A remote probe has found an uninhabited earth-like planet
1. A remote probe has found an uninhabited earth-like planet. The
crude instrumentation has determined its remarkable similarity
to earth in most respects (presence of crust and oceans like
earth’s, water in all forms, identical size, atmospheric
composition, flora and fauna. It has periods and direction of
rotation and revolution around its similarly distanced “sun”).
The differences noted are that it has only one super continent
that takes up one half of its surface area and extends to both
poles. The continent seems to have a high mountain range on its
western margin with elevations between 3 and 4 kilometers with
the bulk of the continent at an elevation of about 500m, generally
sloping to ocean level on the east coast. Its orbital inclination is
also different from earth’s – only 10o as opposed to 23.5o.
Speculate on the nature of the physical landscape generally
found on this planet. How is it both similar and different from
our own planet? Why?
2. An expedition is being planned to the planet described in
Question 1. You want to be included in the party sent to explore
it (imagine that the travel to it is instantaneous). You must
convince the powers that be that the knowledge and skills that
you have gained in your GES-121 class will be of great value to a
team that is extremely limited in number. Why should a physical
geographer be included at the expense of another scientist? What
can you contribute to the mission?
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3. It has been said that the fundamental questions of physical
geography are: how is the landscape formed, of what is it
composed, and what are its dimensional characteristics? It could
be argued that we should additionally ask, why does physical
geography matter? Choose either the atmosphere or hydrosphere
and tell how our study of them have answered these questions.
4. The concepts of energy balance and mass balance may be
integral to understanding many earth processes and landforms.
Explain this, drawing from material from this class and from
your further research/study.
Sample Solution
For many years, there has been controversial stances regarding African-Americans, women, LGB members, and now transgenders given entry into the United States military service. Since this transition between genders may not be accepted by all, an overwhelming amount of discrimination has been evident when the thought of a transgender person serving our country is brought up. Being that the U.S. military is a 100% voluntary service, everybody has the right to join, no matter what race, ethnicity or gender you identify as.
Many U.S. citizens are not aware what the term transgender means. Transgender refers to someone who does not identify as the same sex that they were assigned at birth (usni.org). For example, an individual who was assigned female at birth, now goes by the pronouns he/him and identifies as a male. Many U.S. citizens also do not understand that this action is not a choice, and that people experiencing this identification switch seem to have been born into the incorrect bodies. Easily mistaken as emotional instability, The American Psychiatric Association makes it clear that “gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder”, but instead, studies have shown that the transgender brains resemble more closely to the gender identified as, rather than the gender assigned at birth (usni.org). Clearly, all of these misconceptions of transgender persons can corrupt or influence one’s decision on whether or not they believe transgenders should be granted military service.
If a transgender person is ready, willing and capable of doing the job, why shouldn’t they be granted access into the U.S. military? Not including the United States, there are 18 running countries who allow transgender persons to serve in the military (usni.org). According to the RAND Corporation Study of 2016, studies have shown that around 2,000 to 11,000 transgender military personnel have already served in demanding jobs and have been deployed overseas (nytimes.com). Regarding the transgenders that are already serving for the military, Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard leaders have informed Congress that they have yet to see any issues with their transgender troops (nytimes.org). After interviews with superior military personnel, their statements should be enough to sway your opinion all together. General Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, stated, “As long as they can meet the standard of what their particular occupation was, I think we’ll move forward” (nytimes.com). While Captain J. Caputo of the United States Coast Guard preached, “Any person with a male body must meet male service standards; anyone with a female body must meet female standards. Transgender persons who can meet the standards of their physical body are fit for service” (usni.org). Additionally, despite the fact that transgenders serve without problems in police and fire departments, along with federal law enforcement, studies have shown that “…transgender individuals are about twice as likely as adults in the U.S. to have served their country in the armed forces” (Williams Institute). While reading this, you might be saying what about the stress that transgenders are exposed to? On top of the personal issues they might have, will they be able to fully func