Earth Science/Geography/CCS 303: Weather and Climate
Spring 2013 Syllabus
Instructor: Anna E. Klene Office: 216 Stone Hall
Office hrs: Tues 3:40-4:45 pm
TA: Nick Youngstrom
TA Office: 204 Stone Hall TA Office hrs: Tues & Thur 1-2 pm
E-mail: anna.klene@umontana.edu
TA e-mail: nicholas.youngstrom@umconnect.umt.edu
Class Meeting: T & Th, 11:10-12:30 pm, in ED 214
Text: Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology, by F.K. Lutgens and E.J. Tarbuck, 11th Ed.,
Prentice Hall, NY. 2010.)
There is an accompanying CD & website (http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_lutgens_atmosphere_11)
Moodle: Will be used for grades. Go to//login.umt.edu/ Your NetID (first & last initial & 6
digits) is your login and your initial password is the last 6 digits of your GrizCard ID.
Weekly homework: You will need a calculator, colored pencils, and a ruler. See page 3.
Objective: By the end of this course, you should feel be able to describe why we have seasons,
understand and evaluate the nightly TV forecast for normal and severe weather, and able to
explain basic climate change principles to your friends.
WebPage: With links to sites of interest: http://www.cas.umt.edu/geography/gphy303.htm
Outline:
Week 1-5:
Topic:
The Science of Meteorology
Atmospheric Composition & Structure
Radiation & Temperature
Temperature Patterns
Air Pollution
Midterm Exam #1
Reading
Homework
Ch. 1
Review Appendices
Ch. 1
Ex. 1
Ch. 2 & 3
Ex. 2 & 3
Ch. 3
Ex. 4
Ch. 13
Feb. 28
Week 6-9:
Ch. 4
Ch. 5
Ch. 6 & 7
Ch. 8
Ch. 9
Mar. 28
Water in the Atmosphere
Cloud Development & Precipitation
Pressure, Winds, & Atmospheric Motion
Air Masses
Fronts and Cyclones
Midterm Exam #2
Week 10-15: Severe Weather: Thunderstorms & Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Climatology & Climate Change
Final Exam
Grading Procedure:
Ex. 5
Ex. 6
Ex. 7
Ex. 8
Ex. 9
Ch. 10
Ch. 11
Ex. 10
Ch. 14
Ex. 11 & 12
Tues, May 14 8:00-10:00 am
Quizzes as needed up to 30
Midterm Exam #1
100 pts.
Midterm Exam #2
100 pts.
Homework
220 pts.
Final Exam
100 pts.
Total
520-550 pts.
Important dates: Feb. 15: Last day to drop/add in Cyberbear with partial refund or change to “Audit”.
Apr. 18: Last day to drop with drop/add form, $10 penalty, and grade of “W”.
May 10: Last Day to drop by petition, $10 penalty, and grade of “WP” or “WF”.
Earth Science/Geography/CCS 303
Course Guidelines and Policy Statements
How to Succeed in this Course: Attend class. Read the assigned chapters. Complete and turn
in the homework exercises on time. Doing that preparation will enable you to study for the
exams with confidence and an understanding of the material.
1. Course Outline – KEEP and use the attached outline to maintain continuity throughout
the course.
2. Reading Assignments – The required reading assignments are listed on your outline. The
text for this course is intended (a) to provide further explanation of concepts covered in lecture
and (b) to supplement the lectures by presenting additional information. You are responsible for
these reading assignments for all exams.
3. Exams – All exams in this course will be comprehensive. Meteorology is a science that
builds one concept upon another and therefore all tests must contain some previously covered
material. However, the exams will be oriented toward the section of the course most recently
presented. The exam format will be mainly objective (multiple choice and definitions) and will
consist of (a) concepts covered in lecture and (b) concepts covered in the required course
readings. A few questions may appear on each exam involve calculations or mapping. There is
no provision for make-up exams. Exceptions will be made only for documented family or
medical emergencies.
4. Homework Exercises – The exercises are a vital component of this class. They account
for 40% of the final grade. The lowest score will be dropped. Only exercises turned in by the
due date will receive full credit. Those received late will be penalized 10% off for each
calendar day they are not submitted. Those more than 5 days late will NOT be accepted
without documented family or medical emergencies. For example, if a homework is due on
Thursday, it must be handed in by the following Tuesday (50% off) to receive any credit.
