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Unit name |
Key Concepts in Human and Physical Geography |
Unit code |
GEOG10003 |
Credit points |
40 |
Level of study |
C/4
|
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
|
Unit director |
Dr. Monteiro |
Open unit status |
Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None
|
Co-requisites |
Introduction to Quantitative Geography; Geographical History, Thought and Practices
|
School/department |
School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty |
Faculty of Science |
Description including Unit Aims
The aim is to provide an integrated, overarching introduction to a broad range of Human and Physical Geographical concepts and processes that will equip students with the skills and knowledge to both select and carryout Geography units in later years. The unit is designed to teach different aspects in different ways and to encourage students to make and explore links between elements within and between Human and Physical Geography.
Key aspects of Physical Geography to be covered include:
- Atmosphere
- Freshwater
- Ocean
- Earth and Life on Earth.
- Changing Ice
Key aspects of Human Geography to be covered include:
- Inequality – comprising a broad introduction to social, political, population, urban and development geography
- Cultural Geography
- Historical Geographies of Knowledge
Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of this Unit students should be able to:
- Identify and understand physical processes operating in different environments and over different time and space scales;
- Identify and understand the stores and fluxes within different environments;
- Describe the mechanisms by which different environmental/landscape processes take place;
- Undertake simple calculations of fluxes, perform simple laboratory and computing experiments, write scientific reports, manipulate data and plot appropriate graphs;
- Grasp key concepts and themes pertinent to human geography;
- Mobilise a set of case-studies that relate to environmental, historical, economic, social and cultural geography.
The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:
- Written and oral communication
- Numerical and analytical
- Problem solving
- Critical reasoning
Teaching Information
Teaching is delivered through lectures, practicals, seminars, skills tutorials, and fieldwork.
Assessment Information
Summative:
- A policy briefing (25%) which follows on from a presentation assessment in the Introduction to Quantitative Geography unit. [ILOs 1-6]
- A 2-hour physical geography multiple choice exam (25%). [ILOs 1-3]
- A 2000-word essay on an area of Human Geography (25%). [ILOs 5-6]
- A 2000-word essay (25%) requiring the students to integrate different aspects of the unit. [ILOs 1-6]
Formative:
Students will also take the following formative practicals:
- Atmosphere;
- Rocks and soils;
- Oceans;
- Darcy’s Law;
- Biosphere;
- Practical on one or more areas of Human Geography.
Reading and References
Physical Geography:
Essential reading:
- Ahrens, C.D. (1999) ‘Meteorology Today’ (6th ed), Brooks-Cole, Pacific Grove, California.
- Benn, D.I. and D.J.A. Evans (1998) ‘Glaciers and Glaciation’, Arnold, London. (Chapter 3: Glaciers and Meltwater).
- Holden, J. (ed.) (2008) An Introduction to Physical Geography and the Environment (2nd Ed.). Prentice Hall, London.
- Jones, J.A.A. (1997) Global Hydrology: Processes, resources and environmental management. Longman, Essex.
- Smithson, P., Addison, K. and Atkinson, K. (3rd ed.) (2002) Fundamentals of the Physical Environment. Routledge, London.
Human Geography:
RECOMMENDED reading:
- Paul Cloke, Phil Crang and Mark Goodwin, eds. (2014) Introducing Human Geographies, 3rd edition. London: Routledge.
- Vincent J. Del Casino Jr., Mary Thomas, Paul Cloke, Ruth Panelli (2011) A Companion to Social Geography. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Jon Anderson (2015) Understanding Cultural Geography: Places and Traces. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Timothy Dyson (2010) Population and Development. London: Zed Books.
- Paul. L. Knox, John Agnew, Linda McCarthy (2014) The geography of the world economy, Abingdon: Routledge.