BL 131
http://ricetv.rice.edu/rooms/room.php?building=BL&room=131+-+Auditorium

 Room is A.D.A. accessible.
Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours.
Additionally, students will need to contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.  

Mr. Davin Wallace, ESCI Graduate Student
Biology 326
713.348.2414
djw1@rice.edu

Mr. Omar Ahmed, ESCI Graduate Student
Graduate Student Office - Room 211
713.348.4110
oa1@rice.edu

1. "Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change"
   by William Calvin (University of Chicago Press, 2002), http://faculty.washington.edu/wcalvin/index.html.
   Book can be read on the web: http://faculty.washington.edu/wcalvin/BrainForAllSeasons/index.htm
    
   
2. “Global Fever; How to Treat Climate Change”
   by William Calvin (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
   Book can be read on the web: http://all.Global-Fever.org

World Wide Web:
The volume of information is growing every day. Access to this information is becoming faster and easier every day. You will be expected to use this resource to prepare most of the classes. A Web site dedicated to ESCI 107 will be available and will be updated regularly.

Course objectives:
The course is an overview to understand how the oceans and their evolution impact the Earth's climate. The course will first introduce the climate system, and then describe how physical, biological, and chemical processes combine to affect the ocean-atmosphere interaction over time scales from minutes to millennia. The course will also define the different roles these processes play in affecting climatic changes in the past, present, and future. The course is designed for undergraduate students with broad interests on learning about Planet Earth and the impact of mankind on its climate. The course will be taught as an interactive experience not only between instructor and students, but also between the students themselves.
 
Your Expectations of US (Teacher and TAs):
You should expect the teacher and TAs to care about teaching and make an honest effort to engage your interest in the different topics covered and discussed during this Fall 2007 semester. You should expect to be treated fairly as students, to not be ridiculed or made to feel embarrassed in class. You should expect the material covered to be interesting and challenging, because you are adult students capable of learning all types of material.
 
Our Expectations of You:
We expect students who wish to learn, who come to college to learn and who value learning above grades. We expect to be treated fairly as your teacher, by giving us your full attention in class and respecting other students in this class who have come here to learn. We expect you to be on time to class and to not leave early for your next class. Some class will be organized as a series of interactive discussions between you and your direct neighbor, you and other members of a group of students. The success of the interactive teaching method will depend on how serious each individual student has been in preparing her/his self prior to coming to class. We and your fellow students expect, therefore, you to be in the Biology Room 131 at 9:25 AM sharp. If you do not attend class you will miss assignment on a regular basis. We expect that you will need to spend a minimum of one to two hours at home between classes per hour spent in class. If you cannot attend a class please send an e-mail explaining why you are going to miss the class to andre@rice.edu and djw1@rice.edu or oa1@rice.edu. Exceptionally, if you are late to turn in an assignment please e-mail both us and explain why you have been delayed and when we can expect your assignment.
 
Assessment (Final Grade):
Attendance will count for 10% of the final grade. The final grade for ESCI 107 course will be based upon homework, written assignments, and class write-ups (60%). We will assign writing assignment either as assigned homework (once per week) and/or in class (related to the topic of the day). Most of these will be short (one page length, a few maybe 2-5 page assignments). These assignments (about 15 of them through the semester) will help you either to be prepared to discuss the different topics in class or to demonstrate that you have assimilated the material. Homework assignments must be typed and are due as printed hard copy at the beginning of the following class or a week after receiving it.

No late assignments will be accepted for full grade.

If the assignment is given a week late, the grade automatically dropped to 50% or less. Make-ups will only be given for verifiable excuses specifically recognized by the University. If the assignment is not turned in after two weeks, the grade will be a Zero. The type of mid-term and final assessment (30 % of the final grade) is not defined yet. The form of these two general assessment and the different options (i.e. written essay questions, team debate, individual group oral presentation, . . . ) will be first discussed, and then defined within the first two or three weeks of the Fall semester. These two general assessments will greatly depend on the number of students taking the class and student input.