Catalog Description

Hours: 30 (12 lecture, 18 laboratory) per unit
Description: Explore the central coast of Northern California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, the Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz area surrounded by a redwood and coastal ecosystem; learn about the region's natural history, its culture and past history, its people and industry, human-environmental relationships including land-use, and a sense of place. Some hiking and camping may be required. (C-ID GEOG 160) (CSU)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Identify common flora and fauna of the Central Coast region and wetlands, including biomes, belts and plant communities like the redwoods.
  • CSLO #2: Illustrate and explain major landform provinces of the coastal areas of California, their geologic characteristics, such as rock types and soils, and identify their geologic causes & changes in the past 25 million years.
  • CSLO #3: Write a comprehensive field report on an interpretive walk that focuses on one or two aspects of the area, such as ecosystems and plant communities, fluvial processes, climate influences or even current environmental issues that affect natural landscapes.
  • CSLO #4: Summarize major historical events that help reveal how the past has shaped the present story of the Central Coast and surrounding area, including cities such as Santa Cruz.
  • CSLO #5: Describe geographic patterns of cultural and economic activities and analyze the causes, such as recreation, hospitality, natural resource extraction, agriculture and the historical industries of the Central Coast.

Effective Term

Fall 2021

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

30-60

Outside of Class Hours

24-48

Total Student Learning Hours

54-108

Course Objectives

Lecture Objectives:
1. Explain basic principles of geography including concepts of site & situation (significance related to physical landscape) of the Central California Coast and coastal mountains including their natural resources.
2. Analyze locational patterns in the creation and development of environmental and cultural landscapes of the Central California Coast.
3. Identify basic environmental processes (geology, weather & climate, hydrology) and/or cultural factors (urban areas, ethnicity, history, economics) of the Central California Coast, including various coastal ecosystems present in the area.
4. Discuss the interrelationships between environmental and human landscapes of the central coast area, including the "sequent occupant" such as the native Americans and the Spanish settlement.
Laboratory Objectives:
1. Apply basic principles of geography and concepts of location through mapping exercises, written and oral explanations.
2. Analyze and evaluate the importance of location, such as valley soils in the Central Coast area to determine the environmental processes and cultural attributes.
3. Evaluate the of the Central California Coast region through personal observation, using learned principles of the environmental processes and cultural factors.
4. Using information from the course; apply knowledge to assess current environmental, and cultural challenges of the Central California Coast, offering potential future solutions.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
      • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
        • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)

          Articulation Information

          • CSU Transferable

          Methods of Evaluation

          • Reports
            • Example: Student must collect notes during the field lectures as well as observations and inforomation collected at museums and other information kiosks. Using a framework, students collect data for a final report. Once back at home, students conduct additional research as needed to complete their final report including the relation of humans to their environment.
          • Other
            • Example: Notebooks are also submitted for a grade as a means of measuring participation and what was learned at each stop.

          Repeatable

          No

          Methods of Instruction

          • Laboratory
          • Lecture/Discussion

          Lab:

          1. Followed by an instructor lecture on both natural ecology and specific examples of the of the greater central California Coast as well as its cultural aspects, students will take notes in a field notebook. Field notebook is submitted for a grade in addition to a report. From the field notes, students continue to assemble a final report that must include the history and sequent occupance of the regions, such as in the specific region.

          Lecture:

          1. Lectures and/or discussions will be presented by the instructor at specific locations during the field class route. Field guides, maps, charts and field instruments are used by the instructor to support the instruction. Students will identify and learn locations through the use of maps, field observations, lecture materials and readings.

          Typical Out of Class Assignments

          Reading Assignments

          Field class reading will vary by region, some examples being: 1. Read the handout segment from "A Natural History of California" by Allan Schoenherr and be prepared to discuss California's regions. 2. Read natural history selections and be prepared to discuss the common flora and fauna of the region. 3. Acquire and familiarize yourself with a detailed map of the region (map reading). You will be required to locate and analyze relationships between specific features during the field class.

          Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

          1. Through discussion and the writing of a term paper, the students are expected to analyze the location of places visited. Emphasis of study will vary from course to course. The student is encouraged to summarize, analyze and problem-solve environmental, historical or cultural challenges within their written narrative. 2. Students are expected to locate features on their field map, observing and gathering information related to these features. At the conclusion of the course, they are required to explain the historic, cultural or environmental aspects of each location based on their field observations.

          Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

          1. Field Report on natural and cultural history

          Required Materials

          • Rediscovering the Golden State: California Geography
            • Author: William A. Selby
            • Publisher: Wiley & Sons
            • Publication Date: 2018
            • Text Edition: 4th
            • Classic Textbook?:
            • OER Link:
            • OER:

          Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.

          Camping supplies (sleeping bag, tent, etc.)