GEOLOGY 7 Online Weather and Climate Spring 2008 Professor Kalon Morris
Saddleback College Office: SM 136 (949) 582-4649
Students may be dropped for non-participation,
however it is the students' responsibility to drop if they must.
Required Textbooks: "Weather Studies" Textbook and "Weather Studies Investigations Manual; 2007-2008 and Summer 2008". ISBN 978-1-878220-82-0
These books are packaged together by the American Meteorological Society. You must purchase them from the Saddleback College Bookstore in-person or online (saddleback.edu, then click on 'Bookstore' link under 'Students') before class begins!
Welcome to online weather and climate! To do well in this class you must be able to work independently and keep yourself on schedule. All work for this class will be completed online through Blackboard. Starting Monday, Jan. 14th, go to:
http://socccd.blackboard.com and log in with your Saddleback user (email) name and password. Geology 7 will appear as one of your classes; follow the link to the class homepage.
The primary work for this class will be the American Meteorological Society's Online Weather Studies program, which includes access to real-time weather data. On Monday each week a new lesson will be posted on the course's blackboard webpage. The first part of the lesson will be reading the assigned chapter in the textbook and writing original answers to the Review and Critical Thinking questions. This will be due on Friday evenings at 11pm. Each lesson also has two 'investigations' for you to complete, the first (A) will be posted Monday; the second (B) is posted Wednesday. The investigations part of the lesson must be completed by 11pm on the following Sunday. Late work will NOT be accepted. Additional assignments, such as videos and online lectures, will also be posted in Blackboard during the semester.
The course homepage in Blackboard contains all the information you will need for this class; please check the announcements regularly. As a 3 unit class, you should expect to spend 9 hours/week on this class!
Tentative Schedule
Week 1 January 14
Preview of Chapter 1: Monitoring the Weather
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 1A and 1B
Video: Understanding Weather
Week 2 January 21
Chapter 1: Monitoring the Weather
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 1A and 1B
Video: Understanding Weather
Week 3 January 28
Chapter 2: Atmosphere: Origin, Composition, and Structure
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 2A and 2B
Video: The Atmosphere
Week 4 February 4
Chapter 3: Solar and Terrestrial Radiation
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 3A and 3B
Video: Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming and Sea Level Rise
Week 5 February 11
Chapter 4: Heat, Temperature, and Atmospheric Circulation
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 4A and 4B
Video: Something in the Air
Week 6 February 18
Chapter 5: Air Pressure
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 5A and 5B
Week 7 February 25
Chapter 6: Humidity, Saturation, and Stability
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 6A and 6B
Week 8 March 3
Chapter 7: Clouds, Precipitation, and Weather Radar
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 7A and 7B
Week 9 March 10
Chapter 8: Wind and Weather
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 8A and 8B
Video: Coriolis Effect
Week 10 March 24
Chapter 9: Atmosphere's Planetary Circulation
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 9A and 9B
Video: Atmospheric Circulation
Week 11 March 31
Chapter 10: Weather Systems of Middle Latitudes
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 10A and 10B
Week 12 April 7
Chapter 11: Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 11A and 11B
Video: Lightening: Electric Skies
Week 13 April 14
Chapter 12: Tropical Weather Systems
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 12A and 12B
Video: Hurricanes
Week 14 April 21
Chapter 13: Weather Analysis and Forecasting
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 13A and 13B
Video: Ocean Currents and Climate
Week 15 April 28
Chapter 14: Light and Sound in the Atmosphere
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 14A and 14B
Week 16 May 5
Chapter 15: Climate and Climate Change
Investigations and Current Weather Studies exercises 15A and 15B
Video: Sediments as a Record of Climate Change
Week 17 May 12
FINAL EXAM due by 11pm on Monday, May 19
Grading:
Your written work for the class (the Review and Critical Thinking Questions from each chapter) will count for 1/3 of your grade. The Investigation/Current Weather Studies exercises, along with quizzes from the videos, will count for 1/3 of your grade. The Final Exam will count for the remaining 1/3.
I anticipate that the final grading scale for the class will be:
85% to 100% = A
75% to 84.9% = B
65% to 74.9% = C
55% to 64.9% = D
Below 55% = F