GEORGETOWN COLLEGE
PHY 109 Elementary Meteorology
(3 Semester Hours)
Syllabus (Spring 2010)
Dr. David R. Bowman, Office: ASC124, Telephone: 8094, Email:
Course Description: Atmospheric structure, measurements, energy, and motions; climate; weather forecasting;
applications. Mathematics requirements will be kept to a minimum.
Textbook: Ahrens,C. Donald, Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere, 5th Edition, Thomson
Brooks/Cole, (2008)
Course Objectives:
1. For the student to acquire an understanding of the structure and behavior of the atmosphere and the
phenomena that it produces.
2. For the student to see how the laws of nature determine the structure and govern the behavior of the
atmosphere.
3. For the student to acquire a greater ability to interpret common meteorological observations in terms of
underlying physical principles and phenomena.
Course Outline:
1. The Earth's Atmosphere
2. Warming the Earth and the Atmosphere
3. Air Temperature
4. Humidity, Condensation and Clouds
5. Cloud Development and Precipitation
6. Air Pressure and Winds
7. Atmospheric Circulations
8. Air Masses, Fronts, and Middle-Latitude Cyclones
9. Weather Forecasting
10. Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
11. Hurricanes
12. Air Pollution
13. Global Climate
14. Climate Change
15. Light, Color, and Atmospheric Optics
Course Requirements:
1. Attend and participate in class. Also required is at least one meeting with the instructor, before midterm,
outside of class . The purpose of this meeting is (1) to debrief the instructor concerning how the class is going
for the student so far, (2) to give the student another opportunity to ask questions and get help with any and all
material the student finds difficult, and (3) to get the student's term paper topic approved.
2. Turn in a term paper, of at least 7 double-spaced typed pages, on a topic approved by the instructor. This
paper should have at least 4 substantial sources.
3. Work out the graded homework assignments and turn them in on time.
4. Demonstrate understanding and facility with subject matter on hour tests and final exam.
Evaluation:
The final course grade will be determined from a composite score calculated according to the weightings below.
Three tests (each 14% covering approximately 5 chapters)* 42%
Final Exam 25%
Homework (and maybe an occasional, announced, short quiz) 14%
Term Paper 14%
Classroom Participation 5%
The final grade will be determined by ranking the above composite scores and breaking the grades at gaps
deemed appropriate by the instructor who will consider the over-all class performance during the term in
determining the grading scale. The grading scale is designed to be calibrated so that the class average is typically
fairly near the B-/C+ level. To give students some approximate idea as to what the grading scale might be the
grading scale from a previous semester, is as follows: 100 ³ A ³ 86 >A/B ³ 79> B ³ 69 > B/C ³ 62 > C ³ 52 > D
³ 40 > F ³ 0. This scale is a fairly close approximation of what the scale for this semester will be like. It is
expected that the grade boundaries of the actual grading scale used this term will be within a couple of percentage
points of the one shown here. The reason the grading scale is partially relative to overall class performance is so
the instructor can fairly compensate for effects due to any test questions that may have been inadvertently "too
easy", "too hard" or "unfair".
* If any one test is missed, the score on the final exam will be used as a score for a "make-up" test. If more than
one test is missed, the additionally missed test is scored as a zero. The final exam score will replace the lowest
one of the three scores on the three tests if that score is less than the final exam score. The final exam will be
comprehensive and cover all material studied in the course. The final will have the greater emphasis on the
material covered after the third test.
Homework Policy:
Graded homework assignments will be made. Students will be expected to work these in neat legible form.
Homework problems will be graded on a 0-5 point scale where the criteria considered are: 1. correct reasoning,
2. correct answer, 3. timeliness and 4. neatness and the ease with which it can be followed. Each homework
assignment is due the first class meeting after the instructor finishes lecturing on the chapter that the assignment
covers. It is hoped that these assignments will help the students to pace themselves and to keep up as the
material builds upon itself. Each student is expected to make a solid effort on each homework assignment and to
seek help if she/he has difficulty. Students are encouraged to come to the instructor for help when needed.
