ATMO336 -- Weather, Climate, and Society -- Section 1
Course Information, Spring 2005
This course examines basic weather phenomena, climate variability and climate change, and their associated effects on people. The possibility and implications of human-caused changes in the climate system are also discussed.
T,Th 9:30 - 10:45 PM
Biological Sciences West (BIO W), Room 219.
http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/students/courselinks/spring05/atmo336/home.html
Dr. Dale Ward, Research Scientist
Department of
Atmospheric Sciences
Email:
ward@atmo.arizona.edu
Office:
Physics and Atmospheric Sciences (PAS) Building, Room
566D.
There is no textbook for this course. Lectures will be based on the Lecture Notes available from the class web page , and a series of additional class notes to be distributed throughout the semester.
Important dates, such as homework deadlines, exam dates, etc., will be posted in the class calendar.
Homework assignments will be given periodically during the semester. These will consist of short written papers and brief problem sets.
Your homework assignments will be graded on the quality and clarity of your English as well as their content. No cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, or plagiarism will be tolerated (see the Code of Academic Integrity).
All homework assignments assigned during class will also be available on the class web page. Homework assignments turned in late will incur a grade reduction of 10% per day. Homework accounts for 25% of your final grade.
There will be 3 in-class exams and a final exam. You will be given the entire class period to complete each exam. Exam grades account for 75% of your final grade. Each in-class exam will account for 25% of your final grade. The exams will consist of a mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions.
Questions from previous exams will be made available on the class web pages.
The final exam is scheduled for 8:00 to 10:00 on Thursday, May 12. The final exam is optional. If you decide to take it, the final exam grade replaces the lowest of the grades of your previous exams (even if it is lower). Thus, if you do poorly on one exam or miss one exam, you can make it up by taking the final. Each of you will be informed of your class grade before the final. If you have an "A" or are pleased with your grade, you should not take the final exam. The final exam is comprehensive. The final exam grade cannot be used to replace your homework grade, so do your homework and turn it in on time.
You are expected to read the relevant material from the class notes. Exams will be taken from both the lecture material (including web pages and links therein) and the reading assignments.
Please contact the instructor (preferrably via e-mail) as soon as possible if for an unexpected reason you are unable to be in class for an exam. A make-up exam will be arranged with sufficient proof. No make-up exam will be given unless you notify the instructor BEFORE missing the exam in class. In general, I would prefer make-up exams to be taken before the exam is given in class.
Your final grade will be curved and therefore depends on everybody else's grades. However, the grade scale will not be any more difficult than A(90%); B(80%); C(70%); D(60%).