A paper that explores the interacting processes that affect the surface of the Earth, producing landforms and resources, with a focus on physical processes. Topics covered include coastal processes and hazards; climate change; weathering; erosion and mass movement; soil formation; the hydrological cycle; rivers and groundwater; and glaciers.

The paper is composed of lectures, practicals and a field trip. Students are required to attend one three-hour laboratory session per week. Labs will start in the first week of the semester. As part of the requirements of this paper, students must attend a one-day field trip.

Learning resources accessed via Moodle support the paper, and a printed Study Guide containing printed lecture and lab resources is available for purchase from Waikato Print.

A summary of the course programme appears below, and there are more detailed versions at the start of the Study Guide and available on Moodle. This paper is being reorganised to allow it to be offered in Tauranga in 2019. Therefore, it may be necessary to alter the programme after the paper starts, in which case the version on Moodle will be the most current.

The final examination is the only compulsory piece of assessment. However, attendance at laboratory sessions and the field trip all constitute part of the final assessment, so absences should be explained.

Most of the assessed work consists of completing sections of worksheets provided in the Study Guide. The assessed worksheets are being migrated to Moodle to allow online submission during 2018. Detailed information on the requirements of the essay is also provided in the Study Guide.

Following concerns that not all aspects of the paper were covered by the test, raised by students during the paper appraisals, for 2018 the 1 hour formal test for this paper has been split into 3 20-minute tests corresponding to the three main sections of the paper.

The internal assessment/examination ratio is 1:1.

Assessed work consists of (a) laboratory assignments (b) 3 tests (c) an essay (d) the final exam. Due dates for assessed work are provided below, in the course programme, on Moodle and in the Study Guide.

Online support will be provided via Moodle, which is accessible to all students who are enrolled in the paper.

A 100-level 15 point paper in any of the science subjects offered by the University of Waikato typically involves less than 80 hours of supervised study and it is assumed that up to 70 hours will be spent in private study by an ‘average’ student.

There are three lectures and one three-hour practical session per week; and a one-day field trip. All the laboratory sessions involve completing worksheets, portions of which are submitted for marking at the end of each session. Students are expected to spend 30 minutes before the laboratory session to familiarise themselves with the content of the worksheet. During the field trip students will collect information to be used in subsequent laboratory sessions. Students will submit one essay on an aspect of the paper with the topics being posted on Moodle. There will be a limit to the number of students who can answer each topic. Students are expected to spend up to 25 hours to research and write their essay. More specific information on the requirements for the essay is provided in the Study Guide.

This paper may be used as a prerequisite for 200-level ERTH papers.