Syllabus contents:
Climate and Climate Change
Syllabus
Class Meeting Times and Location: Daily (M-F) from 10:30 to 11:20 am in Room 310C in the Atmospheric Sciences Building
Instructor:Lyatt
Jaeglé
e-mail: jaegle@atmos.washington.edu
Phone: (206) 685-2679
Office: Room 306 in the Atmospheric Sciences
Building
Office hours: Wednesdays 11:30-12:30,
or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Roberta Quadrelli
e-mail: roberta@atmos.washington.edu
Phone: 543-6627 (only during office hours,
otherwise please use e-mail)
Office: Room 420 in the Atmospheric Sciences
Building
Office hours: Tuesdays 3-4 pm and Thrusdays
11:30-12:30
Download
syllabus in PDF format
Course Description
This is an introductory course for nonscience majors on climate and climate change. The class will be divided in three parts:
- Climate of the present. We will examine the nature of the global climate system and the main processes controlling climate. Topics will cover the global energy balance, atmospheric circulation, the role of oceans in climate, the carbon cycle, atmospheric composition.
- The role of climate in Earth and human history. In this part of the class we will discuss how climate changed in the past on timescales ranging from billions of years to thousands of years. There will be a full week of student presentations on this theme.
- Global change: Is the Earth getting warmer? Why? Should we be concerned? How are we changing the stratospheric ozone layer? What is the impact of human activities on global air quality? These are some of the current major environmental concerns which we will discuss in class.
None. Open to all undergraduates.
Your grade will be based on exams (two midterms and one final exam), assignments, a research project, and class participation:
Assignments 25%
Research project
25%
Midterms 20%
Final exam 20%
Quizzes, class participation
10%
You are expected to attend lectures and
participate in class. Quizzes will be unannounced and will
be largely based on the previous lecture. There will be no make-up quizzes,
but your lowest quiz score of the quarter will be dropped. There will be
no make-up exams except in the case of serious illness or death in the
immediate family, in which case you must contact the instructor in advance
of the exam. Assignments are due in class at 10:30 am on the
day indicated. Late assignments will not be accepted without advance arrangement.
Assignment 5 will be a written critique
of an article in the non-scientific media about some aspect of climate
change. You will have the opportunity to present your critique orally as
a basis for class discussion if you wish.
The research projects will
be team efforts. In groups, students will research the details of
Earth's past climate over specific time periods and present their findings
in class. You will be required to:
(a) contribute to the
group's effort;
(b) participate in
the oral presentation of results, or in putting the group's work on the
web; and
(c) turn in an individually-written
paper describing the group's work and your contribution to it.
More information on the research projects is available through this link.
The points assigned to the various exams
and assignments are as follows:
| homework assignments (5) | 250 points (5 x 50) |
| midterms (2) | 200 points (2 x 100) |
| final | 200 |
| group project | 100 |
| paper based on group project | 150 |
| weekly pop-quizzes (10x10) | 100 |
| total | 1000 points |
Points on the above scale are converted to grade points as follows:
1000 4.0
980 3.9
960 3.8
900 3.5
800 3.0
700 2.5
600 2.0
Based on this grading scheme, the mean GPA for ATMS 211 last quarter was 3.1.
"The Earth System" by Lee R. Kump, James F. Kasting, and Robert C. Crane, Prentice Hall, 1999.
The lectures will largely follow the textbook (see Reader's Guide to the Text). Each week the students will be required to read material of direct relevance to the class, but the curious student would do well to read the entire book. In addition, after each class, lecture notes will posted on the web. These notes will summarize the main topics covered and provide additional material not included in the book (such as web links).
Last
Updated:
03/13/2001