ATMO 336: Weather, Climate, and Society

Session: Summer II 2014

Course Dates: July 14 August 13, 2014
Instructor: Devon Bracher
Email: dgbracher@email.arizona.edu
Office: PAS 526, by appointment only
Objectives
This course examines basic weather phenomena, climate variability and climate change,
and their associated effects on people. The possibility and implications of human-caused
changes in the climate system are also discussed. The course material, provided by Dr.
Dale Ward, is divided into four modules. Each module will have a section of required online reading material, a homework set, and a quiz, and there will be a final term paper.
Textbook and Readings
There is no textbook for this course. Each student is expected to read the relevant reading
material provided by Dr. Dale Ward. There are guidelines for your reading within each
module of D2L. The course covers a full semester of material in one month, so you can
expect to spend 30-40 hours a week reading the course material, doing assignments, and
taking the quizzes. Readings are linked on D2L.
Homework and Quizzes
All homeworks will be due by Thursdays at 12:00 noon, and quizzes will be taken on the
following Monday. Homework sets must be uploaded to the Dropbox in a PDF (from
MS Word, File > Print and click the PDF button.) Quizzes will be available on D2L for
24 hours. NOTE: Once you begin a quiz, you will have one hour to work on it. The
schedule for the homeworks and quizzes are shown at the end of this document.
Term Paper
The topic for the paper is Carbon Cap and Trade in the United States (full instructions
provided on D2L). Your proposal and a preliminary list of references will be due in a pdf

by 5:00 pm on Friday, July 18. The final written paper will be due by 5:00 pm on Friday,
August 8. Papers will be assessed for plagiarism and sources must have MLA citations.
More information on citations is available on D2L.
Grading
Course grades consist of homework (40%), quizzes (30%), term paper proposal (5%),
and term paper (30%). Grades are scaled as follows: A (90.0), B (80.0 89.9), C (70.0
79.9), D (60.0 69.9). Final grades will be posted to UAccess by August 14. Grades
posted on UAccess will be final. If a student notices a discrepancy regarding grades
posted in D2L, they must contact the instructor within 1 week of the grade posting on
D2L. Otherwise the grade is final.
Late Policy
Homeworks will be deducted 20% per day late. Quizzes close automatically at midnight
on the date of the quiz. The term paper will be deducted 30% if turned in late, but will not
be accepted later than midnight on Sunday, August 10. If you have extreme
circumstances that you wish to be considered for exception, you must contact the
instructor at least 24 hours before the assessment is due.
Academic Integrity
You are expected to complete all course assessments on your own. The University of
Arizona's Code of Academic Integrity and Student Code of Conduct will be strictly
followed. All students are responsible for knowing the codes and abiding by them.
Accessibility and Accomodations:
It is the University's goal that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you
anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability, please let me
know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact
Disability Resources (520-621-3268) to establish reasonable accommodations.

Important Dates
July 17

Homework 1 due

July 18

Term Paper Proposal due by 5:00 pm

July 21

Quiz #1

July 24

Homework 2 due

July 28

Quiz #2

July 31

Homework 3 due

August 4

Quiz #3

August 7

Homework 4 due

August 8

Final Term Paper due by 5:00 pm

August 11

Quiz #4

August 13

Course Closed