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The Marine Environment
Course Summary: This course covers the physical (waves, tides, ocean circulation, etc.), chemical (evolution of the Earth's atmosphere and ocean, chemical composition of the ocean, etc.), and geological (plate tectonics, sediment types, etc.) and biological (marine mammals, primary production, trophic levels and food webs) characteristics of the marine environment. Special topics include global warming, El Ni ñ o, human impacts on marine environments and resources, beach erosion, and extreme environments. This course is intended for non-science majors but general science concepts are presented and discussed.
Physical Processes of the Ocean (BIO 356)
Course Summary: In this course we will learn about the physical forces on Earth that cause ocean motion and how their interactions with geologic forces have likely changed ocean circulation and climate over thousands to billions of years. We will examine the ocean and atmosphere as a coupled system driven by energy from the Sun. Atmospheric circulation creates the global ocean wind-driven surface currents and coupled atmosphere ocean processes create anomalies like El Niño. Deep ocean currents, driven by density, further regulate climate on Earth. We will also discover how waves are a mechanism to transport information from one point to another point on Earth. We will then examine how the Earth/Moon/Sun system causes large bodies of water to rise and fall as tides. Once we understand the modern ocean, we combine this knowledge with basic principles of marine geology to infer ocean and climate changes over geologic time. We will specifically address the causes of ice ages, how plate movement influences ocean circulation and climate, explore long-term planetary evolution, and discuss the impacts of human activities on future oceans and climate.
Introductory Physics I (PHY 110)
Course Summary: This course is the first half of a two-semester introductory sequence in which we will make use of laboratory and computer equipment to examine the fundamental principles and models that govern physics. During this semester we will concentrate on kinematics (description of how objects move), dynamics (why objects move), energy, momentum, circular motion, and thermodynamics. We will make use of a variety of methods to communicate our results to each other ? mathematical and numerical expressions, diagrams and graphs, and even plain English! I will not simply tell you the answers but will help you find them through class, lab, and homework assignments. Physics subjects are grounded in basic and widely-applicable principles and frequent examples will be used to demonstrate the principles discussed in class.
Introductory Physics II (PHY 111)
Course Summary: This course is the second half of a two-semester introductory sequence in which we will make use of laboratory and computer equipment to examine the fundamental principles and models that govern fluids, electric and gravitational fields, waves, and photons. We will make use of a variety of methods to communicate our results to each other ? mathematical and numerical expressions, diagrams and graphs, and even plain English! Physics subjects are grounded in basic and widely-applicable principles. Mechanics concepts such as force, energy, and torque will reappear in this course and we will continue to make use of Newton?s Laws, conservation laws, and their applications.
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