1.1 Geography as a Discipline

LO1: Describe the aspects of Earth that physical geographers seek to understand and distinguish physical geography from other sciences that study Earth

Practical Geography: What is the physical geography of your neighborhood?

1.2 Tools of Geography

LO2: Describe tools that physical geographers use to explore and understand Earth

Geography Matters: The Rain Line

1.3 Core Concepts in Physical Geography

LO3: Explain the core concepts related to physical systems on Earth

1.4 The Scope of Physical Geography

LO4: Understand how Earth history influences the physical geography of Earth today

Visualizing Geographic Data: General Reference, Thematic, and Elevation Maps of the U.S.

2.1 What Makes Earth Habitable?

LO1: Describe the conditions that enable life to flourish on Planet Earth

2.2 Describing Earth as a System: Flows of Matter and Energy

LO2: Explain the concept of reservoirs and flows used to understand Earth as a system

Geography Matters: Biosphere 2

2.3 Earth’s Spheres

LO3: Consider the interactions that move mass and energy between Earth’s spheres

Practical Geography: Can You Design a Colony on Mars?

2.4 Earth’s Physical Geography

LO4: Explain the large-scale physical geography of Earth and how it changes over time

Visualizing Geographic Data: Earth, Mars, Venus

2.5 Human Impacts on the Earth System

LO5: Provide specific examples of how humans have affected each of the four spheres

3.1 The Layering and Composition of Earth’s Atmosphere

LO1: Diagram the layers and describe the composition of Earth’s atmosphere

3.2 Earth’s Magnetic Field and the Atmosphere

LO2: Explain why Earth has a magnetic field and how it shields us from radiation and controls the aurora

Geography Matters: The Atmosphere and You

3.3 Atmospheric Circulation and Winds

LO3: Relate Earth’s large-scale atmospheric circulation cells to the jet stream and surface winds

3.4 Human Impacts on Atmospheric Composition

LO4: Explain how human actions have changed the composition of the atmosphere

Practical Geography: How would you clean up the air in Mumbai?

Visualizing Geographic Data: U.S. Methane Emissions and Energy Infrastructure

4.1 The Elements of Weather

LO1: Understand why air masses differ and how they interact to create weather

Practical Geography: Could you predict the weather?

4.2 Types of Precipitation

LO2: Compare types of precipitation and explain how and why they differ

4.3 Where and When Precipitation Falls

LO3: Explain when, where, and how precipitation is most likely to occur

4.4 Severe Weather

LO4: Predict when and where different types of severe weather are most likely to occur and explain why

Geography Matters: Rapid storm intensification

4.5 Human Influences on Weather

LO5: Describe two ways in which humans have affected the weather

Visualizing Geographic Data: Satellite Imagery and Weather Maps

5.1 Earth’s Energy Balance

LO1: Predict what would happen if Earth’s radiation balance changed such that the atmosphere retained more heat

5.2 Earth, Sun, and Climate

LO2: Explain how differences in climate reflect differences in latitude

5.3 Global Climate Zones

LO3: List the five major climate zones and explain how they differ and where they occur

5.4 Controls on Climate

LO4: Select three important controls on climate and explain how each works

Geography Matters: A volcanic eruption and the fall of the Roman Republic

5.5 Mountain and Elevation Effects

LO5: Explain how orographic and elevation effects control climate across mountain ranges

5.6 Human Adaptation to Climate

LO6: Describe three ways in which human societies adapt to climate

Practical Geography: How would you adapt to a changing climate?

Visualizing Geographic Data

6.1 How Climate Has Changed in the Past

LO1: Explain why and how climate changed naturally over time

6.2 Recent Climate Changes

LO2: Describe global changes in climate since the last glacial period

6.3 Tools for Understanding Past Climates

LO3: Appreciate scientific tools physical geographers use to reconstruct past climates

Geography Matters: Greenland’s past predicts its future

6.4 Human Impact on Climate

LO4: Evaluate how humans have affected climate in the past and today

6.5 Climate and Human Societies

LO5: Assess how changing climate impacts human societies

Practical Geography: How Much Should Insurance Cost in a Changing Climate?

