ATM S 211: Spring Quarter 2007
Climate and
Climate Change
Syllabus
Acquire a basic understanding of
- the Earth's climate - how it works, how it has changed in the past
- the potential for climate change
- critical thinking on environmental/scientific issues
- applications of basic math and chemistry
- quantitative predictions and uncertainty analysis
Prerequisites
None. Open to all undergraduates. A working knowledge of high-school algebra and physical sciences will be useful; however, the basic tools used by scientists will be reviewed and practiced as they arise during the course.
Textbook and other resources
The text for the course is The Earth System by Lee R. Kump et al., Prentice Hall, 2nd Edition, 2003, 419 pages. Additional required reading material will include handouts on selected topics. The articles will be available as PDF files on the class website.
Course Requirements
- Attendance on Mon-Thurs is essential and required. A large fraction of the grade (20%) comes from in-class activities. These activities are unscheduled and occur throughout the quarter.
- Friday review/tutorial/lab sessions are designed to be useful to all students and should be attended. Homework will be assigned and discussed in these discussion sections.
- Homework will be assigned regularly during the quarter. It must be handed in at the beginning of the discussion section on the due date. Students are encouraged to turn in all homework, even if late. Late homework will be penalized 10% per school day up to a maximum penalty of 50%. Homework handed in more than one week late will receive no credit. (Note: Homework turned in after 10:30 am but before 5:00 pm on the day assigned will receive a 10% penalty.)
- There will be two midterms and one final exam. (PLEASE NOTE: Makeup exams will only be given in extreme cases and with advance notification to the instructor.)
- Each student will be expected to complete a poster, including an annotated bibliography (details provided below). For those students receiving a writing credit, a detailed project report will be required.
- Extra credit can be earned by attending suggested lectures on climate-related topics and writing up brief reports.
Grading
Grades will be determined as follows:
| W-credit | no-W-credit | |
| Report projects | ||
| Writing paper | ||
| In-class activities | ||
| Homework | ||
| Mid-terms | ||
| Final | ||
| Extra Credit |
Poster Symposium
Students, in groups of 2, will research some topic related to climate and present a poster on that topic at a group poster session. Further information on this project will be available later.