Geography at the college level moves beyond the study of state capitals or mountain ranges that you may have encountered in grade school. Then you probably learned a catalog of facts about the world, but little about how the facts fit together. Yet a description of the earth is only the beginning of the study of geography. Geographers want to know where things are and why they are there. Geographers try to understand the relationships among elements of the physical and cultural environment and how the elements vary spatially. They use certain questions, certain methods of investigating problems, and a variety of intellectual tools to explain the location of thins. The most familiar tool is the map, but today's geographers also use intricate statistical models. 

In a way, we are all geographers. From the time we could crawl, we began exploring the space around us. By the time we became adults, we had acquired a considerable amount of data about the world. Now, the discipline of geography offers you a more particular way of looking at the world. This course tries to convey the geographic viewpoint. The goal of this course is to help you discover the field of physical geography and to help you remember facts and understand concepts that can be applied to your own experience.

If you do well in this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the concepts of cultural geography, culture area, cultural diffusion, cultural ecology, cultural integration, and cultural landscapes. 
• Understand population patterns, distribution, migration, and the relationship between culture and population characteristics. 
• Recognize the distribution and characteristics of agriculture and the cultural domestication of plants. 
• Differentiate between formal and functional political culture regions. 
• Identify regions charactirzed by major linguistic families. 
• Identify areas characterized by major world religions. 
• Define and identify characteristics and examples of folk culture. 
• Understand how ethnicity can impact areas. 
• Locate and identify areas of highly urbanized populations and sparsely urbanized populations. 
• Differentiate among primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. 

Your course grade will be determined by the surveys, quizzes, projects, forums, and exams, according to the following points:

There are 4 proctored exams in this course. You are expected to take your examinations at one of the NVCC campus Testing Centers. Be sure to allow enough time to complete your exam before the Testing Center closes; Testing Centers have specific policies relating to the administration of ELI exams. You will need to take a photo ID, your NovaConnect empl ID number, and the appropriate Exam Pass when you go to the Testing Center.  

For Testing Center locations, hours of operation and policies, click here.

For information on taking exams outside of the metropolitan area, click here.

I am here to help you succeed in this course. Occasionally questions or problems may arise. Here is how to contact me when they do:

E-mail : bcrain@nvcc.edu

1. Use your web browser to connect to http://www.nvcc.edu/bbstart. Follow the directions to determine your email, Blackboard and VIVA account user names and passwords.
2. Access your email account and make sure you know how to use it; you will be required to use this account for all course-related email.
3. Log on to Blackboard at http://learn.vccs.edu.
4. Click on this course under "My Courses." Review the entire course to make sure you understand what will be required of you. Then start completing the assignments.

Please note that account generation takes approximately one week from the time of your paid registration. If you cannot log on after one week, contact the IT Help Desk. If you can log on to Blackboard, but your course isn't listed, please contact ELI or your instructor.