Physical Geography in Action: Climate Change

Visualizing Geographic Data

7.1 Properties of Water

LO1: Describe water’s unique properties using a phase diagram

7.2 The Global Water Cycle

LO2: Understand the reservoirs and flows that make up the global water cycle

7.3 Precipitation, Infiltration, and Runoff

LO3: Predict when and explain why a heavy thunderstorm generates runoff

7.4 Groundwater

LO4: Describe how the water table and the nature of subsurface materials control groundwater flow

Geography Matters: Drinking Water with a Dash of Salt

7.5 Human Impacts on the Water Cycle

LO5: Explain three ways that humans have influenced the water cycle

Practical Geography: How to best keep your town’s drinking water clean?

Physical Geography in Action: Water Cycle

Visualizing Geographic Data: Evapotranspiration and NDVI Maps

8.1 Ocean Basics

LO1: Describe the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of ocean water

8.2 Patterns of Ocean Circulation

LO2: Explain patterns of ocean circulation

8.3 Marine Zonation and Ocean Life

LO3: Understand marine zonation and ocean life

Visualizing Geographic Data: Ocean Currents and Upwelling Zones

8.4 Ocean Tides

LO4: Contrast the causes of different kinds of tides

Practical Geography: How can people use ocean currents?

8.5 Human Impacts on the Oceans

LO5: Examine human activities that degrade oceans

Geography Matters: Plastic, Plastic Everywhere

Physical Geography in Action: Oceans

9.1 Earth’s Interior and Plate Tectonics

LO1: Explain the layering of Earth’s interior and the role of plate tectonics in shaping the surface

9.2 The Rock Cycle

LO2: Diagram the rock cycle and describe how it works

9.3 Landforms from Volcanoes and Folded Rocks

LO3: Classify the diversity of landforms created by volcanoes and folded rocks

9.4 Natural Hazards and Resources

LO4: Recognize how plate tectonics causes natural hazards and controls resource distribution

Geography Matters: When the Earth Shakes

9.5 Human Impacts and Resource Extraction

LO5: Understand geographical influences on the impacts of human resource extraction

Practical Geography: How should you best prepare for the natural hazards in your region?

Physical Geography in Action: Solid Earth

Visualizing Geographic Data: Plate Boundaries and Earthquakes

10.1 Weathering Processes and Products

LO1: Describe the types and global distribution of weathering processes

10.2 Weathering and Landform Development

LO2: Characterize the controls on the distribution of weathering-related landforms

Geography Matters: Ancient Rock City

10.3 Erosional Processes in Unglaciated Landscapes

LO3: Recognize common erosional processes shaping unglaciated landforms

Practical Geography: What are the dominant erosional processes active in your region?

10.4 Climate and Hillslope Forms

LO4: Contrast hillslope forms across climate settings

10.5 Weathering, Carbon Sequestration, and Human Impacts

LO5: Explain how weathering affects global carbon cycles and how humans influence weathering and erosion

Physical Geography in Action: Weathering and Erosion

Visualizing Geographic Data

11.1  Drainage Basins and River Networks

LO1 Recognize the basic elements of a drainage basin

11.2 River Patterns

LO2 Connect river patterns to the geologic setting of a drainage basin

11.3 River Processes

LO3 Relate river processes to valley form and channel response

Practical Geography: Where will the water go?

11.4 River Patterns

LO4 Classify rivers into fundamental types of river patterns

11.5 Fluvial Landforms

LO5 Associate floodplain landforms with sediment transport processes and explain the relationship between floodplains and terraces

11.6 Human Impacts on Rivers 

LO6 Assess impacts of human actions on river processes and resulting river system response

Geography Matters: Pumped Hydropower

Physical Geography in Action: Rivers

Visualizing Geographic Data

12.1 The Cryosphere 

LO1 Define the cryosphere and give an example of why it matters to people

12.2 How Glaciers Work

LO2 Understand how and why glaciers grow, persist, and vanish

12.3 Types of Glaciers

LO3 Describe the difference between alpine and continental glaciers

Practical Geography: Where will the water come from?

12.4 Glacial Landforms  

LO4 Predict the spatial distribution of erosional and depositional glacial landforms 

12.5 Periglacial Processes and Landforms 

LO5 List the properties that make periglacial landscapes unique

12.6 Human Impacts on the Cryosphere

LO7 Describe three human impacts on the cryosphere 

Geography Matters: Antarctica: the Wildcard

Physical Geography in Action: The Cryosphere

Visualizing Geographic Data

13.1 Introduction to Drylands

LO1: Understand differences in the degree of aridity among drylands

13.2 Arid and Semi-arid Environments

LO2: Describe distinguishing aspects of the physical geography of dryland environments

Geography Matters: Desert Floods

13.3 Dryland Landforms

LO3: Recognize characteristic landforms of dryland regions

13.4 Wind Processes and Erosion

LO4: Understand processes responsible for wind erosion, sediment transport, and deposition

13.5 Wind-Formed Landforms

LO5: Explain the origin of distinctly wind-formed erosional and depositional landforms

13.6 Desertification and Salinization

LO6: Assess the extent and impact of human activity on desertification and salinization

Practical Geography: What can we do to address water shortages?

