UCSD ESYS 10 Introduction to
Environmental Systems
Winter 2006
Syllabus
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Class time and place:
Tuesday
and Thursday: 12:30 – 1:50 PM, Warren Lecture Hall 2208
Schedule of lectures
(home page)
Exam
information: http://talleylab.ucsd.edu/ltalley/esys10/esys10_exams.htm
Course
objectives: By the end of this course, you should
be able to describe the ocean/atmosphere climate system and the greenhouse
effect, and explain how they interact with life on Earth. You should understand the differences
between global warming, ozone depletion, and atmospheric pollution. You should be able to explain pros and
cons of scientific and policy responses to biodiversity, pollution, the ozone
hole, and anthropogenic greenhouse warming of the Earth.
Format: This course focuses on using scientific findings to
examine policy questions. We use a
case study approach, and will spend some of our class time in small groups
discussing specific examples. For
this reason, class attendance and participation are very important and will be
part of your grade.
Grading:
25%
attendance, participation in group exercises, and submission of summary reports
for the 4 case studies and the aquarium field trip. Summary reports are due no later than 1 week after
completion of case study in class.
15%
5-7 page term paper
10%
weekly problem sets (from textbook), due Tuesday's
20%
mid-term
30%
final exam
Late
assignments will not ordinarily be accepted.
What is meant
by required attendance: Attendance is
important for this class because you will be working in groups. On days when we
have group activities (which will be almost every class period), I will always
take attendance. You may have up to
one absence during the quarter before your grade will begin to suffer. Please notify me if you will miss class
so that we can plan appropriately.
Absences with prior notification will count as one-third absences.
What to expect
in the case studies: Written material will be handed out
during the class prior to the beginning of a case study and you are asked to
read it before class. During part
1, your case study group will meet, briefly discuss the issues and decide which
group member will take which role for research and discussion. Then cross-groups of all those in a
given role will meet to discuss direction of research and allocation of
research tasks. You will then have
up to a week, including a weekend, to do your research. At the second class, the cross-groups
will meet and exchange information. Then your case study group will meet and
discuss your results. Finally,
there will be a class discussion including all of the groups. After the second class, you are asked
to prepare an individual summary of your own research, and a summary of your
case study group's discussion. This summary must be handed in within one week
of the second class.
How will I grade
the case study writeups?
Highest grades are given for those that include (1) referenced research
(reputable internet references are acceptable), (2) information supporting your
character's point of view, and (3) summary of the group's discussion. You are encouraged to exchange
information, references, etc. with your group. You will lose points/portion of a grade if you
do not include your references.
Please follow standard formats for references (see below).
How will I grade
general writing (essays on exams, term papers, etc)? (1) accurate science (with
references for term papers), (2) discussion/arguments relating the science to
public issues/policy/government, (3) depth, (4) writing.
What to expect from ESYS 10 Exams: Exams will include short answer and essay segments.
Short answer questions may be lifted directly from the review sections at the
end of each chapter in the book or may come from other material that we have
discussed in class. Some questions may require writing a few words (to correct
a false statement, for example) while others will require a short paragraph.
Essay questions will usually grow out of material that we have discussed in
case studies or other group exercises. Typically you will be asked to read a
short passage about an environmental issue and to comment on it from both a
scientific and policy perspective. The essays that receive the best grades
usually contain clear and well-thought out arguments that are supported by
factual evidence.
The midterm will cover the
first two case studies and the textbook chapters that we discuss in class prior
to the midterm. The final exam will be cumulative. It will cover all four case
studies and all of the assigned textbook chapters (though it will emphasize the
textbook material from the second half of the course.)
Please note that university
policy does not allow you to reschedule exams for personal reasons.
A note on citation and
university level writing:
In this course you will complete two types of writing assignments. For each case study, I will ask you to submit a written summary of your own research and your group's discussion of the case. These may be handwritten though past experience suggests that typed responses often appear more carefully thought out and receive better grades. Towards the end of the quarter you will complete a 5-7 page term paper, which should be typed and double-spaced.
No matter how informal the writing assignment, I expect you to acknowledge your sources, including websites. You must include a reference list or detailed footnotes or endnotes. In addition, you should indicate in the text the specific sources for the facts and opinions that you draw from other sources. The strictest guidelines suggest that if more than three consecutive words are quoted verbatim from a source, then you should surround them with quotes and identify the source. Even if you change the words, if the ideas come from a website or published document, then you should indicate what resource you've consulted.
Citations can be done in a variety of ways, and any of the standard formats (numbered footnotes, numbered endnotes, etc.) are acceptable for this course. Please be consistent, whichever mode you choose for citations. Standard scientific citation, including citations of online material, gives author and year in brackets or parentheses in the text. For example, in the text you might see [Gille, 2003] or (Smith and Jones, 1989). Examples of material cited from websites: [Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, 2001] or [Stewart, 2002].
Citations for electronic text should include as many of the following as possible:
(1) Name, (2) "Title" (in quotation marks), (3) Date of material (if given), (4) Title of the database (in italics), (5) Date when you accessed the material, (6) Address you accessed.
A reference list at the end, alphabetized by author's last name, provides full publication information. For example:
References
"Climate change 2001: The Scientific Basis", 2001, Climate Change 2001, 4 Jan. 2004, N. pag., Available http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1.
Gille, S. T., "Syllabus: ESYS 10 Introduction to Environmental Systems", UCSD, Winter 2003.
Smith, A. B. and C. D. Jones, Fictional article name, Journal of the Unknown, vol. 1, pp. 1-30, 1898.
Stewart, R. H., "Introduction to Physical Oceanography", 2002. 4 Jan. 2004. 344 pp. Available http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/ocean410/ocng410_text_book.html.
(In the above references to online material: make sure that the electronic address is included, preceded by the word "Available" if the site can still be accessed. If the website does not have pagination (most do not), use the phrase N. pag. before the address.)
NSF award OCE0049066 to Prof. Sarah Gille of SIO/UCSD helped with the development of some material in this web site.
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Last modification January 9 2006