Exploring physical geography / Изучая физическую географию

WE WROTE EXPLORING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY so that students could learn from the book on their own, freeing up instructors to teach the class in any way they want. I (Steve Reynolds) fi rst identifi ed the need for this type of book while I was a National Association of Geoscience Teachers’ (NAGT) distinguished speaker. As part of my NAGT activities, I traveled around the country conducting workshops on how to infuse active learning and scientifi c inquiry into introductory college science courses, including those with upwards of 200 students. In the fi rst part of the workshop, I asked the faculty participants to list the main goals of an introductory science course, especially for nonmajors. At every school I visited, the main goals were similar to those listed below: 

• to engage students in the process of scientifi c inquiry so that they learn what science is and how it is conducted, 

• to teach students how to observe and interpret landscapes and other aspects of their physical environment, 

• to enable students to learn and apply important concepts of science, 

• to help students understand the relevance of science to their lives, and 

• to enable students to use their new knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking to become more informed citizens.  <...>