Seeking help on homework from other students is also encouraged. Not only does the student seeking help
benefit, but the student explaining clarifies the material in his/her own mind, and both learn to better
communicate in the subject. The copying of another's work is not permitted, however, and each student must
turn in her/his own work. Those seeking help must be very considerate of their fellow student's time.
Term Paper:
Each student is to turn in an annotated term paper on a meteorological topic possibly suggested by, or at least
approved by the instructor. The term paper is to be typed (or word processed) with at least 7 double spaced
pages. Spelling and grammatical usage count, but content is most important. The paper should have at least 4
significant sources with no more than 2 of them being internet sources. Research notes for the paper are to be
turned in with the paper. The term paper is due Monday, Apr. 26, 2010.
Classroom Participation/Attendance Policy:
Students are expected to attend all sessions of class and to participate alertly. The 5% of the course grade for
classroom participation includes the instructor's subjective assessment of the following components:
1. Attendance
2. Having at least one pre-midterm meeting with the instructor outside of class.
3. Asking questions in class to clarify points of the lectures. Both "insightful" and "dumb" questions are
especially encouraged and counted.
4. Correcting the instructor's errors on the board.
Tentative Test Schedule: (Target Dates)
Friday, 02/19/10 Chapters 1-5
Monday, 03/29/10 Chapters 6-10
Monday, 05/03/10 Chapters 11-15
Policy Concerning Keeping on Schedule vs. Students Understanding More of What is Covered
The above course outline and test schedule are ideal and tentative and may be modified if it becomes clear that
we are going "too fast" and a significant portion of the class is not following or keeping up with the material. In
such a case the instructor will slow down the rate of coverage of the material, and the class will just not cover as
much material as was originally hoped. This course is for non-majors in Physics, and is not a prerequisite for
more advanced Physics courses, so if all the material is not covered, it will not ill-prepare the student for
subsequent more advanced courses in Physics. Therefore, the instructor believes it is better for the student to
understand what (little) material actually is covered than to stay on schedule, cover everything, and have the
student understand next to nothing about what was covered.
Policy Concerning Academic Dishonesty
It is assumed that all students will be honest regarding all work that they turn in as their own. Any instance of a
student caught plagiarizing a term paper or cheating on an exam will result in the student failing the course. As
mentioned above, students are free to (and encouraged to) work together when doing home work as long as each
student turns in his/her own work. The use of old exams for study purposes is allowed. The instructor may
furnish (upon request) old exams to be used for such study purposes.
Help and Office Hours
The instructor will keep office hours 11:00-11:50 MWF, 2:10--3:25 TTh. Students are also free to see the
instructor at times other than during the office hours, however, in that case, he might not be in his office.
If it becomes clear, either because of low class homework and test performance, or because of student feedback,
that part of the class is struggling with the material, the instructor is willing to meet with any and all concerned
students at mutually agreeable times as often as necessary to give any needed extra help.
Assignments for PHY109 Meteorology (Spring 2010)
Ch. 1. QR 1-22, QTE 1,4
Ch. 2. QR 1-16,18, QTE 1-4,6,8
Ch. 3. QR 1-7,9-19,21,23, QTE 2,5,6-8
Ch. 4. QR 1,3,8,10-18, QTE 1,4,6,8,12,13
Ch. 5. QR 1-8,10-17,20,23-27, QTE 2,4,7
Ch. 6. QR 1-13,16-25, QTE 1,3,4,9,10
Ch. 7. QR 1,3-19, QTE 3,5,7
Ch. 8. QR 1-4,6,8-15,17,19,20, QTE 2-6
Ch. 9. QR 2-12,16,19, QTE 2,6,8
Ch. 10. QR 1-14,16,18-31, QTE 2,4
Ch. 11. QR 1,3-18,20-22,24, QTE 1-4,6,8
Ch. 12. QR 1-10,12-18,22-25,27 , QTE 3,4
Ch. 13. QR 1-9,11,13,14,17,18, QTE 1-3,7,9
Ch. 14. QR 1-5,7,10-19, QTE 1,3-6
Ch. 15. QR 15,8-10-16,18-21, QTE 2,4,6,7
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