INTRODUCTORY
OCEANOGRAPHYINTRODUCTORY
OCEANOGRAPHYSUMMER 2008
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Envisons Teachers taking this class as a special problems course will be dividied into two groups (those taking the course over a 12 week period at a distance; and those who will attend class for a two week, very intensive class). You will take exams at your home site (details will be presented at our first meeting). The basis for this MEA 493 class is MEA 200, the Introductory Oceanography course, but it will be team taught. Dr. Michael Kimberley will teach the first half of the course using his own lesson structure and homework, and I will teach the second half, using the lessons from my online course. I have modified my MEA 200 class schedule, but you may find things that I have not changed that will apply more to that class than yours. To get graduate credit for this class, you will be required to complete a special project (lesson plans, etc) - details also will be given to you at the beginning of the class. The url for my online course is http://courses.ncsu.edu/MEA200 (must be in caps). |
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The course offered on this website is administered through the office for Distance Education Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) and is open only to middle school science teachers in the Envisions program in Jacksonville, NC. The course, as such, will be different from the normal MEA 200 class. It will be team To make it more convenient, I am printing the lessons so that you will not have to do so from my online course.
MEA 200 offered on the web is an independent study course and, as a result, you must have to have the discipline to schedule routine "study-time", meet the deadlines for submission of homework assignments, stay current with the study guides and prepare for the examinations.
The prerequisites for this course are high school physics, chemistry and biology, or equivalent. Though a survey course, MEA 200 is a true science course and demanding. You will need to study hard to master the concepts and to prepare for the examinations -- rote memory will not help you very much.
MEA 200 covers all of the science of oceanography. In only one case will you make a numerical calculation -- my particular emphasis will be on the important inter-relationships of the ocean as part of our environment, with a focus on understanding concepts. Included are discussions of the chemical, physical and thermal properties of the ocean and the interactions between the atmosphere and ocean; marine geology, sedimentation and the global effects of plate tectonics; surface and subsurface ocean circulation; ocean wave generation and interactions; ocean tides and their environmental effects; and marine biology and the importance of microscopic plants in the ecology of the ocean and global environments.
The goal of this course will be to teach you to "think like an oceanographer". The course will emphasize the science and the interactions between "things", not rote memory. In fact, I will use the ocean as the vehicle to teach you science as much as I will use science to teach you about the ocean.
There are two basic objectives for this course.
If I accomplish my goals, you should be able to stand on a windy seashore at sunset, breathing the salt air and watching the waves break on the shore, and both understand and feel what you are observing. I hope that you will be able to carry both the understanding and feeling of the ocean with you the rest of your lives, and that you will share what you learn in this course with your families and friends.
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The required textbook for this course is: Oceanography, An Invitation to Marine Science, Tom Garrison, 5th Ed., Brooks/Cole, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 511 Forest Lodge Rd, Pacific Grove, CA, 2001. ISBN: 0534408877. |
This course is designed for you take online, and is equivalent with the identical traditional course that I have taught for more than three decades. The course is divided into four nearly equal parts as shown below. Note that Dr. Kimberely will teach the first half of the course, and will use a separate set of lessons.
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Ocean History and Plate Tectonics |
Chapters 1, 2 & 3 |
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Chemical & Geological Processes |
4, 5 & 7 (parts of) |
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Properties of Seawater & Ocean Circulation |
Chapters 7 (parts of), 6, 8 & 9 (in that order) |
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Waves and Tides & Coastal Ocean |
Chapters 10, 11 and 12 |
A detailed calendar and required assignments may be found at Class Schedule.
Your performance in this course will be contingent on the following:
There is a total of four regular exams during the semester. Each exam will be worth 100 points, and will include only discussion questions, and will cover only the material presented since the preceding exam (which means, of course, that the fourth exam is not comprehensive - it will only cover material from part IV of the course).
At the time the course starts, we will inform you of the procedure by which you will take your exams (the fourth exam will likely be taken at the final face to face meetings)
Throughout the semester, you will complete thirty-two, 10 point, short written topical assignments (HW) posted on WebAssign (see below for login procedures*). All HW will be due at 11:58 pm on the submission dates shown on each assignment (you may submit them early and resubmit them up to 5 times if you desire - the last submission is the only one subject to grading and multiple submissions give you the opportunity to fine-tune your description before the due date ). Unless you have a documented reason for not being able to complete the assignment, those not completed before the due-date will not be accepted. If you have questions about the assignments, you may contact me individually by email or by setting up a face-to-face appointment.
*Login procedures for WebAssign: Go to any browser and type in https://www.webassign.net/ncsu/login.html; click on Student Login and complete the NCSU login where your unityid and password ARE REQUIRED. You will then be on the MEA 200 section (Section 601) class page. Included there is the listing of Current Assignments (with due dates) and Past Assignments. This also is where you will go to find my keys for all assignments after the due date, and for your grades on assignments once I grade them. Print the HW schedule and mark some kind of calendar so you won't miss a submission. You will need to purchase an access code to login to WebAssign - the cost is minimal but required, and you may purchase it at the bookstore when you buy the book, or using a credit card at your fist login.
The purpose of the HW (look for additional discussion about HW in Frequently asked questions) is to provide you an extra learning tool and a sample of the type of discussion questions I use on exams. Therefore, it also is not to your benefit to 'copy and paste' your answers directly from the lessons -- this approach will be readily apparent to me. You may find it useful to write your answers using Microsoft Word (or other comparable software) and pasting your answers into WebAssign.
You will receive 0.625 pts for every HW you turn in (for a maximum of 5 pts for each part of the course). Two** of the eight assignments from each part of the course will be randomly selected for quality grading (all students in the class will have the same HW graded), so an additional maximum of 20 quality pts will be added to the maximum 5 pts earned for submiting all the HW, for a total maximum of 25 pts each part of the course. This means that a grand total of 100 pts (4 x 25 pts) for the HW will count toward your final grade, AND WILL COUNT FOR 1/5 OF YOUR LETTER GRADE. If you do not turn in an assignment randomly selected, you will get a zero for that assignment. The optional exam cannot be used for low homework grades.
** The difference between submission and quality pts as shown on WebAssign:If you submit all parts of any given assignment, WebAssign assigns you 10 pts (but only I will see that score). This is not your quality grade for the HW, however. I use this number only as an accounting tool to assign you credit for submitting the HW - if you submit all 8 HW for a part of the course your total would show up as 80 (and 8 is multiplied by 0.625 pts to figure your submission pts).
The quality pts for the two HW randomly selected are those I post on WebAssign after I have graded your answers (i.e., if both answers are correct, you would get 20 pts and those grades will show up for those HW). I will tell you which two HW were graded in an announcment on the the main WebAssign page for our class.
We will grade the assignments prior to each part's scheduled exam. After the due date of an assignment, our answer keys will be available to you.
While you may work on your assignments together in your groups, you should answer each question in your own words.
To provide learning opportunities available through group interactions, we encourage you to form study groups. One of the prime functions of these groups will be to study together for the exams and to prepare your team project needed for the extra credit you receive for taking this as an MEA 493 course.
Access to the lessons for this course is restricted to registered students and will be granted through your unity account and password. You may link to list of lessons currently online.
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