3. Weather and Climate Basics

This Unit will introduce you to the basics of weather and climate on Earth, which forms the basis for hazardous events like floods, hurricanes/typhoons, and tornadoes.

Dates:   January 24 – Feb. 2 – Complete New Resource Post by January 31 11:59 PM and all module quizzes February 2   by 11:59 PM

Estimated Time to Complete: 4 to 6 hours total

  • Instruction — 2 to 3   hours for the modules, including taking the quizzes
  • Assignments —   2 to 3 hours to find a new resource, write a blog post about it, and read and comment on other student’s resources

Learning Goals:

  1.  Review and/or learn about the basics of how the climate and weather systems on the Earth work.
  2. Gain a basic understanding of the science behind the hazardous phenomena in preparation for your case study assignments
  3. Successfully navigate to the UCAR MetEd website, register, and then complete the modules, including module quizzes.
  4. Share a new resource with the community, and learn from others
  5. Apply what you learned to the case studies later in the course

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Assignment # 1 – Find your own resource, discussion post and comment – WordPress – Due by January 31 at 11:59 PM

1) Find your own resource and share with the class

  • Find an online resource that describes weather, climate, and water cycle science and how these basic processes are linked with weather/climate related hazards.
  • Advertise your resource to the class by posting on the discussion page, as follows:
    1. Provide the link or access to the resource;
    2. Describe three new things you learned from it.
    3. Read the blogs contributed by   your classmates,   choose one resource from among the blogs, visit and learn from that resource, and then comment on their post by sharing   one additional new thing you learned from it.

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Assignment # 2 – UCAR MetEd Modules and Quizzes – External site Due by February 2 at 11:59 PM

  1. When you navigate to UCAR MetEd, you will need to create an account – it’s free! Follow the instructions on their website and then you will be able to complete their mini-courses. If you have trouble with the web-version, I included downloadable PDF’s of each course in the Canvas Module 3 Unit.

2) Complete Unit 4 of the MetEd S290 course – Basic weather. 45 minutes long. Its tailored towards wildfires but covers weather basics well.

  • Complete the module quiz, take a screenshot of your score after the first time you take it. If you pass it, upload a copy of your score  to Canvas in the Unit 3 Module – you can make a screenshot of quiz score if that is easiest. If you don’t pass it the first time through, keep taking the quiz until you pass and then upload your passing   score and diploma.

2) Complete Understanding the Hydrologic Cycle Module from MetEd, UCAR (1.5 to 2 hours long).

  • Complete the module quiz, and take a screenshot of your score and diploma as described for part 1 above. Upload your screenshot to Canvas in the Unit 3 Module.

That is all you need to do for this Unit! Once you are finished with both modules and pass both quizzes, you are done!

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GEOS 380