Calendar ATM 456/656 Climate and Climate Change(3 Credits), Fall 2009
| Dates | Tuesday |
Thursday |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 |
Chapter 12 - Pink signifies chapter from Hartmann
Chapter 12 - Blue signifies chapter from 2007 IPCC report Chapter 12 - Green signifies chapter from Ruddiman Text |
Class #1-
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Week 2 |
Class #2
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Class #3 - Homework 1 due |
Week 3 |
Class #4 |
Class #5 Homework 2 due |
Week 4 |
Class #7 Hydrological Cycle Chapter 5 Homework 3 due Project topic & Rough outline due |
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Week 5 |
Class #8 |
Class #9 |
Week 6 |
Class #10 Homework 5 due |
Class #11 |
Week 7 |
Class #12 |
Class #13 |
Week 8 |
Class #14 |
Class #15 |
Week 9 |
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Week 10 |
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Week 11 |
Class #20 |
Class #21 |
Week 12 |
Class #22 |
Class #23 Anthropogenic Climate Change Chapter 12, Chapter 8-11 |
Week 13 |
Class #24 |
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Week 14 |
Class #25 |
Class #26 |
Week 15 |
Class #27 |
Class #28 |
Final Exam Week |
Tuesday, Thursday 9:45 - 11:15 a.m. classes have final at: 8 - 10 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 17, Remaining Presentations, final paper due. |
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Homework ATM 456/656
Details will follow.
Project Details
Deadlines for Project
• Project Choice and rough outline 1: Week 4
Choose from the list of possible topics below (preferable) or pick a
mutually agreed upon topic (I want students to explore a topic that is
not directly part of their research to broaden their knowledge).
• Project Outline Revised: Week 5
• Decide on Key Project Papers, give me list: Week 7
• Provide Presentation Outline: Week 10, revise within a week if
necessary
• Go over Slides with me during week before presentation: Week
13 or Week 14 and implement suggestions
Project Topics, will add more depending on number of students in class.
1. El Niño: Air-sea interactions
in the tropics and predictability
2. El Niño: Teleconnections to remote parts of the globe
3. Hadley Circulations
4. South Asian Monsoon
5. Impact of Humans on Climate - Early
6. Impact of Humans on Climate - Recent
7. North American Ice Sheets and Climate
8. Sahel Rainfall Variability and Trends
9. Climate variability of the Amazon Basin
10. Abrupt Climate Change – Younger Dryas
11. Atlantic Hurricanes: Trends and controversies
12. Multi-decadal variability of the Atlantic Sector
13. Multi-decadal variability of the Pacific Sector
14. Changes in global mean sea level
Project Requirements
1. Prepare and present a 30 minute for graduate level and 15 minute
for undergraduate level (including questions) talk to the class on the
chosen topic. 60% of project grade is based on the presentation.
2. Write a term paper on the topic (5 pages undergraduates, 10 pages
graduates). 40% of project grade is based on the paper
3. Extra Credit: Prepare a web page on this topic at the high school
science level. The web page will be displayed for years to come linked
to my teaching pages. This extra credit project is worth 10% of the project
grade, so it can be used to raise your grade one level.
Expectations of Undergraduate Level Students for Project
• Summarize the topic based on key classical book chapters/papers
(provided by instructor)
• Describe the particular phenomena and display a basic understanding
for how the particular phenomena work (i.e. what are the important components
of the climate system that impact this phenomena?) based on accepted
classical thinking
Expectations of Graduate Level Students for Project
• Satisfy the two steps above for the undergraduate level.
• Present newer views on topic found in literature.
• Present the weaknesses and controversies in the conventional
thinking about the phenomena. Provide newer evidence (may be from journal
articles or from research done by student) to illustrate where the weaknesses
are. This is to strengthen your critical thinking skills.
• Make a statement on what they think the next important step needs
to be to further our understanding of this phenomena (e.g. better computer
models with higher resolution to resolve clouds) and support it with
evidence. This is to strengthen your creativity skills.