Courses : Syllabi : 103
Geography 103 Weather and Climate
Instructor
Course Description
Weather and Climate offers the opportunity to learn about the nature of the atmosphere and how it shapes both short-term phenomenon such as thunderstorms and hurricanes (weather) and longer-term meteorological trends such as extended drought or glacial-interglacial cycles (climate.) Although there are no prerequisites for the class, meteorology is an applied physical science and some of the material cannot be adequately covered without reference to some basic mathematical equations. An understanding of these equations will be required, although there will be only minimal problem solving on the exams. This class offers General Education credit under “Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning: Physical Sciences.” See SDSU General Catalog for more information.
Prerequisites
None
Grading
Your grade in this course will be based on the following elements:
- Homework (3 assignments): 25%
- Exam #1: 25%
- Exam #2: 25%
- Exam #3: 25%
Grade breakdown:
This scale may be curved at the end of the semester if a reasonable distribution of grades is not obtained
from the straight scale.
- A = ≥90
- B = 80-89%
- C = 70-79%
- D = 60-69%
- F = <60%
There will be three non-cumulative examinations and three assignments in this course. The exams will consist of essays, problems, multiple choice and short answer questions. Make-up exams will only be allowed for special circumstances and should be arranged before the regular exam is given. A study guide will be available on Blackboard prior to each exam.
Assignments will be constructed as appropriate to further understanding of weather and climate principles and students will be given notice of assignment due dates.
Books and Materials
Edward Aguado and J. E. Burt 2009.Understanding Weather and Climate, Fifth edition. Prentice Hall.
The book comes with a useful CD-ROM containing several types of learning modules. Many chapters have Tutorials and Interactive Exercises, while every chapter has some combination of movies (Weather in Motion), and Weather Images. The tutorials, interactive exercises, movies and images are an important component of the Text/CD-ROM package and you should refer to these while reading the text. Appropriate CD modules are highlighted throughout the text by icons in the page margins. Please be aware that if you buy a used copy of a former edition, you will have to pay a substantial fee to access the textbook website and your CD-ROM may be missing and/or outdated.
Weekly Topics
The following schedule is tentitive, the pacing of the lectures is determined by class dynamics. The exam dates are also tentitive. However, up-to-date information will be posted on Blackboard as the class progresses.
| Week | Topic |
|---|---|
| Week One | Introduction to course Composition and Structure of Atmosphere |
| Week Two | Solar Radiation and the Seasons |
| Week Three | Energy Balance and Temperature |
| Week Four | Atmospheric Pressure and Wind |
| Week Five | Exam One Atmospheric Moisture |
| Week Six | Atmospheric Moisture (cont) |
| Week Seven | Cloud Development and Forms |
| Week Eight | Precipitation Processes |
| Week Nine | Exam Two Atmospheric Circulation and Pressure Distributions |
| Week Ten | Atmospheric Circulation and Pressure Distributions (cont) |
| Week Eleven | Air Masses and Fronts |
| Week Twelve | Midlatitude Cyclones |
| Week Thirteen | Lightning, Thunder and Tornadoes |
| Week Fourteen | Lightning, Thunder and Tornadoes (cont) Tropical Storms and Hurricanes |
| Week Fifteen | Exam Three Tropical Storms and Hurricanes (cont) |