Humans as Geomorphic Agents
Catherine Riihimaki
, Drew University
Summary
An introduction to order-of-magnitude calculations and reading quantitative journal articles.
Context
Audience
Introductory quantitative course in environmental science
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Comfort with algebra
How the activity is situated in the course
This is the first problem set of the semester
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
understanding order-of-magnitude calculations and dimensional analysis
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
critical reading skills of peer-reviewed literature, connecting calculus concepts to plot interpretation
Other skills goals for this activity
group discussion of peer-reviewed article
Description of the activity/assignment
The students read an article from the literature on humans as geomorphic agents as an introduction to order-of-magnitude calculations. They complete a problem set that has several goals: 1) introduce the students to dimensional analysis, 2) walk them through a comparison of the article's results to natural geomorphic rates, and 3) understand how the author derived the article's final numbers. Once the students are done with the problem set, the class discusses the results as a group.
Designed for an introductory geology course
Designed for an introductory geology course
Determining whether students have met the goals
Evaluation is based on the problem set answers and the quality of the discussion.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Download teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment (Microsoft Word 66kB Aug1 08)
- Solution Set (Microsoft Word 82kB Jul29 08)
Other Materials
- Hooke (2000) article (Acrobat (PDF) 87kB May2 08)
Supporting references/URLs
The students read:
Hooke, R.L., 2000, On the history of humans as geomorphic agents: Geology, v. 28, p. 843-846.
Some data comes from:
Hallet, B., Hunter, L., and Bogen, J., 1996, Rates of erosion and sediment evacuation by glaciers: A review of field data and their implications: Global and Planetary Change, v. 12, p. 213-235.
Hooke, R.L., 2000, On the history of humans as geomorphic agents: Geology, v. 28, p. 843-846.
Some data comes from:
Hallet, B., Hunter, L., and Bogen, J., 1996, Rates of erosion and sediment evacuation by glaciers: A review of field data and their implications: Global and Planetary Change, v. 12, p. 213-235.
