Spring 2005 10-1050am 101 Greenlaw
Home page:  http://www.unc.edu/courses/2005spring/geog/011/001/

Professor: C. E. Konrad                       T.A. Tamara Johnson                            T.A.:  Fan Chen
Office: 305 Saunders Hall                       304 Saunders Hall                                TBA
Office Hours: 11-1150am  MWF           12-1250pm MWF                                TBA
e-mail: konrad@unc.edu                         johnson5@email.unc.edu                       fanc@email.unc.edu
Home page link

Geography 11 provides a description of the nature and causes of weather and climate.  The course begins with an examination of the mechanisms that control temperature, pressure, and circulation patterns.  Emphasis is placed on the geographical distributions of these fields and how the mechanisms operate in space to produce the atmospheric patterns.  From this foundation, a wide variety of weather phenomena are discussed including hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, snowstorms, and heavy rainfall.  Furthermore, various environmental problems including the greenhouse effect, the ozone problem, and acid rain are described. Outlines of the lectures and supporting graphics will  be provided on Power Point lectures, which will be made available on blackboard.  A multimedia projection system will be used in the lectures to deliver various graphics and weather imagery (e.g. current weather maps, radar, and satellite imagery). During the latter part of the semester, current weather conditions are discussed and related to recent lecture material. Also, students will match wits in a weather forecasting game.  The most skillful forecasters in the competition will receive extra credit.
 

• Students are responsible for all lecture material and selected CD ROM sections.
• Class lectures are projected in an outline format. The instructor will provide detailed information to fill in the outline. It is up to the student to synthesize this information in their notes.
• Some of the lecture material is not covered in the text, so regular attendance is strongly recommended.

Forecasting Game 15 %
Test 1                   20 %
Test 2                   20 %
Test 3                   20 %
Final Exam            25 %
                          _____
Total                   100 %

• The tests will consist of objective style questions (e.g. multiple choice, matching, true-false).
• Roughly 60-70% of the test questions will be drawn from lecture material; the remainder will include questions from the CD ROM (review section).
• If an exam is missed (e.g. due to illness, family emergency), students will be allowed a make-up exam if a verifiable excuse is presented within five days.

Test 1 Grade Conversion

# right      % right      Grade
33-40      82.5-100         A
29-32      72.5-80.0        B
25-28      62.5 -70.0       C
21-24      52.5-60.0        D
>21         >52.5               F

Test 2 Grade Conversion

# right      % right      Grade
31-40      77.5-100         A
27-30      67.5-75.0        B
23-26      57.5 -65.0       C
20-22      50.0-55.0        D
>20         >50                 F

# right      % right      Grade
31-40      77.5-100         A
27-30      67.5-75.0        B
23-26      57.5 -65.0       C
20-22      50.0-55.0        D
>20         >50                 F

Questions that relate wind direction to the position of the wave cyclone

Later in the semester, each student will submit weather forecasts to our web site.  You will forecast the low and high temperature as well as the precipitation  (e.g. 1 = no precipitation or trace, 2 = .01 –0.25", 3 = .26-.50", 4 = >.50") for the next day (see below).  You will key in the forecast information onto a form provided on our forecast web page (see link below).  You can make your forecast anytime before 12 midnight at any place where you have web access.  You can even amend your forecast (i.e. if you submit a second forecast during the day, it will simply be written over the old forecast).

After the forecast day, each student's forecast will be scored.  These scores along with the class statistics can be found by going the weather forecasting game link

In order to get full credit for playing the game (i.e. an "A" on 15% of your grade), you must make at least 6 out of 8 forecasts during designated forecasting periods in April.  You also will receive extra credit (see below) if your final average score is above the 50th percentile (i.e. higher than the median score in the class).

Submit forecast on:    for:
1. Mon Apr 4          Tues Apr 5
2. Weds Apr 6        Thurs Apr 7
3. Fri Apr 8             Sat Apr 9

Extra Credit
50 –75 percentile   2 pts.
75-90 percentile   4 pts
90-100 percentile  7 pts
Top forecaster  12 pts
 

If you beat the professor, you will get another 3 pts added
If you beat the T.A. another 3 pts will be added

Link to the Weather Forecasting Game

National Weather Service Forecast

WRAL Forecast

Weather discussions from Raleigh National Weather Service

National Hurricane Center