Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) 101 – An ...



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TA: Alex Harrington (aharrington@wisc.edu)

-Office: Rm. 1345 AOS (best to reach me via e-mail)

-Mailbox: 8th floor (to the right off of the elevators)

-608-574-9151 (no drunken phone calls please)

Meeting time(s): W 12:05-12:55pm in Rm. 823 AOS

Office hours (tentative): T 7-9pm in Rm. 1345 AOS (my office)

Class Webpage:

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This discussion section (Dis. 303) is a supplement course designed to further enhance knowledge from material covered in AOS 100/101 lecture. While reiteration upon lecture material will be conducted in a broad manner, additional topics, as well as more in-depth coverage of lecture subjects, are presented in Dis. 303. Thus, this appendage course will coerce an intimate tie between lecture, and a more rigorous appreciation of weather and climate in general. By the end of this discussion section, you will be able to: understand how the atmosphere is structured and composed, gain first-hand experience in how to read and interpret weather maps, hand analyze weather maps for various weather characteristics (like temperature, pressure, and fronts), understand how weather phenomena can be examined via modern meteorological technology (radar and satellites), comprehend how different levels of the atmosphere are connected in the formation of thunderstorms and large mid-latitude cyclones (MLC), and comment on the state of our current global climate change (GCC).

The 18 August 2005, Stoughton, Wisconsin F-3 tornado, the strongest of twenty-six tornadoes to touchdown in Wisconsin that day, will be a strong focus of our discussion section. By the end of the semester, you will put all your learned skills together in the completion of a case study on this extreme event, with the goal of telling a story about why this tornado occurred.

NOTE: this course has no prerequisites; therefore, no prior knowledge of weather, climate, math, or science is necessary to take, and succeed, in this course. The baseline goal of AOS 100/101, and this discussion section, is to gain insight in thinking like a scientist; it does not however, require you to be one! Bottom line: if you do your required assignments, attend all classes and discussion sections, and take the exams, I can guarantee that you will do well in this course. Yet, success does not materialize without work; rather, it is work. If you do your work, you will succeed.

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Class specs:

-1cr supplement to 3cr AOS 100/101 (class number: 53838 in timetable) Weather and Climate, for a total of 4cr

-Open to all freshman, with no prerequisites needed

-Requires approximately 2-4 hrs of work outside of class (to guarantee a B)

-Class meets for 50 min every Wednesday at 12:05-12:50pm

-Attendance and participation is mandatory!

-Text (in UW bookstores):

Martin, Jonathan. E. Introduction to Weather and Climate: AOS 100/101 – Second Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons. 2004.

-Additional Texts (Not Required):

Ackerman, Steven. A., John A. Knox. Meteorology Understanding the Atmosphere Second Edition. Belmont, CA: Harris. 2007.

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Grading:

-Worth 25% of total AOS 100/101 overall grade; thus, 75% of your grade pertains to lecture specifically (lecture-based tests are very important)!

*For clarification, Dis. 303 is worth 25% of the total (lecture + discussion) grade; thus, not doing well in discussion means a reduction of up to two letter grades in the overall score. Even a 100% in lecture will not save you from an overall grade of a C or BC should you not take discussion seriously!

-Dis. 303 Grading Percentages:

*Homework – 85%

*Pop Quizzes – 5%

*Attendance/participation – 10%

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*TOTAL = 100%

-Grading Breakdown:

A – (93-100) (

AB – (88-92)

B – (83-87)

BC – (78-82)

C – (70-77)

D – (60 –69)

F – ( ................
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