Announcements:

Thursday, December 18:

Final Course Grades including the final exam are posted. The gradescale has not changed and is shown in the December 8 announcement below. I will wait a couple of days before submitting official grades. If you see a problem, please let me know ASAP. I wish you all a nice holiday break.

Friday, December 10:

A few notes about the final exam. The final exam is comprehensive and contains roughly equal numbers of questions from the exam 1, exam 2, and exam 3 material. It has 36 multiple choice questions and you will need to answer 2 out of 3 short answer questions from each exam period (6 total). The best way to prepare for the exam is to go over the previous exams. I use the previous exams to give me ideas for new questions. So while the final exam questions will be different, they will be on the same topics covered on the previous exams. Memorizing answers to the previous exam questions probably will not help. If you understand the questions and answers from the previous exams, you will probably do well on the final. If there are questions and answers on the previous exams that you do not understand, you should look over that material in the reading or your class notes. The final exam is Wednesday, December 17, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the regular classroom, Chavez Building, room 111.

Monday, December 8:

Course Grades not including the final exam are posted. Explanation of the columns: HWave is your homework average (sum of 5 homework grades, divided by 4), and counts for 20% of your weighted average; TEC and Paper are the term paper topic, which was extra credit, and the term paper grades. The sum of these counts 20% of your weighted average; Exams 1-3 are your exam scores, which each account for 20% of your weighted average; Weighted Average is your class average based on the weighting described; Grade is the letter grade you will receive in the class if you do not take the final exam. It is based on the following grade scale A (86 - 100), B (70 - 85), C (60 - 69), D (50 - 59), and E (49 and lower). This grade scale does not change even if you decide to take the final exam. To Raise Grade tells you what you need to score on the final exam to increase your letter grade by one letter higher than your current grade. The final exam will replace your lowest exam score, even if it is lower, so it is possible to lower your grade by taking the final exam. In addition, the final exam can also replace half of your second lowest exam score, but only if this helps your grade. This is all considered in the computation of your to raise grade score.

If you are satisfied with your grade and do not wish to take the final exam, then you do not need to come to class tomorrow, unless you would like to pick up graded material. If you have any questions about the calculation of your grade or if you are considering taking the final exam, then you should come to class tomorrow. Please bring your previously grades exam 1 and exam 2 to class. I will spend most of the class time going over how to prepare for the final exam.

Wednesday, December 3:

Grades for homework 5 are posted. There is new column called HWave, which is your homework average. This average accounts for 20% of your final grade. It is computed by summing the homework grades and dividing by 4. Basically homework 1 counts as 10 points extra credit.

Wednesday, November 26:

A psychology graduate student would like to use this class to collect data for his research. He would like to collect information using an online survey. Please use the link below if you would like to participate. Participation is anonymous and will not affect your course grade. Link to Psychology online survey.

Tuesday, November 18:

Homework #5, which is a short opinion essay, is posted. It is due in class on Tuesday, December 2, which is the first class after Thanksgiving. I will discuss the essay during lecture on Thursday.

Thursday, November 13:

I have been getting questions about the expected content on homework 4. Here is a Solution template with simple explanations for what is expected for each part.

Wednesday, November 12:

Something relevant to the lecture from last Tuesday. There has been an announcement of a non-binding US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change in which the US pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by the year 2025. China has pledged to cap its output of greenhouse gases by the year 2030, i.e., stop increasing output each year, and that 20% of its energy use would be from zero-emissions sources, like solar and wind, by 2030 (see News story from the Guardian).

Thursday, November 6:

Even though Homework #4 is not due until November 20, I suggest that you get started sooner rather than later. You can do over half the assignment right away. The assignment will be much more interesting if you begin the assignment now and not try to do it all the night before it is due. In addition, starting early will allow you to ask for help if necessary.

Wednesday, November 5:

Homework #4 on 500 mb weather forecasting is now posted. Please read over the instructions. I will briefly discuss the homework in class tomorrow.

