ANU - STUDYAT - The Blue Planet

Offered By:

Research School of Earth Sciences

Academic Career:

Undergraduate

Course Subject:

Earth and Marine Science

Offered in:

Second Semester, 2010

Unit Value:

6 units

Course Description:

This course provides an integrated understanding of Earth as a system. Topics include: a history of Earth's environment; systems theory; the biophysical processes that characterise the oceans, atmosphere and land surface; together with an introduction to the global water and carbon cycles. Lectures provide an essential scientific perspective on critical global change processes. Practical sessions offer hands-on experience with global information systems. A major field excursion introduces students to methods for environmental measurement and observation.

Learning Outcomes:

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. use systems thinking to describe the physical and biophysical processes that define the Earth, and especially those processes that drive large-scale environmental change
2. explain how the previous changes in Earth's environmental conditions and on-going Earth system processes provide a basis for understanding human-environmental interactions and impacts
3. analyse to what extent humans can force global environmental change by deliberately or incidentally influencing the Earth system
4. understand how the atmosphere, the land and the oceans interact and the feedback mechanisms between the three

Indicative Assessment:

Assessment will be based on:

Practical assignments (35%; LO 1-4)
Semester field report (25%; LO 1-4)
Theory exam (40%; LO 1-4)

Workload:

65 hours of contact, comprising lectures, practicals, and field excursion

Areas of Interest:

Earth and Marine Sciences

Incompatibility:

GEOG1007, GEOL1004 and GEOL1006

Prescribed Texts:

To be advised

Science Group:

A

Academic Contact:

Michael Ellwood and Brendan Mackey

The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science EMSC1006 - Details