Meteorology 1010-042: Introduction to Meteorology
Instructor: R. Adam Dastrup, Geoscience CoordinatorEmail: Canvas LMS; Phone: 801-957-4880
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/slccgeoscience; or www.twitter.com/adamdastrup Office hours: TH 1:00-2:00 (Taylorsville Redwood Campus, SI 331
Required Materials The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology by Lutgens, Fredrick K. and Tarbuck, Edward J.
Supplemental Textbook Website: http://www.mygeoscience.com (Costs is $30.00 without an eTextbook or $96.00 for the website and eTextbook. This allows you the option to find a used book as cheap as possible.)
Supplemental material provided by the instructor
Internet access at all times
Access to Netflix and/or iTunes
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to focus on understanding the physical processes of Earth’s weather and climate. To understand how the atmosphere affects our lives, we will look at specific case studies from around the world, discuss current events as they occur, and learn how to collect meteorological data to make weather predictions.
Course Objectives
The Geography Department has listed the following as its desired outcomes for students, who upon the completion of MET 1010 should be able to:
- Understanding the role that meteorology plays in their daily lives
- Comprehend the use and importance of the scientific method
- Analyze and compare the various layers of the atmosphere, the driving force of weather, how energy is transferred around the planet, and determine why we have seasons
- Determine how the National Weather Service collects, graphs, and maps atmospheric data using real-time ground instruments (ASOS), Doppler radar, satellite imagery, and forecasting models to analyze and forecast various components of weather
- Demonstrate understanding of atmospheric temperature and humidity relationships.
- Understand the processes required for cloud formation and precipitation along with dew, frost, and fog.
- Analyze the difference between high pressure and low pressure and how this relates to wind and weather, evaluate global pressure systems, the subtropical and polar jet streams, and El Nino and La Nina.
- Explain what creates thunderstorms, tornadoes, flash floods, lightning, and hurricanes.
- Classify between the various types of climates around the world.
- Distinguish between natural variations in climate change and human-induced climate change.
- Develop an understanding of atmospheric pollution, and how that affects other earth.
These objectives will also help you achieve SLCC’s Learning Outcomes. Read a description of the outcomes at http://www.slcc.edu/gened/eportfolio/learning_outcomes.asp BEFORE the end of the first week.
Assignments
Thirteen (13) Chapter Quizzes 130
Four (4) Unit Exams 400
Four (3) Online Discussions 75
Two (2) ePortfolio Assignments 100
Grading Scale
93-100 = A 90-92 = A- 87-89 = B+ 84-86 = B 80-83 = B- 77-79 = C+
74-76 = C 70-73 = C- 67-69 = D+ 64-66 = D 60-63 = D- 0-59 = E
SLCC General Education Statement
This course fulfills the physical science requirement for the General Education Program at Salt Lake Community College. It is designed not only to teach the information and skills required by the discipline, but also to develop vital workplace skills and to teach strategies and skills that can be used for life-long learning. General Education courses teach basic skills as well as broaden a student’s knowledge of a wide range of subjects. Education is much more than the acquisition of facts; it is being able to use information in meaningful ways in order to enrich one’s life.
While the subject of each course is important and useful, we become truly educated through making connections of such varied information with the different methods of organizing human experience that are practiced by different disciplines. Therefore, this course, when combined with other General Education courses, will enable you to develop broader perspectives and deeper understandings of your community and the world, as well as challenge previously held assumptions about the world and its inhabitants.
SLCC General Education ePortfolio
In order for SLCC students to have a place to display and chronicle projects that demonstrate discipline-specific skills, critical thinking, and collaboration, SLCC has instituted a Gen Ed ePortfolio requirement in which students display their work from General Education courses. Students taking Gen Ed courses must place significant projects from those courses on a website they create that acts as a virtual portfolio of accomplishments in each course. In this way, prospective employers, community members, and transfer institutions can easily see the best of what each student has accomplished while attending SLCC. Your ePortfolio will allow you to include your educational goals, describe your extracurricular activities, and post your resume. When you finish your time at SLCC, your ePortfolio will then be a multi-media showcase of your educational experience.
Every Gen Ed class that you take at SLCC will require you to upload to your ePortfolio “signature assignments” that include a reflection on the assignments. The signature assignment for this course will be found at http://slccgeosciencedepartment.yolasite.com/intro-to-meteorology.php For detailed information visit http://www.slcc.edu/gened/eportfolio.
After you have picked an ePortfolio platform, go to the corresponding help site to watch the tutorials and look at the examples so you can get started on your own:
http://slcceportfolio.yolasite.com
http://slcceportfolio.wordpress.com
http://slcceportfolio.weebly.com
If you would like to start your ePortfolio in a computer lab with a person there to help you, sign up online for one of the free workshops at the Taylorsville-Redwood, South, and Jordan libraries:
http://libweb.slcc.edu/refilt/forms/eportfolio
Sign-up for a workshop early because your ePortfolio Set-up Assignment is due early in the semester.
Course Policies and Procedures
Canvas Learning Management Site: Our course has a Instructure Canvas website. You can access our Canvas site by logging into MyPage, clicking on “MyCourses”, and then clicking on “Instructure Canvas” at the bottom of the page. If you need to log into Canvas, use the same username and password as MyPage. If you have problems accessing our Canvas site, call the help desk at 957-5555. Please read all advisory messages (such as “Attention MSN Users” etc.). Not reading an alert posted by the Help Desk is not an excuse for missing an assignment. There are free computers for you to use on campus.
All of your assignments, exams, or anything will be submitted online.
