SCHEDULE
AND ASSIGNMENTS (click)
Course Time and
Location:
Bowers 339 T, Th
4:25-5:40
Instructor Contacts: Dr.
C.P. Cirmo , Bowers 341,
607-753-2924, email:cirmoc@cortland.edu.
Instructor Office Hours: Tuesday:
10-11a, 1-2:15p, 5:45-7p. Thursday: 10-11a, 2-4:20p, 5:45-6:30p.
Email list and web site: The website for the course is
found
on my home page listed above. Check it frequently for course changes
and
announcements. Also, I am creating an email list and will email
the
entire class frequently regarding last-minute reminders or changes.
Course Description
and Rationale: With oceans of water
covering over 70% of the earth’s surface, it behooves all natural
scientists
and future elementary (childhood education) or secondary (adolescence
education)
teachers to become familiar with the basic physical, chemical and
biological
phenomena associated with these vast and relatively unexplored
resources.
Recent advances in technology have allowed scientists to explore the
oceans
as never before. Knowledge of the dynamics of the oceans reveals their
importance in the control of our planet's climate and atmosphere, its
geologic
and biological evolution, and possible changes predicted for the
future.
Exploitation of the oceans by human activities (e.g., overfishing,
mining,
ocean dumping, oil spills, coral reef bleaching, etc.) has also
revealed
the fragility of these invaluable resources and reminded us of their
importance
in regulating the overall global economy.
- The
goal of this course is to introduce the student to the current state of
knowledge in physical oceanography (primarily), and to the literature
and
resources available to those wishing to study the largest
"relatively-unexplored"
physical parts of the planet earth.
Textbooks:
· An Introduction to
the World's Oceans. Duxbury, Duxbury
and Sverdrup. (2002). 8th (or 9th) edition. McGraw Hill, Publishers
· Other readings,
books, articles and websites as assigned by
the instructor.
· Course
Web-Site: I will post news items and changes
in the syllabus on the course web site which is found by going to the
web
site above and clicking on the hyperlink for Physical Oceanography, GLY
397.
Evaluations:
- Three (3) Lecture Exams,
the
last one
given during finals week. (Exam 1 = 20%, Exam 2 = 20%, Exam 3
= 25% of the course grade).
- Bi-weekly Quizzes. The
quizzes will consist of
questions
from the text, posed by me, or handed out during class, which you have
been given as "Assignments" on the course schedule. Most
assignments will not be collected (unless specified) but some
questions
from those assignments will be given to the class as quiz questions
. These assignment questions should be anwered on your own or in
cooperation with others in class, and the quiz will be given every two
weeks with questions taken exactly from these sets of assignment
questions. Several
questions in each problem set will also be solved in class and
discussed. There will be approximately 7-8 of these quizzes
given during the semester. They will take no more than 15-20
minutes each. (25% of course grade).
- A
10-minute PP presentation on a topic in Oceanography.
These will be assigned/chosen within the first two weeks of the
course and the presentations will begin on the third week of class. Two
students as a team are required to create a
summary PowerPoint
Presentation (see instructions) as a very short review of that
topic as up-to-date as possible.
The students will hand out a one-page study guide to their presentation
for use by the class. Information from your presentations may be
used in either quizzes or exams. (10%
of the course grade).
Attendance:
For this course, attendance
is expected since we will be using each
other's comments and feedback. Lack of attendance will detract
from
your success and will be reflected in your other grades. In
addition,
honesty is expected from all students in the completion of all
assignments,
exams and projects. This simply means that all work you submit is
essentially your work, although you may collaborate with others on
homework
assignments.
Student Conduct:
Students are expected to be
respectful of each other and of the professor. Disruptions of the
teaching process are specifically prohibited in Section Four.A.7a.
Disruption, in the "Code of Student Conduct" found at the following
website: http://www.cortland.edu/judaffairs/code.html.
I use this guide
in respectfully requesting that all cell phones are turned off and
stored out of sight during our class meetings. This policy
will be enforced by asking the student to leave the classroom the
second time there is an infraction.
Lecture Topics:
(SPECIFIC LECTURE
TOPICS
WILL BE CONTINUALLY POSTED AND UPDATED ON THE COURSE WEBPAGE, FOUND
LINKED
TO MY WEBSITE. THE STUDENT IS RESPONSIBLE TO CONTINUOUSLY CHECK
THIS
PAGE AS A ROUTINE PART OF THE COURSE THIS SITE WILL CONTAIN DETAILED
LISTS
OF TOPICS, PAGES IN THE TEXT, ASSIGNMENTS, DUE DATES, EXAM DATES ETC.
The following topics
are a flexible outline of normal topics
covered in this course.
(This is
not an exhaustive list)
- History of Oceanography and
Ocean Discovery
- Units of Measurement in Oceanography, Scientific Notation and the
Language of Science
- Plate Tectonics and
the
Ocean Basins
- Seawater Chemistry and
Physics
- The Atmosphere/Ocean
Linkage and Current Ocean Exploration
- Ocean Currents and Tides
- Climate and the Oceans - El
Nino, La Nina and ENSO
- Ocean Exploration and Field
Trip to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Coastal Wave Dynamics, Sea
Level Rise and Oceanic Coastal Zone Problems
- River/Ocean Interactions =
Estuaries
- Plankton, Nekton and
Benthos- Biological Controls on Chemistry and
Climate
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
By the end of the
course, students should be able to:
- Critically Evaluate a Scientific Article on Oceanography and
Defend
Your
Views in a Public Forum
- Describe the overall world hydrologic budget and the role of the
oceans
in that budget
- Understand how to do unit conversions in the metric system,
scientific notation, and the "language" of science
- Understand how the plate tectonic theory defines the current
geography
of ocean basin
- Explain how the chemistry of water is responsible for its
physical
properties
- List the factors which control the salinity conditions in the
oceans
- Explain why ocean water circulation is controlled by temperature
and
salinity
gradients
- Explain how the atmosphere affects ocean circulation and ocean
chemistry
- List the factors which lead to the production of ocean currents
and
tides
- Discuss the El Nino and ENSO phenomenon in terms of ocean
temperature
and
current
- Discuss how waves are formed and how they affect coastal zones
- List the types of ocean coastlines and relate this to their
history of
ocean or terrestrial control
- List and describe the types of estuaries and how this reflects
their
shape
and source of freshwater
- Discuss the phenomenon of coral reef bleaching and hypotheses as
to its
cause.
ASSIGNMENT POLICY:
You should keep all papers
and assignments on a
disk, cd or folder labeled "GLY 397," make a duplicate copy of it, and
keep this copy in a safe place. You should be in touch with the
web-page
course site and the schedule constantly throughout the semester to keep
abreast on
changes
in assignments, and comments from the instructor. Do all of your
assignments
in a Word Processing Program (WordPerfect, MS Word, etc.) and keep
things
organized.
Disability Policy at SUNY Cortland: If you are a
student
with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact
the
Office of Student Disability Services located in B-40 Van Hoesen Hall
0r
call 607-753-2066 for an appointment. Information regarding your
disability will be treated in a confidential manner. Because many
accommodations require early planning, requests for accommodations
should
be made as early as possible.