Friday, October 31:

Grades for exam 2 are posted. I have been getting questions about current grades, so I added a column called Weighted Average. This is your current class average weighted 20% homework, 20% term paper, and 60% exams, which is the weighting given in the Grading section below on this page. Obviously, this can change a lot. For one, only one of 4 real homeworks has been graded so far. If you missed an exam or did very poorly on an exam, you can make up for that by taking the final. Right now missed exams are counted as 0 in the weighted average. Generally, I expect the class average to go up since the last 2 homeworks usually have higher scores and the average on exam 3 is usually higher than the first two exams. There will be a grade curve at the end of the semester. Right now there is no set letter grade curve. I will give you an estimate of where you stand as best I can. I am doing this at the request of students who are considering dropping the class. The deadline is November 2. My best estimates are ... Weighted class average over 85% (A group); Weighted class average 68% - 85% (B group); Weighted class average 54% - 68% (C group); Weighted class average 40% - 54% (D group); Weighted class average below 40% (Failing). Again these ranges will change before the end of the semester. I expect them to go up. This is just an estimate of where you stand right now. You still have plenty of opportunity to move up in class standing.

Wednesday, October 22:

Grades for the term paper are posted. 'X' indicates that you turned in a paper copy in class, but have not submitted the paper to turnitin.com. '0' indicates that you did not turn in a hard copy of term paper in class. The 5 points extra credit for the term paper topic has not been added to the grade you see for the term paper.

Thursday, October 16:

I extended the deadline to submit/upload your term paper to turnitin.com by one week (through October 24). I forgot to remind you about it in class today. The instructions for how to do this are under the Homework Link. This is part of the term paper assignment and you will not receive a grade for your paper until it has gone through turnitin. As of now, only 33 papers were uploaded, out of 80 turned in during class.

Thursday, October 2:

Homework #3 is posted. It is due in class on October 28, which is the class before the second exam. The homework consists of 11 problems. We have so far covered the material needed to answer questions 1-4. We will cover the material necessary to answer the remaining questions during lecture next week. I suggest that you get started with these questions and not wait until the night before it is due. I will take questions about the homework in class before lectures. I made a change to the homework over the weekend. I removed question 10 from the original homework posting. There are now 10 problems total in homework #3. If you already printed the homework, ignore question 10. The original question 11 is question 10 on the updated homework.

Thursday, October 2:

The instructions for how to upload your term paper to turnitin.com are posted under the Homework Link. Keep in mind that you are required to upload a copy of your term paper to turnitin.com as part of the term paper assignment. Your term paper will not be graded unless it has been uploaded to turnitin.com.

Thursday, September 18:

There were mistakes in the Solutions for the multiple choice questions for exam 1, fall 2013 for questions 4 and 5. The answers have been corrected.
There is also a Topic breakdown for exam 1 in which you are given the number of questions on this year's exam from each of 8 general topic areas covered in class.

Thursday, September 18:

Solutions for the multiple choice questions for exam 1, fall 2013 have been posted under the Old Exams link.

Wednesday, September 10:

Homework #2 is posted. It is due in class on September 25, which is the day of the first exam. The homework consists of 10 problems. We have so far covered the material needed to answer questions 1-4. I suggest that you get started with these questions and not wait until the night before it is due. I will take questions about the homework before lectures.

Friday, September 5:

The first Grades Roster is posted. Make sure you can find your classID. If you forgot your ID or want to change it please send me an email. There are 10 students registered for the class who have not submitted homework #1.
I also placed copies of last year's exams under the Old Exams Link.

Thursday, September 4:

Homework #1 is due by the end of the day today. The extra credit term paper topic is due by the end of the day next Thursday, September 11. You may send me your topic anytime before the due date. There is no need to wait until the last minute to submit your topic.

Monday, August 25:

Welcome to Atmospheric Sciences 336. Please periodically check this area for class announcements.

Course Objectives:

This course examines basic weather phenomena, climate variability and climate change, and their associated effects on people. The possibility and implications of human-caused changes in the climate system are also discussed.

