Geography 260Henry Lawrence

Geography of the U.S. and Canada204 CooperPhone: 732-1572

Spring 2016Office Hours: MWF 11:00–11:50 am

MWF 1:00-1:50 pmTR 10:00-10:50 pm

173 Cooper Hallother times by appointment

Catalog description

The course relates the principles of geography to the forces that have shaped American civilization. Settlement patterns, agriculture, manufacturing, commerce and transportation are discussed along with the physical, political, economic and cultural factors that characterize the American landscape. This course is approved for General Education – Core 3.

Objectives

We will study the geography of the U.S. and Canada, two of the world’s largest countries, who share most of North America. We will begin with a thematic overview of the physical geography and the human geography and then look at how these factors are combined in fourteen different sub-regions.

After successful completion of the course students will:

  • Be familiar with the names and locations of important places in the U.S. and Canada;
  • Understand the relationships between landforms, climate, history and economy;
  • Be able to discuss the economic activities, the major urban areas and the main cultural groups;
  • Know the principle characteristics of the various sub-regions of North America.

As part of the General Education program at Edinboro, this course will help you achieve the knowledge and skills to: 1) Gain historical consciousness and understanding of diverse traditions, ideas, and institutions that have shaped American civilization; 2) Understand the problems, issues and choices that confront American citizens and methods employed to resolve those social and cultural conflicts; and 3) Develop research and critical thinking skills and employ a variety of information gathering techniques.

Textbook:

The Geography of North America, 2nd edition, by Hardwick, Shelley and Holtgrieve,

(Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2013). This is a good textbook and I expect you to read all assignments in it.

Class Attendance Policy

Attendance is important since class activities will complement but not duplicate the textbook. To encourage you to come to class, attendance will be counted toward 5% of your grade, as follows: Beginning Wed., January27, three unexcused absences will be allowed; each unexcused absence after that will deduct 2 points from your possible 20 points for attendance.The Edinboro University attendance policy may be found at the following link:

Map Quizzes

These will be simple matching activities, based on the lists of places to know posted on D2L. Each quiz will be held at the beginning of class on the day indicated on the schedule.

Homework activities

There will be 12 homework activities made available in this class. You must complete 5 of them for a grade. You can turn in up to 7 and I will take the top 5 grades. So you can pick and choose which of them to do. However, even if you don't turn one in for a grade you should still look it over and work through it, to learn the material. I’ll expect you to be familiar with all of these. The best way to proceed is to download them as Word files rather than sending the copy on D2L directly to a printer. Turn in a printed copy, with answers either handwritten or typed in.

Due dates

The due date for each activity is printed on the assignment. Generally they are due one week after being posted on D2L except when a test or a break intervenes.

Grading

Each assignment is worth a possible 20 points. Turned in late, it loses 2 points per calendar day.

You should complete the assignments by yourself. These are not group projects. It’s fine to talk with someone about them but you should work through them and write up your answers separately. I don’t want to see identical or even very similar answers on two peoples’ activities If that happens I will split the grade between the two of you. For example if I receive an assignment that would have gotten a grade of 16 points out of 20 and then another one that’s almost identical to it, I can’t tell who actually did the work and who just copied. So I will simply split the 16 points between them and give each assignment 8 points out of 20. Other sanctions associated with academic dishonesty may be found in the University’s Student Code of Conduct and Judicial Procedures at the following link:

Help from me

If you need help figuring how to do a particular assignment or what I’m asking for get in touch with me (email, phone, in class, etc.) and I’ll explain it more clearly.

