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Weather and Climate for Teachers
2009 Summer Teacher's Course
This summer's course ran July 13-17 at Colorado State University.
Weather, climate, and climate change are important topics in today's society.
Many science educators are expected to teach these subjects even with no formal
training in these areas. The 2009 Weather and Climate for Teachers course,
sponsored by CMMAP and the
Little Shop of Physics, will provide
necessary teaching techniques and knowledge of atmospheric science to teachers.
The intent of the course is to provide a semester's worth of college-level
content on the physics of the atmosphere, weather, climate, climate change, and
climate modeling as well as demonstrate activities for use in the classroom.
The course will have 40 spots available for teachers. It will be
taught using the method of the Five E's. Each of the Five E's (engage, explore,
explain, extend, and evaluate) describes a phase of learning.
Teachers will take home a box of science tools. Last year's course tools
included heat packs,
which show that liquids release heat when they freeze, solar cells to charge
batteries, and infrared goggles to see infrared radiation outside. More
importantly, participants will leave with the confidence and knowledge to teach their
students about weather, climate, and climate change.
Overview and Details
- The course in a nutshell:
PPT |
PDF
- Syllabus of the course as offered at
Colorado State University, Summer 2009, with daily activities listed
Course Materials
The course materials below are organized by the theme of each
class session
and placed into the day they were presented.
- Day 1 :
- What is Energy? Conservation of Energy, Weather vs. Climate
- Radiation and the Planetary Energy Balance
- Day 2 :
- Pressure, Density, Temperature, Buoyancy
- Phases of Water, Latent Heat, and Clouds
- Day 3 :
- Convection and Precipitation
- Forces and Winds
- Day 4 :
- Rotation and Global Circulation
- Fronts and Storms
- Day 5 :
- Climate Change and Global Warming
- Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change
Links to resources from
previous courses may be found here.
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