The entire website for this course constitutes the official syllabus for the course that faculty are supposed to provide students within the first week of class.

Quater offered:

Winter quarter of even numbered years. 2024, 2026, etc.)

Day/Time:

MWF 10:00-10:50 am (in-class group activities)

Instructor:

Prof. Greg Pasternack, Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources

Course Description:

Movement and storage of water in forests, rangelands, wetlands, rivers, and developed lands as well as the integrated functioning of water and biota at the watershed scale, as revealed by observation studies and ecohydrological models.

Student Learning Objectives:

1. Students can conceptualize and write a water balance equation for any landscape setting on Earth accounting for water storage and flux components.
2. Student can understand and account for how biota influence the hydrologic cycle and vice versa in a variety of landscape settings on Earth.
3. Students can comprehend and evaluate how humans have impacted ecohydrology in a variety of landscape settings on Earth.
4. Students can describe and interpret the role of natural disturbance regimes in ecohydrology.
5. Students can define hydrological terms introduced in this course.
6. Students are proficient in the use of Microsoft Excel for hydrological analysis.
7. Students can describe the underpinnings of hydrological and ecological modeling at the watershed scale as well as explain how such models have been used to inform our understanding of ecohydrology.
8. Students will gain experience in setting up and running lumped hydrological modeling of a small catchment.
9. Students can creatively conceive of a scientific experiment in hydrology and communicate the essential elements of the scientific method associated with a proposed experiment through writing and public speech.

Video Podcasts

This course provides all of the faculty presentations as free, online video podcasts.  Video podcasts are available in 3 different platforms, with each one having the same videos, but with different features:

1. On the Course website: go to the syllabus, select a topic by clicking on its hyperlink, and scroll down to either the 480p streaming video(s) or to the links to download the videos in different resolutions.
2. At the UCD video repository at http://videos.ucdavis.edu/. This platform is where you will find closed-captioning for all video podcasts.You will also find full transcripts of each video podcast here, though they have not been edited or corrected beyond what the transcription servcie produced.
3. All videos are also available on YouTube at the Ecohydrology channel.

Textbook and Course Reader:

As a cost saving measure for students, there will not be a commercial textbook or course reader required for this course. Instead, I have carefully selected documents for you to read that meet course educational goals but at no cost. Some items may require access from a computer logged into the university or connected from outside through the UC Davis library's VPN service. The reading due for each class is listed on the web page that explains the content for each class, through the syllabus link.

Software

All UC Davis students are eligible for Microsoft Office while they are enrolled at UCD. To obtain it, go to this link: https://officedownload.ucdavis.edu

Word Processing

This course requires the use of a Word processing program. Microsoft Word is recommended as the most common one used in professional business and science. the free alternative in the Open Office suite can work. There are many other possibilites available, but the one you choose must meet the following criteria:

• The program must be sophisticated enough that it can use or import a Microsoft Word file to use as a report template- or you can take the time on your own to create an equivalent template.
• The program must be sophisticated enough that it is possible to paste data tables and figures into it, preferably in native vector format, but at least in image format. if you choose image formatting for all non-text content, you are required to paste imagesin at a high enough resolutioon that all content can easily be read and intepreted.

Spreadsheeting

There are many spreadsheet programs and programming languages available to work with data on computers and other electronic devices. While many options can do similar functions and analyses, they all have somewhat “workflows”. A workflow is the sequence of steps to accomplish a data analysis goal. It is not possible to write out all variants of workflows for all possible software. By far, Microsoft Excel is the dominant spreadsheet program in use in professional business and science today. Therefore, this course will provide workflows for this software. MS Excel is not free. If you choose to use another spreadsheet program (such as Apache Open Office), then that is ok, but you have to figure out your own workflows to conduct the assignments OR make arrangements to use a computer that *does* have MS Excel on it.

Explanation of HYD143 Credit Hours

Version 1 adhering to the Carnegie Rules.

This is a 4-unit “flipped” course where the bulk of the new instructional material is delivered outside of in-person class time and then ideas are clarified and discussed during the class sessions. The course meets in person 3 times per week for 1 hour (50 minutes). The preparatory instructional material consists of approximately 3 hours of video podcast watching (my flipped lecture material) and 3 hours of assigned readings: a combination of a textbook, a course reader, and supplemental articles, technical reports and other textbook excerpts. This portion of the course makes up 3 out of the 4 units of the course. In addition, students spend 3 additional hours outside of class (one additional unit’s worth of time) working on extensive problem sets, writing experimental designs for experiments they discuss with their peers in class discussion, and working on special assignments over weekends. This class has 15 lengthy problem sets, 3 experimental design group reports, and 5 weekend activities, requiring a significant amount of time outside the classroom on the student’s part. This portion of the course makes up the remaining 1 unit for a total of 4 units.

Version 2 itemizing units by hours of effort.

According to the UC Davis General Catalog (see this link), units of credit are assigned to courses based on 1 unit of credit for three hours of work by the student per week. As of Fall 2017, HYD143 is a 4-unit course, so each item listed below is intended to be done 3 times each week, meaning that the course requires a total of 12 hours of activity each week.The total amount of material presented has been tested in past offerings of this class and students have confirmed that under normal circumstances the work can be achieved in 12 hours a week.

• One unit involves one hour of time three days a week outside of class dedicated to watching video podcasts on your own and submitting answers into the quiz system. There are three sets of videos to watch per week, so this constitutes 3 hours per week for one unit of credit. The videos are ~50 minutes each, so this builds in an extra 10 minutes for re-watching portions that students want to think through a second time during additional studying and thought.
• One unit involves 50 minutes of contact time three days a week with the professor and other students in-class. During this time you will discuss the topics of the week in small groups and as a class as well as begin to work on problem sets and activities that build your professional skills and increase your confidence in understanding the concepts presented in the video podcasts.
• One unit involves one hour of time outside class dedicated to extensive problem solving three times a week.  There is a problem set or other activity for every class meeting (3 per week). Efforts begun in each class in discussion will normally require up to one additional hour to complete on your own.
• One unit involves one hour of time outside of class doing assigned reading three times a week.

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Copyright Greg Pasternack 2002.

All federal and state copyrights reserved for all original material presented in this course through any medium, including lecture or print. Individuals are prohibited from being paid for taking, selling, or otherwise transferring for value, personal class notes made during this course to any entity without the express written permission of Greg Pasternack. In addition to legal sanctions, students found in violation of these prohibitions may be subject to University disciplinary action.