Exploring Physical Geography

Stephen Reynolds, author of the highly successful Exploring Geology, brings his ground-breaking, visually spectacular approach to Exploring Physical Geography. Intended for an introductory geography course, such as Physical Geography, Reynolds Exploring Physical Geography promotes inquiry and science as an active process. It encourages student curiosity and aims to activate existing student knowledge by posing the title of every two-page spread and every subsection as a question. In addition, questions are dispersed throughout the book. Integrated into the book are opportunities for students to observe patterns, features, and examples before the underlying concepts are explained. That is, we employ a learning-cycle approach where student exploration precedes the introduction of geographic terms and the application of knowledge to a new situation. 
Exploring Physical Geography introduces terms after students have an opportunity to observe the feature or concept that is being named. This approach is consistent with several educational philosophies, including a learning cycle and just-in-time teaching. Research on learning cycles shows that students are more likely to retain a term if they already have a mental image of the thing being named (Lawson, 2003). Also, the figure-based approach in this book allows terms to be introduced in their context rather than as a definition that is detached from a visual representation of the term. We introduce new terms in italics rather than in boldface, because boldfaced terms on a textbook page cause students to immediately focus mostly on the terms, rather than build an understanding of the concepts. 
Featuring more than 2,500 photographs and illustration, Exploring Physical Geography engages students with strong visuals, unique two-page spreads, and Before You Leave This Page objectives.

Stephen J. Reynolds received a B.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in geosciences from the University of Arizona. Dr. Reynolds is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, where he has taught regional geology, earth resources, evolution of landscapes, field studies, and teaching methods. He has directed the geologic framework and mapping program of the Arizona Geological Survey, completing a new Geologic Map of Arizona. As a National Association of Geoscience Teachers distinguished speaker, he has traveled across the country presenting talks and workshops on how to infuse active learning and inquiry into large introductory geology classes. He is a commonly invited speaker to national workshops and symposia on active learning, visualization, and teaching. Dr. Reynolds is the author of the highly successful Exploring Geology.

Robert Rohli received a B.A. in geography from the University of New Orleans, an M.S. degree in atmospheric sciences from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in geography from Louisiana State University (LSU). He is currently in his 14th year at LSU, with his time is divided between Faculty Director of the LSU Residential Colleges Program and Professor of Geography. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor of Geography at Kent State University (KSU) and as Regional Climatologist at the Southï¿ern Regional Climate Center. His teaching and research interests are in physical geography, particularly synoptic and applied meteorology/climatology, atmospheric circulation variability, and hydroclimatology. He has taught Physical Geography, Climatology, Meteorology, Physical Climatology, World Climates, Methods in Synoptic Climatology, Applied Meteorology, Analysis of Spatial Data, Water Resources Geography, and others.

Julia K. Johnson earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in structural geology and geoscience education. Dr. Johnson is a full-time faculty member in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University (ASU), where she teaches Introduction to Geology to nearly 1,000 students a year and supervises the associated introductory geology labs. She also coordinates the introductory geology teaching efforts of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, helping other instructors incorporate active learning and inquiry into large lecture classes. The main focus of her geoscience education research is on student- and instructor-generated sketches for learning, teaching, and assessment in college geology classes. Before coming to ASU, she conducted groundwater studies of copper deposits and taught full time in the Maricopa County Community College District, teaching physical geology and environmental geology.

Peter Waylen is Robin and Jean Gibson Professor of Geography at the University of Florida. He holds a B.Sc. in Geography from the Lonï¿don School of Economics, England, and a Ph.D. from McMaster University, Canada. He has also served as Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, visiting Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, Hartley Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Southampton, England, and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Engineering Hydrology, University College Galway, Ireland. His teaching and research interests are in the fields of hydrology and climatology, particularly the temporal and spatial variability of risks of such hazards as floods, droughts, freezes, and heat waves, and the way in which these vary in the long run, driven by global scale phenomenon like ENSO. He has worked throughout Anglo- and Latin America, and several parts of Africa. He teaches Introductory Physical Geography, Principles of Geographic Hydrology, and Models in Hydrology, and was selected University of Florida Teacher of the Year in 2002.

Mark Francek is a geography professor at Central Michigan University (CMU). Before comï¿ing to CMU in 1988, Francek earned his doctorate in geography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his masters in geography from the University of South Carolina, and his bachelors degree in geography and psychology from the State University College at Geneseo, New York. He has teaching and research interests in earth science education, physical geography, and soil science. Mark has pedaled twice across America and teaches biking geography field classes in around the Great Lakes region and Appalacian Mountains. He has authored and coauthored more than 30 scholarly papers, funded in part by the NSF and the State of Michigan, and has presented his research at numerous national and state conferences. At CMU, Francek has served as acting director of the Environmental Studies Program and Director of the Science and Technology Residential College.