Title IX Reporting Requirements

Edinboro University and its faculty are committed to assuring a safe and productive educational environment for all students. In order to meet this commitment and to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and guidance from the Office for Civil Rights, the University requires faculty members to report incidents of sexual violence shared by students to the University's Title IX Coordinator. The only exceptions to the faculty member's reporting obligation are when incidents of sexual violence are communicated by a student during a classroom discussion, in a writing assignment for a class, or as part of a University-approved research project. Information regarding the reporting of sexual violence and the resources that are available to victims of sexual violence is set forth at:

Office of Social Equity

Reeder Hall, Third Floor, 219 Meadville Street, Edinboro, PA 16444

814-732-2167

Student Disability Accommodations

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania offers services to meet the accommodation needs of students with many types of disabilities. The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides services to students based upon documentation of a disability and a request for accommodations based on this disability. Please refer to Edinboro University Policy A008 (Reasonable Accommodations for Students with Disabilities) which may be found at the following link:

This policy is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Office for Students with Disabilities

Crawford Center, 200 Glasgow Road, Edinboro, PA 16444

814-732-2462

Grades will be based on three tests, four map quizzes, five homework assignments, a final exam and class attendance, adding up to a possible 400 pts.

Letter grades will follow this scale:

Attendance= 20 ptsA= 360 - 400 points

Five assignments @ 20 points = 100 ptsB+ = 340 - 359

Four map quizzes @ 10 points= 40 ptsB= 320 - 339

Three tests @ 50 points= 150 ptsC+ = 300 - 319

Final exam= 90 ptsC = 280 - 299

Total = 400 ptsD+ = 260 - 279

D = 240 - 259

And . . .

If you need any special accommodations during class or testing, let me know and we will work something out. If anything prevents you from attending class regularly or from getting to a test on time, let me know as soon as possible. Make-up tests are allowed for excusable absences. In the event of disruption of our class schedule due to bad weather or other events I will email the class with instructions. If you want to discuss anything related to the class in more detail, come see me or call me at my office during office hours or any other time.

GE 260 Geography of the United States and Canada Spring 2016 Syllabus

Monday / Readings / Wednesday / Readings / Friday / Readings
Jan / 18: Martin
Luther King
Day / No class / 20: Introduction
to geography / Chapter 1 / 22: The US and
Canada in
the World / Handout;
Ch 4: 84-86
25: Landforms
and water / Ch 2: 17-26 / 27: Climate and
ecoregions / Ch 2: 26-40 / 29: Map Quiz 1
Historical
overview / Ch 3: 43-45
Feb / 1: Historical
overview / Ch 3: 55-65 / 3: Political-
Economy / Ch 4: 71-80 / 5: Political-
Economy / Ch 4: 86-87
8: Urban areas / Ch 4: 80-84;
Ch 19: 369-371 / 10: Population / Ch19: 364-367 / 11: Test #1
15: Atlantic
Periphery / Ch 5: 91-96 / 17: Map Quiz 2
Atlantic
Periphery / Ch 5: 96-105 / 19: Quebec / Ch 6: 109-116
22: Quebec / Ch 6: 116-125 / 24: Megalopolis / Ch 7: 129-134 / 26: Megalopolis / Ch 7: 135-147
Feb/
Mar / 29: Great Lakes
and Cornbelt / Ch 8: 151-156 / 2: Great Lakes
and Cornbelt / Ch 8: 157-167 / 4: Test #2
7: Break / 9: Break / 11: Break
14:Inland
South / Ch 9:171-176 / 16: Inland
South / Ch 9: 176-185 / 18: Map Quiz 3
Coastal
South / Ch 10: 189-194
21: Coastal
South / Ch 10: 194-203 / 23: Great Plains / Ch 11: 205-215 / 25: Great
Plains / Ch 11: 215-224
28: Rocky
Mountains / Ch 12: 227-235 / 30: Rocky
Mountains / Ch 12: 235-241 / 1: Inter-
montane
West / Ch 13: 245-254
Apr / 4: Inter-
montane
West / Ch 13: 254-263 / 6: Test #3 / 8: Mex-
America / Ch 14: 265-271
11: Map Quiz 4
Mex-
America / Ch 14: 271-279 / 13: California / Ch 15: 283-291 / 15: California / Ch 15: 291-299
18: Hawaii / Ch 17: 323-330 / 20: Hawaii / Ch 17: 330-338 / 22: Pacific
Northwest / Ch 16: 303-310
25: Pacific
Northwest / Ch 16: 310-320 / 27: Far North / Ch 18: 341-347 / 29: Far North / Ch 18: 347-355
May / 2: Review
Session / 4: Final Exam
12:30-2:30 / 6: