Course Description

Earth's environmental history and aspects of contemporary global change. Plate tectonics, mass extinction, and the Gaia Hypothesis. Not for credit in the Faculties of Science or Applied Science.

UBC Calendar

For a full listing of course offerings please see the UBC calendar description

Learning Goals

under development

Instructors

Dr. Kurt Grimm—kgrimm@eos.ubc.ca—EOS Main Rm. 260—604-822-9258 Course meets MWF@ 900 am, Biological Sciences 2449 Office hours- W1330-1530 or by appointment.

Textbook

No Text purchase is required; all course readings will be distributed as pdf. via email or by handout in class.

Course Content

• Syllabus (PDF format)
• Images of power point slides are provided. The ID and password supplied by your instructor are required.

Lecture Topics

The course Calendar description given above has been substantially modified to center around four major topics

1. Earth System Science (including a treatment of “systems” and "complexity”)
2. Climate Change
3. Sustainability
4. Personal Sustainability (tying it all together)

1. Earth System Overview: It’s all about rocks, water and the throughput of energy.
2. The Problem: It may be clearly understood and communicated.
3. A hypothesis about Authentic Solutions: Personal, local, bioregional and global sustainability may be encapsulated and implemented via a deep and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of Life.

1. Develop a conversant familiarity with major aspects of complexity, Earth system science, climate change and sustainability.
2. Advancement of scientific literacy.
3. Skillful creation and employment of mind maps of different types.
4. Develop a working familiarity with major concepts of sustainability (a sustainability tookit! What is it? What can we do with the tools? How might I apply these tools to my own life and career? )

1. Please ignore the existing website for EOSC 312 (for now).
2. I do not post course notes online; I will explain the sensible reasons why in class.
3. Good News! You don’t have to buy any books for this class.
4. Reading number 1: Great Transitions (a free download at www.tellus.org). This is central to our course; I suggest you read the first 46 pages in the next couple of weeks.
5. Other materials will come via email as pdf attachments or as hard copies distributed in class.
6. Readings complement the lectures and are non-redundant with what we discuss in class. About 6 readings will be given in the class, and they are all fair game for exams.
7. Personal Sustainability Portfolios (PSP) will be discussed in class. You are not required to complete a PSP; PSP will not be marked.

Key Dates:

Midterm exam 1: Monday 4 February — 25%

Midterm exam 2: Wednesday 26 March — 35% //

Final Exam: tba — 40% (20% = conventional exam, 20% = creating a mindmap).

Globe 2008 conference (http://www.globe2008.ca) is running March 12-14, 2008 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC) (http://www.vcec.ca/). Students in EOSC 312 will be given free passes to the trade show. Globe 2008 is a rare and very exciting opportunity for you, and is well worth a half-day to a full-day of your time. A ten or twenty point question on midterm 2 will arise from your individual participation in this trade show. // VCEC is located on Burrard Inlet, at the North end of Burrard street in downtown Vancouver, and can be accessed from the UBC Bus Loop via a #44 bus (http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/)// For students wishing to be more deeply involved in Globe 2008, see http://www.globe2008.ca/student_sponsorship_program.cfm

Labs

There are no labs for this course.