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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

REMEMBER to keep all the graded material handed back to you. If you think that I have incorrectly totaled your points, this is the only way that you can show the correct point total that you have earned!

Notes on all day field trips. Bring all of your food and water I cannot guarantee that there will be a place to buy food. Wear layered clothing and sturdy shoes. Bring sun screen if you sun burn easily. We will not be walking long distances nor up steep slopes, but there will be some walking. Do not drink a lot of coffee or other beverages before coming to school as the rest room is on the bus.

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This is a 3-unit class offering transfer credit to CSU and UC systems. It is recommended that the perspective student will have English 100 clearance and Math 40 or its equivalent with grades of Credit or "C" or higher.

This is a class in Physical Ecology, a course showing the relationship between Man and the physical environment. We will be dealing with the geological processes that affect the surface of the Earth around us. We typically think of these processes as causing geologic hazards such as landslides, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We will also examine the management of risks associated with the pollution of water, air and the land.

These processes involve physics and chemistry. We will also use simple mathematics. Yes we have to be able to make simple calculations. This is after all a science class and we must be able to take a qualitative statement that tells us that a lot of water flows in a stream that is flooding, and convert that statement into a quantitative statement that tells us how much water is flowing in that flooding stream.

Because these processes affect our everyday life, we must also focus on how MAN interacts and is impacted by these processes, as well as how man affects these processes. This will be the order we will generally observe in developing our knowledge of each processes. First we will examine the process and then how MAN affects the process.

Most of these processes are ones that you have already observed, either in daily life or on the news when some "catastrophic event" occurs. I hope to build upon your existing knowledge in this course.

This is a lecture class. There is also a laboratory class available that follows the lecture plan for this class. That Lab is available to any student currently enrolled in this Lecture class and any student who has taken this lecture class and received a grade of C or better. While the lab is not required, I personally recommend it a sit is designed to supplement the lecture material with hands on examples of how the processes work and we are impacted by them.

Three field trips are required for this class. Some will be offered during the week and some on Saturdays. I know that some students will not be able to attend all of the trips. Therefore I will have at least one self-guided field trip that you may make on your own time.

Important information, quiz word groups, quiz answers and field trip information will be available on this web page. In the advent that I cannot update my web page or the web page is not accessible by you, I will need an alternative means of getting information to you out-side of the classroom. Therefore I am requesting that you acquire and notify me of an e-mail address for you. I will use this to contact you in the event of a problem as listed above. If you do not wish your e-mail address included in a mass mailing to the class, notify me and I will keep your e-mail separate from the class group. YOU WILL RECEIVE 2 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT ON YOUR FINAL GRADE for complying with this request. I will accept such submissions for the first two weeks only.

I recommend that if you do not know have an e-mail address that you acquire an off-campus e-mail address. There are many free servers out there including hotmail.com, Yahoo Mail, Bizland.com, Yo Yo Mail, and Freeze.com. I make this recommendation because you will one day be leaving this campus and will probably want to take your e-mail address with you. This is possible under the free mail organizations.

Try no to be too creative when selecting an e-mail user name. If you are going on to become a teacher it might not be appropriate to have some parent come in and complain about their son or daughter e-mailing "hotchick@hotmail.com".

When e-mailing me, always use the following subject - YOUR NAME, ESCI 101, and whatever you are asking about. If you do not follow this format I will not open your e-mail.

I encourage you to SAVE a TREE and download your own copy of the syllabus and schedule for your section of this class. I will not be handing out any copies, so you must obtain your own. To further encourage you to do this, I will award those of you who show me your copies 2 EXTRA CREDIT POINTS ON YOUR FINAL GRADE for complying with this request. I know that this doesn't seem like much, but it can turn a C+ into a B-. Remember that at Cerritos the signs are not recorded!!

Earth Science 101 Physical Ecology