purpose of studying environmental science - link
purpose of this course
purpose of the class (course, students, instructors)
understanding cycle
- be or become aware (sense that there is something interesting going on),
- recognize a pattern that is something you know about,
- learn more, search for answers
- do something about it
example - climate change
most general - understanding as an active process - link to understanding
recognize patterns that are natural, human and combinations
- examples of some patterns
- exponential growth
- water flow available from a reservoir, becomes limiting
recognize patterns that you might be able to do something to correct
- example: stream with a point source of pollution
make predictions from these patterns in time and space
- but we (as environmental scientists) need to do this more effectively
- that's what this course is about
After you recognize a problem, you need a strategy to search for a solution or solutions
recognize patterns that are similar to problems you know how to solve
finding an appropriate solution - what are your criteria
stopping rule: when will you stop?
- wash - rinse - repeat
- satisficing - settling for what you happen to find - don't do this!
the "scientific method" is a very powerful search strategy that can be used in a trusted circle of colleagues
scientific method - link to objects/traditional scientific met
other versions - link to objects/post-normal science
context for solution - link to objects/adaptive management
Multiple representations of the problem of calculating degC vs degF
- representations
- verbal, descriptive
- cartoon, icons
- chart of trends
- chart of data
- algebra to describe data
- other models
Missing information
- experts get information from different representations
- example:
Calendar - the home page
Syllabus
learning objectives
academic honesty
lecture - problem sets and quizzes
lab - problem sets, lab write ups and a major project