Robert MacKay: Using Earth's Thermostat in Meteorology 101: The Atmosphere and the Environment at Clark College
About this Course
This course is an introductory meteorology course for non-science majors.
40
students
1 2-hr session
face-to-face each week
Course Syllabus (Microsoft Word 76kB Jun22 16)
Fundamental theories in meteorology and current topics in the atmospheric sciences are developed conceptually for non-science students interested in the changing environment. Topics include atmospheric structure and composition, global circulation and atmospheric motions, clouds and precipitation, weather patterns and weather prediction, tornadoes, hurricanes, the greenhouse effect, atmospheric ozone, air pollution, and El Nino.
Overall course learning objectives:
- Students will recall, recognize, select, and apply physical laws, facts, and concepts related to the atmospheric sciences and the Earth system, and provide examples of how these relate to our everyday experiences.
- Students will be introduced to methods of the atmospheric sciences: Students will use data acquisition and observations, data visualization (graphs, charts, and maps), pattern recognition, analysis, and modeling to interpret and explain facts, concepts, hypotheses, and theories related to atmospheric science---the effective application of scientific methodology. Students will use the methods of atmospheric sciences in assignments and classroom and laboratory activities.
- Students will make computations related to the atmospheric sciences using relevant information, physical relationships and appropriate units.
- Students will apply concepts learned in class to analyze and explain everyday atmospheric phenomena and historic weather events.
Topics
- Earth System and Introduction
- Energy transfer / Greenhouse Effect
- Seasons /Temperature control
- Humidity
- Fog and Clouds
- Precipitation
- Air Motions
- Global Wind System and Oceans
- Air Masses, Fronts
- Weather Maps
- T-storms and Tornadoes
- Weather Forecasting
- Hurricanes
- Climate Change
A Success Story in Building Student Engagement
The Earth's Thermostat module engaged my introductory meteorology students in actively learning about energy flows and balances within the Earth system. Our module units help my student learn by analyzing data using the methods of geoscience. Systems thinking in relation to Earth's energy balance climate and society is also a central theme of our module.
I strongly recommend trying some or all of the Earth Thermostat units with your students to see how much they enjoy this interactive learning environment.
My Experience Teaching with InTeGrateMaterials
I was able to easily use the materials without modification. However, during the first phase of the pilot I had to omit some aspects of each activity because of time constraints. Knowing this has inspired our team to streamline our module to better fit the time available in a standard 50 minute period.
Relationship of InTeGrate Materials to my Course
My course is a 10 week course and the module fit very well into the existing course structure. Units 1 and 2 were used in week 2 and 3, Unit 3 used in week 4, Units 4 and 5 in week 6, and Unit 6 in week 9. In a future class, I will likely introduce Unit 3 earlier to allow for more continued reference to systems thinking ideas throughout the remainder of the course. The material presented in Units 1 and 2 was important in my course for understanding both weather and climate, so was used throughout the course. Students are encouraged to use a systems thinking approach after being introduced to these ideas in Unit 3. Unit 3 also set the stage for the climatic effects of volcanoes which was essential for the capstone project of Unit 6. Units 4 and 5 provided a three dimensional perspective to Earth's climate system which was helpful in discussing climate change issues towards the end of the course.
Unit 1
- This unit was very good at engaging students!
- I gave students the Concept sketch pre and post survey right away.
- I broke students into groups or 3 or 4 depending on how they were seated, and assigned each group a decade to work on.
- Make sure to check around, looking over shoulders to see that students are plotting their data points correctly.
- After about 15 minutes I had each group report their results for their 2025 temperature projections.
- Back to PowerPoint to transition to solar radiation data (part B) of this unit.
- Found it hard to get to the solar energy data and black body radiation of part B, so we have modified part B of this unit to a think-pair-share approach.
Unit 2
- Timing worked fairly well for this unit.
- Used PowerPoint to revisit question from Unit 1, review radiation from the Earth and Sun, and introduce the CO2 data.
- Student groups were easy to form since they had practice.
- Students enjoyed working on CO2 graph.
- During the last 10 minutes there was time to debrief and compare answers.
Unit 3
- This interactive lecture activity worked well but the first version was a little long for a 50 minute lecture, so the activity has been streamlined a little.
- Streamlining provides more time to introduce the climatic effects of volcanic eruptions for the take home assignment.
- We have included some useful practice questions or sample exam questions.
Unit 4
- Fun activity. Students enjoyed getting data from spatial maps and interpreting that data in small groups.
- This took some time/organization to get students assigned to groups.
- It ran a little long in my first iteration so we have streamlined this unit to more time to discuss interesting aspects of the data.
Unit 5
- Running the jigsaw activity in Unit 4 made this easier to get started.
- A little long; would like more time to discuss interesting aspects of the data.
- Fun activity. Students enjoyed getting data from spatial maps and interpreting that data in small groups.
Unit 6
- Students enjoyed sharing their research results on each volcano. I ran overtime on Unit 6 because I gave students more time for sharing and discussing findings related to their individual volcano (Pinatubo, Krakatoa, or Tambora).
- You'll need at least 25 minutes to introduce the capstone project, so one must keep the student discussion in the first half of this unit moving at a steady brisk pace.
- We have provided a little more scaffolding for this assignment regarding systems diagrams, concept sketches, and concept maps.
- Encourage your students to follow the rubric.
Assessments
My students worked through the student handouts for all in class activities in our module and take home questions. We've tried to make sure that time required for take-home questions is not too large. This allows individual instructors flexibility to add additional homework questions if they wish. Students seemed to enjoy researching volcanoes (take home for unit 3) and sharing their results in class during Unit 6. We have added more cues to our module capstone assignment to help students better meet the assignment objectives.
Outcomes
Overall I wanted my students to gain insights into how the climate system works and its relationship to society, by actively analyzing data using scientific methods. My impression is that my students were successful at completing the activities in our module,and that this success did indeed help them gain insights into the complex relationship between humans and Earth's climate system.
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