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.
Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 - 10:45
Dr. Dale Ward, Lecturer / Research Scientist
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.
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 during the second 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.
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 Tuesday, August 28. Please read over the assignment sometime before coming to class on August 28.
The term paper will account for 20% of your final class grade. It is due on March 7, which is just before spring break and 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 on September 6, in which I ask you to specify your topic and perhaps provide a preliminary list of references. You can earn up to 10% extra credit on your term paper for this assignment. Information is available under the homework link .
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.The final exam is optional. If you decide to take it, the final exam grade replaces the lowest of the grades of your previous exams (even if it is lower). Thus, if you do poorly on one exam or miss one exam, you can make for it up by taking the final. Your final exam score will also replace half of your second lowest exam score (only if higher than your second lowest exam score). Therefore, if you take the final exam it will count for at least 20% of your final grade (by replacing your lowest exam score) and 30% of your final grade (if you score higher than your second lowest exam score). The final exam is comprehensive in that it covers all of the material presented during the semester.
Final exam is Wednesday, December 12 from 10:30 - 12:30 in the regular classroom, Saguaro Hall, room 114.
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.
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%).