NATS101-004 Syllabus

Class Hours and Location: Section 04: 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM (MWF) in Integrated Learning Center (ILC), room 120.

Instructor: Prof. Xubin Zeng (email: xubin@atmo.arizona.edu), PAS (Physics - Atmospheric Sciences) bldg., room 562, Tel: 621-4782

Teaching Assistants: Diana Stovern and Adam Gray

v Diana: (Email) dstovern@atmo.arizona.edu; (Tel) 621-6843; (Office) PAS Room 526

v Adam: (Email) agray@atmo.arizona.edu; (Tel) 621-6843; (Office) PAS Room 526

Office Hours:

Prof. Zeng: Wed and Thu 2:00 p.m.-2:50 p.m., but subject to change with advance notice, or by appointment.

Diana Stovern: Tue noon-1:00 pm

Adam Gray: Mon 10:00 am - noon

Required Text: Essentials of Meteorology-An Invitation to the Atmosphere, 5th Ed. (ISBN-10 0495114774,ISBN-13 9780495114772) by C. Donald Ahrens

Course website: http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/courses/fall09/nats101s4/index.html

Course Description: An introduction to the science of weather and climate, including such topics (time permitting) as the atmospheric composition, energy balance, wind systems, genesis of fronts and cyclones, precipitation processes, clouds, severe weather, weather prediction and optical phenomena. Emphasis will be given to phenomena that have strong impacts on human activities and economic livelihood such as tornadoes, hurricanes, El Nino, global warming, ozone depletion, and air pollution. The fundamental importance of physics, chemistry and mathematics to the atmospheric sciences will be explored.

Class Materials:

Chapter 1 -- The Earth Atmosphere

Appendix A -- Units, Conversions, Abbreviations, and Equations

Chapter 2 -- Warming the Earth and the Atmosphere

Chapter 3 -- Air Temperature

Chapter 4 -- Humidity, Condensation, and Clouds

Chapter 5 -- Cloud Development and Precipitation

Chapter 6 -- Air Pressure and Winds

Chapter 7 -- Atmospheric Circulations

Chapter 8 -- Air Masses, Fronts, and Middle-Latitude Cyclones

Chapter 9 -- Weather Forecasting

Chapter 10 -- Thunderstorms and Tornadoes

Chapter 11 -- Hurricanes

Chapter 12 -- Air Pollution

Chapter 13 -- Global Climate

Chapter 14 -- Climate Change

Chapter 15 -- Light, Color, and Atmospheric Optics

Grading Policy: Final grade will be based on scores from your attendance of lectures (4%), your homework (30%), three quizzes and a final examination (66%).

Attendance (4%) is evaluated based on the record of clickers. Students will earn 4, 3, 2, or 1 points for the following attendance record, respectively: >90.0%, between 89.9% and 80.0%, between 79.9% and 70.0%, and between 69.9% and 60.0%.

Homework (30%) will be assigned after every chapter. Two assignments with the lowest scores are excluded for averaging.

The dates for the three quizzes are: September 23 (Wed), October 16 (Fri), and November 13 (Fri) during the regular class hours. Bring your CAT CARD. Each quiz will cover the new material for that period only, with few overlappings with earlier quizzes.

The final exam is scheduled on Friday, Dec 18, 8:00 am-10:00 am in ILC Rm 120. Bring your CAT CARD. The final exam will cover the material for the last period (i.e., after the third quiz) only, with few overlappings with earlier quizzes.

A student may be allowed to take an exam at an alternate time, hand in the homework late, or miss lectures without penalties if he/she is covered by one of the following conditions: 1) Involvement in NCAA sporting events on exam days (homework due days, or lecture days), or 2) Extenuating personal circumstances (e.g. a serious or life-threatening illness). Appropriate and verifiable documentation will be required by any student making such requests in ALL cases.

Among the three quizzes and the final, the lowest score will be dropped, and the remaining three scores will each account for 22% for a total of 66%. In other words, if a student does a great job in the three quizzes, he/she does not need to take the final exam.

COURSE GRADING SCALE

A=> 90.00%

B = 89.99-80.0%

C = 79.99-65.0%

D = 64.99-55.0%

E = Below 55.0%

Expectations:

Before the lecture: Read the relevant chapter

During the lecture: Actively ask and answer the questions

After the lecture: Read the relevant chapter and do homework

Students are expected to read the whole chapter prior to the lecture of that chapter. Unless you hear otherwise from Professor Zeng, you are always responsible for the reading material. Per University policy, every student is expected to devote a minimum of two hours outside of class to studying, reading, etc. for every contact hour in classroom. If you are unwilling or unable to commit to a minimum of 2 hours outside of class, then I recommend that you take another course.

Honors Credit: This course is available for honors credit to qualified Honors Students. Please contact the instructor for further information.

Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory. I reserve the right to take attendance throughout the semester through the use of clickers. After three unexcused absences, I reserve the right to issue an administrative drop (prior to the end of week 8) in accord with University of Arizona (UA) policy. http://catalog.arizona.edu/2009-10/policies/classatten.htm.

All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion if the instructor is given reasonable notice. Absences for travel to road games by NCAA athletes will be honored if the instructor is given reasonable advance notice. Students are responsible for all material missed in class.

Academic Integrity: The UA Code of Academic Integrity, Code of Conduct and Student Code of Conduct are strictly followed. All students are responsible for knowing the codes and abiding by them. See http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/codeofacademicintegrity. You can submit complaints about fellow students online at http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/generalfaqs. I will investigate the allegations further.

Classroom Behavior: Every student is expected to behave as a courteous adult and in manner consistent with enhancing the educational experience of your peer students. You are expected to not talk with your neighbors during class, to turn off your electronic toys (e.g. cell phone, pager, blackberry, iPod, mp3, etc.), and to remain seated until the instructor dismisses the class. Destructive behavior in the classroom or any perceived threatening behavior toward fellow students or the teaching staff will be dealt with swiftly and accordingly (See UA Policy http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/threaten.shtml).

Disability Resource Center: For those students who are registered with the Disability Resource Center, the instructor must receive appropriate documentation if they are requesting reasonable accommodations.

Literacy Requirements: Although the writing requirement for this course is negligible, there is a science literacy requirement. This means that we use scientific notation for writing numbers (especially rather large or small ones). We specify units for all physical quantities (e.g. meters for length, seconds for time, kilograms for mass, etc.). We attempt to quantify physical relationships based on data, simple reasoning and the governing laws of physics.

Course Withdrawal: Last day to drop the course without it appearing on your record is Friday September 18, 2009. Last day to drop the course with a "W'' grade is Friday October 16, 2009. To receive a W, your average grade at the time you drop must equal or exceed 55%.

Reasonable Change Disclaimer: The information contained in this syllabus, other than the grade and absence policy, may be subject to change with reasonable notice as deemed appropriate by the instructor.