Web page:

http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/students/courselinks/fall14/atmo336/home.html

Course Hours/Location:

Tuesday & Thursday   9:30 - 10:45  
Cesar Chavez Building, Room 111.

Instructor:

Dr. Dale Ward, Lecturer / Research Scientist
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Email: ward@atmo.arizona.edu (Best way to contact me)
Office: Physics and Atmospheric Sciences (PAS) Building, Room 566D.
Office Hours: Thursdays 1PM - 2PM or by appointment.

Teaching Assistants:

Dean Pryles
Email: dpryles@email.arizona.edu
Office: Physics and Atmospheric Sciences (PAS) Building, Room 526
Office Hours: TBD or by appointment.

Tim Lahmers
Email: TimothyLahmers@email.arizona.edu
Office: Physics and Atmospheric Sciences (PAS) Building, Room 518
Office Hours: TBD or by appointment.

Class Notes / Important Dates:

There is no textbook for this course. Lectures will be based on the reading material posted under the Lectures Link and additional material that will be distributed during lectrues throughout the semester. I expect that each student read over the relevant reading material before the lecture is presented in class. This is important because the you will be famaliar with what I discuss in lecture and better able to understand it.

Important dates, such as homework deadlines, exam dates, etc., will be posted in the class calendar.

Academic Integrity:

The University of Arizona's Code of Academic Integrity, Code of Conduct, and Student Code of Conduct will be strictly followed. All students are responsible for knowing the codes and abiding by them. Please see Academic Integrity Policies for University of Arizona Students.

Accessibility and Accomodations:

It is the University's goal that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact Disability Resources (520-621-3268) to establish reasonable accommodations.

Grading:

Homework:

Homework assignments will be given periodically during the semester. These will consist of short written papers and brief problem sets. The sum total of all homework accounts for 20% of your final grade. Individual homework assignments may not be weighted equally in determining your overall class homework grade. Expect about four homeworks to be assigned during the semester (not including the simple homework #1, which is due after the first week of class).

Your homework assignments will be graded on the quality and clarity of your English as well as their content. No cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, or plagiarism will be tolerated (see University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity). The term paper and perhaps some of the homework assignments will be filtered through Turnitin.

All homework assignments will be available on the class web page. Homework assignments turned in late will incur a grade reduction of 10% per day.

Term Paper:

A term paper on the subject of the United States adopting a carbon cap and trade policy will be required for each student. Information about the paper is available under the homework link . I will discuss the term paper in class on Thursday, September 2. Please read over the assignment sometime before coming to class on September 2.

The term paper will account for 20% of your final class grade. It is due on or before October 16, which is approximately the midway point in the semester. I strongly suggest that you begin to work on your paper long before the due date. The paper accounts for a significant portion of your final grade. As an incentive to begin early, there is an optional assignment, which is due by September 11, in which I ask you to specify your topic and provide a preliminary list of references. You can earn up to 5% extra credit on your term paper for this assignment. Information is available under the homework link .

Exams:

There will be 3 in-class exams and a final exam. Exam grades account for 60% of your final grade. Each in-class exam will account for 20% of your final grade. The exams will consist of a mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions. The in-class exams are not comprehensive in that the questions concentrate on material covered since the last exam. However, it is expected that you are familiar with some of the basic concepts covered early in the semester.

Questions from previous exams will be made available on the class web pages.

Final exam is Wednesday, December 17 from 10:30 - 12:30 in the regular classroom, Chavez 111.

Exam Policy:

You are expected to study and understand material covered in class during lecture as well as to read the relevant material from the class notes. Exam questions will be taken from both the in-class lectures and the reading material included in the class web pages.

Please contact the instructor (preferrably via e-mail) as soon as possible if for an unexpected reason you are unable to be in class for an exam. A make-up exam will be arranged with sufficient proof. No make-up exam will be given unless you notify the instructor BEFORE missing the exam in class. In general, I would prefer make-up exams to be taken before the exam is given in class.

Grade Scale:

Your final grade will be curved and therefore depends on everybody else's grades. However, the grade scale will not be any more difficult than A(90%); B(80%); C(70%); D(60%).