Weather & Climate

START:
August 21, 2017
DURATION:
M W 6:00-7:20
ID:
METR 1014.910

Address

AH 255   View map

Categories

Fall 2017

Instructor:

Introduction to Weather & Climate METR 1014-910

Fall 2017

Monday and Wednesday, 6:00 – 7:20 pm Adams Hall, Room 255

 

Irenea C. Lodangco, Ph.D. Email: ireneacl@ou.edu

Office: National Weather Center (NWC), room 3230 Office hours: Tuesday, 2:00 – 3:30 pm

Friday, 3:30 – 5:00 pm or by appointment

 

Course Grader:  Benjamin R. Lehrman (Benjamin.R.Lehrman-1@ou.edu)

 

Course Overview

Meteorology 1014 is a survey course of weather and climate for non-meteorology majors. The course presents the fundamental concepts of meteorology. Lectures will cover a wide variety of topics to help you gain an understanding of the  science behind daily weather, climate, and climate change, as well as current-events topics such as ice storms, heat waves, and global warming.

 

Course Objectives: To gain basic understanding of the atmosphere, and to develop skills in explaining atmospheric phenomena from a scientific perspective.

 

Required Textbook

Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere 7th edition by C. Donald Ahrens

(Earlier editions are OK; it is the student’s responsibility to be aware of any slight changes from the 7th edition)

  • Reading assignments from the textbook should be done before each lecture. The lecture slides will be available for download on the course Canvas before each class. Lectures will contain some materials not found in the

 

Course Webpage

Our course will be using Canvas. From Canvas (https://canvas.ou.edu), you can obtain resources, announcements and grades. Please check it regularly for announcements.

 

Co-requisite:  Lab section

There is no textbook for the lab. You will be expected to print lab exercises each  week to bring to lab.  The exercises will be posted online on your lab’s website.

 

Course Grade Determination

3 in-class exams at 10% each (no drops)30%
Quizzes and assignments25%
Lab Grade25%
Comprehensive Final Exam20%
  • Bring your OU ID during
  • Assignments should be turned in at the beginning of the

·         Late assignments will not be accepted unless you have an excused absence.  Assignments will not be accepted via email.

  • Please note – if you have an unexcused absence, there are no make-ups for pop quizzes. However, the 2 lowest quiz scores will be dropped to give an allowance for a missed quiz or a bad test-taking
  • Please be sure to bring paper and pen/pencil to class each

 

Make-Up Exams/Quizzes

Students must take the exams/quizzes as scheduled. In some unavoidable circumstances and if there is a valid reason (students with approved excuses e.g., doctor’s note), you have exactly one week (3 class days) after your absence to make up an exam or a quiz.

Rules are different for missed FINAL EXAM. Considering the deadline for course grade submission, make up exam should be done within 2 working days after the final exam. The final exam cannot be made up once the grade submission deadline has expired.

Additionally, you cannot make up an exam or a quiz if the graded exam/quiz has already been returned to the class OR the answer key has already been posted on Canvas. LATE homework can still be submitted but there will be a deduction of 10% for every day since the due has lapsed.  BUT once the homework has been returned  to class, no homework will be accepted.

 

Contesting Exam/Quiz Grades

Inaccurate grading and LOST quizzes/homework should be contested within a week after the grades are posted on Canvas, not during the period when the course final grade is being computed.

 

Exam coverage

Not all topics included in the exams will be on the slides, but all topics will be discussed in class. It is the student’s responsibility to take notes during lectures and discussions.

 

About the Labs

The labs associated with this class are designed to both enhance your understanding of the lecture material, as well as to introduce some material that we simply don’t have time to cover in lecture. As such, the labs don’t always coincide exactly with what is going on in lecture.

 

Although there are several lab sections associated with this class, please only attend the lab section that you are enrolled in unless you have a legitimate reason and special permission from the lab instructor. The lab classrooms have very limited seating capacity.

The lab section will make up 25% of your final course grade for this class. Your lab instructor will have more information for you when you attend your first lab day.

 

Final Grades

A = 90 – 100%

B = 80 – 89%

C = 70 – 79%

D = 60 – 69% F = < 60%

·         I will be rounding off grades if a student needs 0.5 or less to reach the next letter grade (example: 89.5 will be rounded off to a 90). If you fall under the 0.5 mark, please do not ask me to round up your grade. I will not entertain emails regarding this.

 

Extra Credit Opportunity

  • 3 points on top of student’s final course grade: an attendance sheet will be passed around the room on random days, meaning there won’t be an attendance sheet available everyday we meet. By the end of the semester, extra credit points will be calculated based on your attendance. The maximum possible credit is 3
  • For strict implementation: No student should sign a classmate’s name on the attendance sheet. Signing a classmate’s name is cheating. If caught, there will be major consequences for both

·         Student should be physically present to earn attendance credit.

  • I will not be giving any extra credit opportunities other than what is indicated in the syllabus. Please do not email me about extra credit (e.g., writing an essay, ).

 

Extra Assistance

The best way to get assistance is to communicate with me in person, either in the classroom or during office hours but you are welcome to email me with questions that only require short answers.

 

Reasonable Accommodation

The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent the full demonstration of his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities. Students with disabilities must be registered with OU Disability Resource Center prior to receiving

 

accommodations in this course. The Disability Resource Center is located in 730 College Avenue – University Community Center, Norman, OK 73019, phone 325-3852 or TDD only 325-4173.

 

Academic Misconduct

All provisions of the Norman Campus Academic Misconduct Code shall apply in cases of academic dishonesty.  Any violation of the Academic Misconduct Code will result  in your removal from this course, and a grade of F will be recorded for the course. Academic misconduct is defined as “any act that improperly affects the evaluation of a student’s academic performance or achievement.” At the University of Oklahoma, academic integrity is expected from each student. Misconduct such as plagiarism, fabrication, and fraud, as well as attempting to commit such acts or assisting others in doing so, will not be tolerated. The “Turn It In” feature of Canvas will be used to detect plagiarism. Students are responsible for knowing the OU Academic Conduct Code, which can be found at http://www.ou.edu/studentconduct.html and https://integrity.ou.edu.

 

Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues

Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Please see www.ou.content/eoo/faqs/prenancy-faqs.html for commonly asked questions.

 

Title IX Resources

For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24.7, counseling services, mutual no contact orders, scheduling adjustments and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office 405-325-2215 (8-5, M-F) or OU Advocates 405-615-0013 (24.7) to learn more or to report an incident.

 

Religious Holidays

It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required class work that may fall on religious holidays. Students who plan to observe a religious holiday should notify me as soon as possible, at least one week before the holiday, in order to make appropriate arrangements for class work or rescheduling of examinations.