Laboratory Manual for Physical Geography

This student-friendly, interactive lab manual presents activities and experiments that enhance students’ ability to both visualize and understand physical geographic topics. In a clear and concise tone, the manual requires students to first apply information they learned and then to critically evaluate the information.

1: Our Place in the Sun 1-A, Latitude and Longitude 1-B, Standard Time and World Time Zones 1-C, Equinoxes and Solstices 1-D, Comparing Map Projection 1-E, Great Circle Routes and Rhumb Lines 2: The Earth's Global Energy Balance 2-A, Insolation and Latitude 2-B, The Annual Cycle of Insolation 2-C, Duration of Sunlight at Different Latitudes 3: Air Temperature 3-A, Conversion of Temperature Scales 3-B, The Daily Cycles of Net Radiation and Air Temperature 3-C, The Daily Temperature Range 3-D, The Annual Cycle of Air Temperature 3-E, Drawing Isotherms 4: Atmospheric Moisture and Precipitation 4-A, Relative Humidity and the Dew-Point Temperature 4-B, Adiabatic Cooling of Rising Air 4-C, Adiabatic Warming and the Rain Shadow 5: Winds and Global Circulation 5-A, Converting Barometric Pressures 5-B, Pressure Versus Altitude 5-C, Isobars on the Surface Weather Map 5-D, The Wind Rose and Global Wind Belts 5-E, Upper Air Winds. 6: Weather Systems 6-A, Qualities of Various Air Masses 6-B, World Weather on a Day in July 6-C, Air Masses Around the World on a Day in July 6-D, Interpreting the Daily Weather Map 6-E, Anatomy and Geography of Tropical Cyclones 7: Global Climates 7-A, Seasonal Rainfall Contrasts in the Wet-Dry Tropical Climate 7-B, Climographs of Low-Latitude Climates 7-C, TheSubtropical Desert Temperature Regime 7-D, Climographs of Midlatitude and High-Latitude Climates 7-E, Identifying Koppen Climates 8: Biogeographic Processes 8-A, Energy Flow in Ecosystems 8-B, Photosynthesis and Carbon Dioxide Concentration 9: Global Biogeography 9-A, The Forest Biome 9-B, Savanna, Grassland, Desert, and Tundra Biomes 10: Global Soils 10-A, Soil Textures 10-B, Soil Orders and Climate 11: Earth Materials 11-A, The Igneous Rocks and their Minerals 11-B, Size Grades of Sediment Particles 11-C, Geologic Maps and Structure Sections 12: The Lithosphere and Plate Tectonics 12-A, The Lithospheric Plates 12-B, Kinds of Plate Junctions and their Meaning 12-C, Using Quasars to Tell How Fast the Plates Move 13: Volcanic and Tectonic Landforms 13-A, Using Graphic Scales to Measure Distances 13-B, The United States Land Office Grid Exercise 13-C, Mount Shasta A Statovolcano 13-D, Shield Volcanoes of Hawaii 13-E, Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics 13-F, Fault Scarps of the Klamath Lakes Region. 14: Weathering and Mass Wasting 14-A, Exfoliation Domes of the Yosemite Valley 14-B, The Great Turtle Mountain Landslide 15: Fresh Water of the Continents 15-A, The Annual Cycle of Rise and Fall of the Water Table 15-B, Flood Regimes and Climate 15-C, Evaporation from American Lakes 15-D, Sinkholes of the Kentucky Karst Region 16: Landforms Made by Running Water 16-A, Niagara Falls 16-B, Alluvial Terraces 16-C, Floodplains and their Meanders 16-D, Alluvial Fans of Death Valley, California 17: Landforms and Rock Structure 17-A, Mesas, Buttes, and Cliffs 17-B, Domes and their Hogbacks 17-C, Mountain Ridges on Folded Strata 17-D, Stone Mountain a Granite Monadnock 17-E, A Volcanic Neck and its Radial Dikes 18: Landforms Made by Waves and Wind 18-A, The Ria Coast of Brittany a Youthful Shoreline 18-B, Coastal Sand Bars 18-C, Barrier Island Coasts 18-D, The Ocean Tide 18-E, Crescent Dunes and Sand Seas 19: Glacial Landforms and the Ice Age 19-A, Living Glaciers of Alaska and British Columbia 19-B, Glacial Landforms of the Rocky Mountains 19-C, Moraines and Outwash Plains 19-D, Eskers and Drumlins