ENV1022

Australian physical environments: evolution, status and management ( 6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader: Dr Meredith Orr

Offered:
Clayton Second semester 2005 (Day)

Synopsis: This unit is a core unit in the B.Env.Sci. degree. Explains Australia's present patterns of landform, soil, biota and climate through an understanding of past events and environments. The focus on change is carried over into future environmental management issues. An example environmental issue, uranium mining, highlights the multidisciplinary nature of environmental science.

Objectives: On completion of this unit students should be familiar with major ideas concerning the evolution of the Australian landscape, its biota and climate patterns within the global environment; be aware of competing ideas and theories in the relevant literature; be able to synthesise and interpret relevant material and to communicate ideas to others in a coherent manner, either by written or verbal means; be familiar and proficient with some simple techniques for analysing basic geographic and physical environmental information; appreciate the importance of field work in studying the natural environment, and the problems associated with making field measurements of natural phenomena., and appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science and the cultural, legal, social and economic impact resulting from human activity.

Assessment: Written (1500 words): 40% + Examinations (2.5 hours): 40% + Practical and fieldwork reports: 20%

Contact Hours: 4.5 hours per week (3 lectures per week, and the equivalent of up to 3 hours practical/ tutorial per fortnight), plus one two-day field excursion

Prohibitions: GES1020