to leave the room. Continued disruption will not be tolerated and you may be asked to leave the class. It is expected that the class will read the basic subject material before classroom meetings, so in class discussions can be facilitated. This requires a commitment and a degree of personal motivation by the students to engage on the course material throughout thesemester. The key words, concepts and outline provided on the net will help with your reading preparation for class meetings. Policy on Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty (cheating or plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Cheating includes, among other things, use of unauthorized paper during a test (no matter the content), copying from another student's paper during a test, allowing another student to copy from your paper during a test, copying another's homework, paying someone to write a paper or do an assignment for you, buying or downloading a term paper, or leaving the room during a test without permission. Plagiarism includes copying anything verbatim form the reference without using quotation or referring to the source. It also includes turning in another's work as your own (as off the World Wide Web). Students are responsible for doing their own work, even if they "work together". If tow papers are turned in that show great similarity such that the instructor interprets it as evidence of cheating or plagiarism, both will be penalized. First offenses will receive a zero for that exercise. The second offense will result in failing the course. Tentative class schedule Date Subject Reading Assignments January 9 Intro January 11 North American continent Chapter 1 Download USA and Canada maps from Caucus page (See Web caucus for exercise. Due January 16 16 Physical Environment 2 18 Population 3 23 The North American City 4 Go to http://www.census.gov/ and via the search engine write one page of the information found on your hometown. Is it in a metropolitan area? Also comment on the type of information and the image it portrays of that town. Is it an accurate portrayal of the essence of your town? Due February 1 25 Regions of the US/Canada 5 30 EXAM February 1 The Atlantic Northeast 6 6 French Canada 7 8 Ontario Library Reserve "Ontario" 13 Megalopolis 8 15 Appalachians & Ozarks 9 Explain the relationship of Appalachia and the Ozarks (go to web caucus for specifics) Due February 22 20 South 10 22 review Exam 27 March 1 "Tobacco Blues" Extra credit assignment. (See web caucus) due March 13. March 6 & 8 Spring recess March 13 Southeastern coast 11 15 Prairie Canada Library reserve "Western Canada" 20 Heartland 12 Look at web caucus maps and explain what each identifies and what it means to the region shown. Due March 27 22 Great Plains 13 27 Rocky Mountains 14 29 Exam April 3 Southwest 15 5 California 16 10 Hawaii 17 12 Pacific Northwest 18 17 BC/ Alaska 20 + Library reserve "British Columbia" 19 review Tuesday April 24 11:30A Final

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