Physical Geography in Action: Drylands

Visualizing Geographic Data

14.1 Coastal Processes 

LO1 Understand processes shaping coastal environments

14.2  Coastal Landforms 

LO2 Classify the diversity of coastal landforms

Practical Geography: How sensitive is your region to sea level rise? 

Geography Matters: Evolution of the Mississippi Delta

14.3  Submarine Processes 

LO3 Recognize dominant submarine erosional and sedimentation processes 

 14.4  Submarine Landforms 

LO4 Explain the origin of submarine landforms and the geography of ocean basins 

14.5  Human Impacts on Coastal and Marine Geography 

LO5 Assess the influence of changes in sea level and sediment supply on coastal landforms and communities 

Physical Geography in Action: Coastal and Marine Geography

Visualizing Geographic Data

15.1 Soil Characteristics 

LO1 Recognize the basic properties of soils. 

Geography Matters: Regenerative Agriculture

15.2 Factors of Soil Formation 

LO2 Explain the factors that influence how soil forms. 

15.3 Soil Development and Soil Profiles 

LO3 Understand the influence of soil processes on the development of soil horizons. 

15.4 Soil Geography 

LO4 Compare the differences between typical soil profiles in different regions around the world. 

15.5 Human Impacts on Soils 

LO5 Appreciate the range of human uses of soil and the past, present, and potential future impacts of human activity on soil development and fertility. 

Practical Geography: How would you conserve soils in your region?

Physical Geography in Action: Soils [[TDB]]

Visualizing Geographic Data: [[TBD]]

16.1 Energy Flows

LO1: Explain how plants convert the Sun’s energy to chemical energy that is transferred to organisms at higher trophic levels

16.2 Nutrient Cycles

LO2: Explore how nutrients move through Earth systems and support organisms

16.3 Ecosystem Interactions

LO3: Describe how groups of organisms interact with the physical environment and one another

16.4 Succession

LO4: [[New LO pending if included]]

16.5 Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity

LO5: Explain the importance of ecosystem goods and services and biodiversity

Practical Geography: What can an individual citizen of the planet do to help support ecosystem services?

16.6 Human Choices and Ecosystem Health

LO6: Assess how humans can make conscious choices to reverse negative impacts on ecosystem processes

Physical Geography in Action: Ecosystem Processes

Visualizing Geographic Data: [[needs to be written]]

17.1 Global Biomes 

LO1 Describe how the variety of organisms on Earth can be simplified into groupings called biomes

LO2 Explain how each biome relates to geographical location and environmental setting through latitude, elevation, position on the continent, climate, and soils. 

17.2 Critique of the Biome Concept 

LO3 Articulate the reasons why the biome concept is an oversimplification of the real world.  

17.3 Conservation Biology 

LO4 Critique how humans have affected patterns of life on Earth in the past and today. 

Practical Geography: Which biodiversity hotspot should be protected next? 

17.4 Human Impacts on Biodiversity 

LO5 Assess how human societies have altered biomes and levels of diversity in the past and will affect them in the future. 

Geography Matters: Dying Birds and Growing Herds

Physical Geography in Action: Biomes and Biodiversity

Visualizing Geographic Data: [[needs to be added]]

18.1 Resource Use on a Finite Planet

LO1: Identify how physical geography relates to resource use and grand challenges society faces today

18.2 Three Pillars of Sustainability

LO2: Recognize the three pillars of sustainability and summarize how they relate to physical geography

Geography Matters: Sustainable Development

18.3 Toward a Sustainable Society

LO3: Understand key aspects of what it will take for society to become sustainable

Practical Geography: How to balance needs of today versus those of future generations?

18.4 Addressing Grand Challenges

LO4: Describe ways physical geography can help frame and address society’s grand challenges

Visualizing Geographic Data:  Global Resource Use and Human Footprints