PGEOG 130 - Spring 2006

Weather and Climate

 

 

Instructor:                     Haydee Salmun

Email:                           wcsalmun@geo.hunter.cuny.edu

Phone                           (212) 772-5224

Office hours:                 Tuesday and Friday, 12:30 to 1:30 pm, or by appointment.
Room 1041 Hunter North. 

 

Please note: the best way to contact me is via email AND at the above address ONLY.

 

Course Prerequisite: It is assumed that all students taking this class have taken and passed the New York State Regents Earth Science exam or have the equivalent background.

 

Course Description: This course will describe the basic principles and elements that shape and determine our weather and the earth's climate.  The course will begin with a discussion of the Earth System, with particular emphasis on the atmosphere.  Next, we will discuss the energy that drives all we observe in the atmosphere.  The first part of the course will concentrate on describing in some detail the elements that are common to weather and climate: temperature, pressure, moisture, clouds and winds. The second part of the course will, then, concentrate on how all those elements, working together or by combinations, determine the general circulation patterns in the atmosphere and oceans, as well as our weather patterns. Finally, we concentrate on air pollution and the changing climate and in this context; we will discuss some current issues, such as the potential impact that human have on climate and climate change.  

Keep in mind: This is a science-base course and it will require that students learn to understand physical, and some quantitative, concepts.  It requires that students keep in mind that ‘everything relates to everything else’ and that information need to be analyzed and synthesized, not simply memorized.  One of your best friends in this course is the textbook.  Review questions at the end of each chapter in the assigned textbook are the best guide to study the material covered in lectures.  But memorizing the answers to these questions alone may not be enough to answer all questions in exams correctly.  If you have difficulties with the approach or material in this course, do not wait till the end of the term to discuss them with your professors and instructors!!

 

*** PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES/PAGERS DURING CLASS ***

 

Also:

  • Makeup exams will NOT be given except in the most extreme cases.
  • It is your responsibility to make it to exams ON TIME.  Dates and times are clearly written below in the syllabus; make a note of them in your calendars TODAY!
  • There is a web page for this course:   http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/~hsalmun/   then 'click' on courses  
  • You are advised (expected !!) to check this web page regularly for updated information and current announcements pertinent to course lectures, labs, exams, general questions and such.  

Academic Integrity: Plagiarism, dishonesty, or cheating in any portion of the work required for this course will be punished to the full extent allowed according to Hunter College regulations.

Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.

See the following report by the Hunter College Senate for more details:
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/senate/assets/Documents/Hunter%20College%20Policy%20on%20Academic%20Integrity.pdf

 

                    *** NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES WILL BE ALLOWED ON TOP OF DESKS DURING EXAMS ****

 

This is: Cell Phones, Programmable Calculators, PDAs, Walkmen (or any such electronic device) and/or ear phones of any kind MUST be stored away during all exams.

 

 

 

 

PGEOG 130 - Weather and Climate - Syllabus

 

Lecture hours/location:  Tuesday, Friday  2:10 - 3:25 pm   -   Hunter West, Room 615

 

Lab hours/location:       Each student MUST be registered for one of the lab sections.  Lab sections are held in Room 1028 Hunter North (except for occasional labs in the computer room, to be announced)

 

Required text:               Students are required to obtain the following texts prior to the first lecture, available at Shakespeare & Co. and at the Hunter book store:

The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology, 9th edition, Lutgens and Tarbuck, 2003, Prentice Hall.  

Lab Manual: Hunter College Department of Geography Weather and Climate (PGEOG 130) Lab Manual 2005/2006, Pearson / Prentice Hall Custom Publishing.

 

All students are required to have their lab manuals with them for all lab sessions.

 

Recommended but

not required:                 Goode’s World Atlas, 19th edition or later

 

 

Grades are based on:

                                   

2 midterm exams                      40% (20% each)               

      1 final exam                              30%                 

      Laboratory exercises                30%                

      5 map quizzes (in lab)               EXTRA CREDIT: up to extra 5 points my be obtained from these quizzes.

 

 

Grading is as follows: 90-100=A; 80-89=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D; <60=F.

 

 

NOTE:  

Exams can include material from text, from lectures, and from labs.  Lecture material can include things not covered in the text, and text may include things not covered in lecture!

Cheating in any portion of the work required for this course will be punished to the full extent allowed according to Hunter College regulations.

 

Laboratory work

 

Attendance at lab is absolutely REQUIRED.

 

Your lab instructor will specify requirements for lab work.  Lab instructors have a great deal of autonomy, and therefore each lab may have slightly different requirements.