NSCI 201 - SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Michael Carey
OFFICE: Loyola Hall 120
PHONE: 941-7544 (office), 575-5293 (cell)
EMAIL: careym1@scranton.edu
OFFICE HOURS: 10:00-12:00 MW or by appt.
CLASS HRS: 2:30-3:45 TT - Loyola 200
TEXT: Miller, Environmental Science, 2008.

TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE

WEEK OF       TOPIC                       TEXT READING
-------------------------------------------------------
Jan 28     Science                         Pg 24-28

Feb 4      Introduction , biosphere        Ch 1, Sct 17-5, Ch 5

Feb 11     Ecosystems                      Ch Ch 3

Feb 18     Communities                     Ch 6 (<pg 117)  

Feb 25     **Exam 1**, Population dynamics Pg 117-121, Ch 7

Mar 3      Human population, food resources Ch 7, 10

Mar 10     Food resources, pesticides      Ch 10
                
Mar 24     **Exam 2**, water resources     Pg 227-244

Mar 31     Mineral resources, solid waste  Ch 12, 16

Apr 7      Energy resources                Ch 13

Apr 14     Energy resources, **Exam 3**    Ch 13

Apr 21     Air pollution                   Ch 15

Apr 28     Air pollution                   Ch 15

May 4      Water pollution                 Pg 245-260    

May 12     **EXAM 4**

COURSE POLICIES

OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of this course are to have you gain an understanding of science and its application to current environment problems. Along the way you will learn the scientific bases and causes of these problems and about current technology that might be used to solve them. Emphasis will also be placed on the interconnections among all these problems and the futility of trying to approach them one at a time. Toward these ends, memorization of facts and definitions, while important, should not be the only focus of your studies. You must also be able to think about the material you have memorized, be able to apply it to other areas of the science, and be able to use it to extrapolate to new or unfamiliar situations.
While I do not take attendance in class, it is to your advantage to be present in each class period. Much of the lecture material is different from the text, and much of the text material is not covered at all. Since the exams are drawn largely from class lecture material (see exam policy), you should be there to hear it.
While I do not take attendance, I do notice people who are excessively absent from class. Such excessive absences may reflect negatively on your final class grade (See grading policy).
In order to allow you to review lecture material and to pay closer attention to the lecture in class, all PowerPoint materials used in lecture will be posted on Angel for this section. You can access Angel at through the link at My.Scranton. Your university username and password will get you into the site and this course should show under the "Courses" section. After entering the course, lecture materials can be found in the "Lessons" section.

EXAM POLICY: There are four 1-hour exams as shown in the schedule above. Each exam is worth 100 pts and will cover only material not included in a previous exam. Questions are drawn mainly from material discussed in class or about logical inferences that you can make about class material. Only very general questions will pertain to textbook material not covered in class. The exams will be exclusively essay and short answer. Most questions will be of 2 sorts: 1) definitional-to see if you are picking up the language of the science 2) essays that often call on you to logically support your opinions relative to various environmental problems or their solutions. Sample exams can be seen at HTTP://ACADEMIC.UOFS.EDU/FACULTY/CAREYM1/EXAMS.HTML.
If you must miss an exam, you must notify me beforehand. I will then schedule a make-up day for you. If you do not notify me before the exam, your make-up will be scheduled on the make-up day (the last day of finals week). If you do not have a legitimate excuse for missing an exam, you will not be allowed to make it up, and will receive a grade of zero for the exam.
You must live up to the University of Scranton Academic Code of Honesty. To view the code, see http://matrix.scranton.edu/student_handbook/policy_academic_code_honesty.html
Violation of the code (see especially Section II for your responsibilities) will lead to a score of zero on that exam or paper. Students suspected of cheating will be seated in special areas of the classroom on future exams.

GRADING POLICY: Your grade will based solely on your performance on the 4 exams. Letters will assigned as follows: 90%-A, 80%-B, 70%-C, etc. If I feel it is absolutely necessary, the grade scale may be curved downward from these cutoffs, never upward. Individual grades may be weighted based upon improvement during the semester or upon glaring inconsistencies in scores. Criteria such as class attendance, participation, and interest will be used to determine the grade of students who end up on a borderline.