Strahler Companion Preface
This Student's Companion was written to help you develop
a well-organized and systematic approach to learning the material
presented in Physical Geography: Science and Systems of the
Human Environment. It summarizes the main ideas and key terms
presented in each chapter and provides questions to help you study
and prepare for exams.
Used effectively, the Student's Companion can lead to a
better understanding of your course material which, in turn, will
lead to better grades. We suggest the following approach to using
your textbook and Student's Companion in your studies.
- Don't leave everything to the end of the semester! Deal with
course material regularly to ensure, as each chapter is covered
in class, that you have a sound grasp of the material. Exam preparation
is a breeze when you already know and understand the material.
- Prepare for classes by reading over the relevant sections
of your textbook in advance. We suggest that you first read the
chapter summary in the textbook to get a general sense of the
material being presented, and then read the chapter to obtain
a detailed treatment of the material.
- Take the Student's Companion with you to class and
check off topics from the textbook as they are covered by your
instructor. Also make note of any additional topics or examples
introduced by the instructor, but not covered by the text.
- As you complete each chapter in class, review the key terms
in the Student's Companion and make sure that you can define
them all. Use the glossary in the textbook to look up any terms
you don't understand.
- Once you are able to define the key terms, read the study
questions in the Student's Companion and the review questions
in the textbook. These are intended to test your understanding
of the main concepts presented in each chapter. If you have difficulty
answering any of the questions, read over the relevant section
of the chapter once again.
- The textbook provides problems at the end of each chapter
that allow you to see how concepts can be expressed in quantitative
analyses. The answers to these problems are given in the textbook.
Working out these problems can provide a deeper appreciation of
chapter material.
- A Chapter Quiz is provided in the Student's Companion
for each chapter. Use these questions to test your understanding
of the chapter material. These questions also give you an indication
of the kinds of questions you might encounter on exams. The answers
to the multiple choice and true/false questions are given in the
Student's Companion.
Most importantly, allow yourself to experience the pleasure of
learning. Remember that Physical Geography is about the environment
in which we live and the forces that shape those environments.
Try to see your course material in the world around you - in the
weather reports, the shapes of the landscape, the patterns of
vegetation, and the ways in which we sustain ourselves from the
earth.
Lawrence and Diane Martz
December 1996
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