Chapter Quizzes: Each textbook chapter will have an untimed quiz that will be taken using the supplemental website at www.mygeosciences.com. Students may use the textbook to complete these quizzes.
Exams: There will be four exams in the course each worth 100 points and are due by the date posted on WebCT. Each exam will consist of 50 questions (multiple choice and/or true/false).
ePortfolio Signature Assignments: In this course, the ePortfolio (meaning electronic portfolio) will be used for students to demonstrate weather forecasting skill. To view the departmental ePortfolio for this course, see the URL below and click on Into to Meteorology. http://SLCCGeoscienceDepartment.yolasite.com Students will be required to complete the following ePortfolio signature assignments:
- Creating a General Education ePortfolio and Course Homepage
- Weather Forecasting
Videos and Online Discussions: There will be a variety of videos you will need to watch and participate in an online discussions using Canvas’s discussion board. The purpose of the videos and discussions are to help students see the “larger picture” in how weather and climate influence the planet. Some of these discussions are potentially controversial such as climate change. But all too often we think everyone has our same opinion or worse that there is no logic to other viewpoints.
· Discussion 1: Water Issues (free videos from the non-profit organization WaterAid).
· Discussion 2: Global Climates and Biomes (chose ONE from iTunes or Netflix)l
o Option 1: From Pole to Pole by Planet Earth ($1.99 on iTunes)
o Option 2: Sahara by How the Earth Was Made ($1.99 on iTunes)
o Option 3: Driest Place on Earth by How the Earth Was Made ($1.99 on iTunes)
o Option 4: Mountains by Planet Earth ($1.99 on iTunes)
o Option 5: Jungles by Planet Earth ($1.99 on iTunes)
· Discussion 3: A Global Warning? by The History Channel ($1.99 on iTunes) or Netflix.
In order to complete these discussions, you will need to watch the assigned videos. All of these videos can be purchased on iTunes for $1.99 each and some may be available on Hulu, Netflix, or Blockbuster. It’s your chose how to watch these videos, but they will open your mind the larger world.
Late Work: I expect all assignments and discussions to be turned in on time. Late work will not be accepted unless you are maimed, very sick, or otherwise incapable of using your fingers or your brain. If you experience such calamities, you may ask for an extension – providing documentation.
Online Participation and Attendance: For this course participation is attendance. Simply filling an “electronic” seat space is not participating in the class. In my view, being “intellectually absent” from class discussions/activities is no different than being physically absent for class. I expect you to come to log into Canvas DAILY, read the assigned textbook chapters, and engage in online class discussions/activities. Students who are obviously unprepared will be marked as absent.
Writing Center: SLCC's Writing Center is multi-functional. In addition to computers for class use, the Writing Center also offers an advising program where you have the opportunity to discuss your work with a peer tutor or faculty-writing advisor. The Writing Center advisor can help you think about your writing process by sharing impressions of your materials, offering revision strategies, discussing different ways to approach an assignment, as well as to provide an experienced READer for your work. The Writing Center is not a place to go to get a paper "fixed" or "corrected." Be prepared with questions for your advisor. Ask yourself what you want to work on, whether it's understanding an assignment, having an advisor give you his/her impressions of a passage you've written, or to talk about "what you want to say." You may sign up for an appointment in AD 218. Advisors are available to help you with any writing assignment for any class you take. You may also send a draft to an advisor through e-mail. The address is ET@englab.slcc.edu. Be sure to include questions and concerns you may have as well as a copy of the writing assignment.
Your assignments and discussions MUST be written with MINIMAL spelling or grammatical errors
Plagiarism: Students commit plagiarism when they submit another person’s work as their own. Plagiarism also includes the failure to attribute unique phrases, passages, or ideas to their original source (I will not grade any papers that do not contain both in-text and Works Cited citations). Plagiarism is a violation of the student code of conduct. Students who commit plagiarism will receive either an automatic E for that assignment or an E for the course, depending upon the severity of the plagiarism.
Incomplete: Students must be passing and have completed 80% of the course work in order to be granted an incomplete. Students are responsible for making arrangements to complete the course.
Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring accommodations or services under ADA, must contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC ). The DRC determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of these accommodations and services for the college." Please contact the DRC at the Student Center, Suite 244, Redwood Campus, 4600 So. Redwood Rd, 84123. Phone: (801) 957-4659, TTY: 957-4646.
Final Thoughts
You will probably find this course challenging – possibly even difficult. You will be expected to do a lot of work, but it is absolutely possible to succeed in this course. The main difference between an A and an E in this class is time, effort, and course participation. You will be most likely to succeed in this class if you realize that the work is not only your responsibility, but also your opportunity. The skills you learn in this class will likely help you for the rest of your academic career and even in your professional life. And if you are even remotely patriotic and want great things from and for our nation, you need to start looking for the courses that will challenge your intellect and cause mental and professional growth rather than looking for the course with the “easy A.” Good luck!
Reflections
Looking back on the Meteorology 1010 course and the syllabus, I realize that we did a lot of work! The progress of the class was very predictable with the chapter quizzes and then the four exams. I liked that we could retake the quizzes and exams. I felt like the quizzes and exams were fair and consistent with the information from the book. I liked the assignments. I enjoy watching documentaries and learning about weather. I plan on using some of the video clips that we watched with my high school classes. I think the requirement that I feel like I got the most out of was making the e-portfolio and linking my work to the pages. I enjoyed finding photos for the website and putting it together to make it more organized. I’m glad I got to use the Yola site and learned how to set up a webpage. I would like to figure out a way to have my high school students make their own web sites. I will have to give that some thought!
