This course provides an opportunity for understanding part of the complex physical and biological environment in which human beings live. It introduces basic processes that influence the characteristics and spatial relationships of climate, water cycle and vegetation. The first part of the course examines the interactions of solar energy with the Earth's atmosphere and surface, and how atmospheric circulation, precipitation, and weather systems are generated. The second part of the course covers the cycling of water and other Earth resources within the living zone - the biosphere. It focuses on how these cycles, together with the flows of energy, influence the nature and distribution of ecosystems and vegetation. Throughout the course, students look at patterns of human activity that are in response to and have an effect upon environmental processes, and are asked to observe and interpret aspects of their local environment in light of what they have learned.