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You can observe a lot just by watchin'. |
After meteorology majors have had many of the required
courses on the theory of atmospheric behavior, they are presented with this
course. It is designed to teach the observational and interpretative skills
needed to read the sky. The course emphasizes a synthesis of previous knowledge
as it attempts to show students how to apply their ideas to observable phenomena
and then how to present them in expository essays. The students must make
their own photographic observations of the natural word, develop physical
interpretations of the phenomena and then write coherently about the processes
that produced them.
A wide range of meteorological phenomena, observable
with the naked eye, is presented in the lectures, but the specifics of each
is not considered as important as the method that is employed to make sense
of them. 
Consequently,
the syllabus for the course contains
more topics that can be covered in one semester. Choices are made during any
particular course that are going to be of the greatest interest and use to
the students at that time. For example, when the course is presented during
the fall, the physics of snow might be secondary to a discussion of steam
fog. During the Winter semester, the reverse would be more appropriate.
The classroom presentation is atypical of most courses
taught at the university today. The oral part of each lecture is supplemented
by resources presented to the students from a computer projected onto an eight-foot
screen at the front of the class. These resources may take the form of text,
diagrams, images, video clips, interactive animations, or interactive pedagogical
models. 
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The expository essays prepared by the students will be submitted on the Web in the space provided by the and will be linked, when they are ready, through the University.
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