MET 1010-LO1: Elementary Meteorology
(Fall 2008)

Table of Contents
Syllabus: About this course, Communication, Professor, Course Requirements, Materials, Grading, Assignments, Disability Statement
Links: Lyndon State College, Meteorology Department, OWS Website login, Contact Instructor

About this course

Elementary Meteorology (MET1010LO1) is an introductory-level survey of meteorology for non-meteorology majors and is offered by Lyndon State College's Meteorology department. It counts towards GEU requirements for non-meteorology majors as a 4-credit science lab course. We use the Online Weather Studies (OWS) program prepared by the American Meteorology Society (AMS).

The main objective of this course is to apply knowledge gained in readings and investigations to the analysis and forecasting of current weather conditions. You will be required to demonstrate an understanding of course readings by participating in online discussions of current weather conditions using weather data and imagery accessible on the web.

Class meetings

  • Lecture: MF 1:30-2:50; Vail 449
  • Lab: W 1:30-3:20; Vail 449
Class meetings consist of lectures and labs. This course is also offered as an online course, so it makes heavy use of online resources. Meeting will be held in Vail 449 (aka the "Met Lab"). Lectures will be given on Mondays and Wednesdays, usually with time at the end of class to work on lab assignments. Weather discussions will be done in the last half of Wednesday labs and consist of small group and class weather discussion using current online data. Discussions will be summarized using online discussion boards on Blackboard (when construction crews don't cut the internet cables!!). Fridays classes will be devoted primarily to finishing online investigations.

Communication

Lyndon State College (LSC) Blackboard and E-mail accounts are the official means of communication in LSC courses. All course announcements will be posted on Blackboard and sent to your LSC e-mail account.

Blackboard will be used to post and submit all assignments and quizzes as well as to post all important course annoncements. You may also use the Blackboard Discussion Board to discuss course assignments with classmates and the professor. The LSC Blackboard Home page provides clear instructions for new users on how to activate new accounts. If you have not used Blackboard, please set aside some time in the first week to familiarize yourself with its operation using the Blackboard Student Guide. Basic Blackboard functions will be reviewed in the first tutorials.

All items of a personal nature (i.e. late assignments, absences, grades) should be handled by e-mailing the professor using your LSC e-mail account. This can be done from the Blackboard course page, from your LSC e-mail account, or from the link on this page. For your own privacy, other e-mail accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, ISP providers, etc.) should not be used.

My AIM account is profww66 and I will AIM to be online (haha) for consultation often, particularly early in the course and before deadlines. I do check my e-mail frequently, especially early in the course and before big deadlines. Check course announcements for online and in-class "office hours".

Professor

NameOffice Office HoursPhoneE-mailAIM account
Dr. Werner Wintels Vail441/449 See weekly announcements 626-6268 Click to E-mail Instructor profww66

A schedule for the week that includes office hours will be announced each week on Blackboard. I check my e-mails and the discussion board often from home, so this is by far the best best way of contacting me. I genreally login to my AIM account when working, so you might reach me there as well. The best way to meet with me is to set up a meeting by discussion board and e-mail.

Course requirements

  • Computer with Internet access: High-speed access is recommended, but not neccessary. On-campus computer labs provide the best and fastest access.
  • Drawing Software: You will be required to use drawing software to mark digitized versions of diagrams provided in the Investigation manual. Digitized images of figures in your investigations manual will be found on Blackboard (programs such as MS Paint and GIMP are found in the Start menus and toolbars of Windows and Linux operating systems). Alternatively, you may mark up images manually and use a scanner to produce an image file in your computer. Digital images should be submitted using Blackboard.

Course materials

Course text and investigation can be purchased at the LSC Bookstore. Click here purchase materials online.

Grading

  • You may check your grades daily on Blackboard. Blackboard calculates your total grade automatically. Letter grades will be issued at the end of the semester. Students must receive a C- (70%) or higher to satisfy GEU requirements.
    A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F
    97+ 93-96.9 90-92.9 87-89.9 83-86.9 80-82.9 77-79.9 73-76.9 70-72.9 60-69.9 0-59.9

  • Grade distribution

    • 60% Lecture
      • 20% Investigations
      • 10% Quizzes
      • 10% Midterm exam
      • 20% Final exam
    • 40% Lab
      • 20% Class and online forum discussion
      • 20% Weather discussion essays
  • Late Assignments will not be accepted after solutions are posted. Grades will be deducted for late assignments.
  • Dropping lowest grades: The lowest quiz, the lowest 2 manual investigations, and the lowest 2 online investigation will be dropped.
  • Missed Assignments: Are automatically assigned a zero. They may be dropped if they quallify as one of the lowest two assignments.

    • Assignments

    • Weekly assignments: One Chapter of readings and investigations are assigned every week during the semester. Please be prepared to do 4-8 hours of work per week. About 2 hours of MetLab time per week (especially Fridays) will be alotted to ease the workload. This course moves at a fast pace with assignments due after the first week of the course. You will need to make a special effort in the first two weeks of the course to familiarize yourself with the online features to keep up with the course.

      • Online and Text readings are assigned weekly.
        • Learning objectives and summary notes are posted under the Assignments section of Blackboard. Review these before starting your readings and again before attempting the weely quiz.
        • Online notes at Course Webpage and be found for each chapter on apollo server.
        • Texbook readings: you will generally be required to read the entire chapter.

      • Two Manual Investigations: The manual portion of these hands-on lab activities are outlined in the Investigation Manual. Solution forms will be posted on Blackboard and due Mondays at noon. Solutions will be posted early in the week.

      • Two Online Investigations: The online portion of these investigations are posted on the OWS Course Website. An answer form will be posted on Blackboard on Monday, and may contain extra questions based on current weather. Also due Mondays at noon. They will be returned by Tuesday evening.

      • Quizzes on the previous week's online notes, text readings, and investigations, so review corrected investigations, class discussions and summary notes before attempting quizzes. Quizzes will be posted on Blackboard Monday evenings and due Wednesday evenings unless otherwise announced. They will consist of multiple choice questions and have a time limit of 30-60 minutes. Links to practice quizzes will be provided. Quizzes are open-book but YOU MUST DO QUIZZES WITHOUT HELP FROM ANYONE .

      • Classroom Discussion and Discussion Board: There is a grade based on participation in classroom and small group discussions summarized on online discussion boards. Participation is manadatory. Discussions based on the past and current assignments will be assigned. They will be based primarily on discussions of current weather. You are expected to apply concepts learned in the previous week's readings and investigations in these discussions. You will be graded on participation, not neccessarily whether you respond correctly to questions.

      • Essays: These will be short, 200-400 word esssays summarizing discussion board postings and assigned every two or three weeks. You are encouraged to summarize discussion board topics you understand well and find interesting. These will be formal essays and graded using the LSC Writing Standards Rubric. Please see Blackboard page for link for details. Here, you will graded on the accuracy of your analysis and the quality of your writing.

      You are encouraged to use discussion boards to discuss problems with classmates and the professor. You may continue discussions online if you do not have sufficient time in class to complete your discussion.


    Disability Statement

    Students with documented disabilities may request specific accommodations. To arrange for this, students should contact Mary Etter, Learning Specialist, in the Academic Support Office (Vail 325) as soon as possible.