5. Class Attendance – Is strongly recommended. Quizzes may be given on any given day
and cannot be made up if missed without an acceptable documented excuse. If you happen to
miss a class, please borrow a fellow student's notes and review the PowerPoint notes posted on
Blackboard. After doing this, if you have any additional questions I will be happy to answer
them outside our regular class time. Incompletes will be given only for medical or family
emergencies, but must be completed within 1 academic year (see page 21 of catalog).
6. Disability Accommodations – For reasonable accommodation please see me as soon as
possible. Procedures are outlined in UM’s DSS Handbook: (www.umt.edu/disability).
7. Academic Dishonesty – All students must practice academic honesty. Academic
misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary
sanction by the University. All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code. The
Code is available for review online at http:/www.umt.edu/SA/VPSA/index.cfm/page/1321.
8. Final Course Grade – After the final exam, the distribution of total points earned by all
students will be examined. The letter grades will usually fall in the standard grade ranges:
A=90-100%, B=80-90%, C=70-80%, D=60-70%, etc. The “plus/minus” system will be used.
** This syllabus may be modified as necessary during the course. **
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Earth Science/Geography/CCS 303
Tentative Schedule Spring 2013
January
Week 1
31 – Chp. 1: Atmos. Evolution,
Structure, & Composition
29 – Introduction
February
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
5 – Chp. 2: The Sun & Seasons
Exercise 1 Due
12 – Chp. 2: Energy Balance
Exercise 2 Due
19 – Chp. 13: Air Pollution
Exercise 3 Due
26 – Chp. 4: Atmos. Moisture
Exercise 4 Due
7 – Chp. 2: Natural Greenhouse
14 – Chp. 3: Global Temp. Patterns
21 – Donora & Global Pollution DVD
28 – Exam 1
March
Week 6
5 – Chp. 4: Atmos. Moisture cont.
Week 7
12 – Chp. 5/6: Pressure
Week 8
19 – Chp. 7: Global Circulation
Week 9
26 – Chp. 9: Mid-latitude Cyclones
7 – Chp. 5: Clouds & Precipitation
Exercise 5 Due
14 – Chp.6: Wind & 4 Forces
Exercise 6 Due
21 – Chp 8/9: Air Masses & Fronts
Exercise 7 Due
28 – Exam 2
Exercise 8 Due
April
Week 10
Spring Break
Week 11
9 – Guest Speaker: TV Weatherperson
11 – Wonders of Weather DVD
Week 12
16 – Chp. 10: Thunderstorm & Severe WX
Week 13
23 – Chp. 10: Hurricanes
18 – Chp. 10: Tornadoes
Exercise 9 Due
25 – Chp. 14: Paleoclimate
Exercise 10 Due
May
Week 14
Week 15
Exam Week
2 – Climate Change Video & Disc.
Exercise 11 Due
9 – Climate Change Wrap-up
7 – Climate Change Video II & Disc.
Exercise 12 Due
Final Exam –
Tues., May. 14, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
30 – Chp. 14: Climate Models
** This syllabus may be modified as necessary during the course. **
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Greek letters used as Variables
Greek Letter
capital lower
English
name equivalent
Order of Operations
1. Simplify any enclosure symbols:
parentheses ( ), brackets [ ], or braces {}.
 Work the enclosure symbols from the
innermost and work outward.
 Work separately above and below any
fraction bars since the entire top of a fraction
bar is treated as though it has its own
invisible enclosure symbols around it and
the entire bottom is treated the same way.
2. Simplify an exponents and roots working
from left to right.
3. Do any multiplication and division in the
order in which they occur, working from left
to right; Note: If division comes before
multiplication then it is done first, if
multiplication comes first then it is done
first.
4. Do any addition and subtraction in the
order in which they occur, working from left
to right; Note: If subtraction comes before
addition in the problem then it is done first,
if addition comes first then it is done first.
√
x2

** Δ is often used to refer to the change in
something. For instance, ΔP means the
change in pressure, so Pa – Pb, where a is the
first pressure and b is the second.
Refer to Appendix A in your textbook for SI
or metric units and conversions.
e
Common Symbols...
Square root
the 2 is an exponent – this means we
should multiply the x by itself (or
multiply 2 x’s together). An exponent
of 3 would mean x times x times x, and
so forth. Multiplying like this is also
called “raising x to a power.”
the ratio of circumference to diameter of
a circle or about 3.141592653589
the natural logarithm base or about
2.718281828459. This is usually used
with an exponent (e.g. ex).
Chemical Notation
H2O–means 2 hydrogen atoms & 1 oxygen
CH4 – means 1 carbon atoms & 4 hydrogen
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