1. Essay/Demonstration Question. Discuss and show how, using a series of diagrams or models, the Coriolis effect has the opposite sense of motion in the Southern Hemisphere compared to the Northern Hemisphere.

(Evaluation rubric: students should be able to put together a series of diagrams or cardboard models which take advantage of the opposite sense of rotation one gets when looking "down" the north pole versus looking "up" at the south pole. Students should also be able to see that horizontal movement, in an absolute sense, must be greater the closer one gets to the equator (greater linear distance traveled in a set period of time) compared with closer to the poles. This means that from the north pole to the equator, an object traveling over the surface is traveling over territory that is increasingly going faster eastward (left) and that the object will increasingly pass by to the right - curve to the right in other words. Once the object reaches and passes the equator, it is now traveling over territory that is increasingly going slower eastward (right) and that the object will increasingly pass by to the left - curve left in other words. The diagrams, demonstrations, and discussions should show a grasp of the principles illustrated by the simple models involving rotating cardboard circles and a connection to the real world events modeled by the cardboard circles.)
 

2. Essay/Demonstration Question. Demonstrate that the Coriolis effect in either hemisphere holds true no matter which direction an air mass is moving: north, south, east or west.

(Evaluation rubric: essentially the same as above, but it is a bit trickier to demonstrate for east-west moving objects. Students need a basic grasp of spherical geometry: a circle of latitude is a true east-west line, even though it curves. An object separated from the surface of the earth, initially travelling due east, will continue to travel that pathway, but true east on the spherical globe curves, and the separation between the object traveling above the surface and true east-west increases.)

3. Essay/Demonstration: Find a series of satellite images or a montage of such images and illustrate and discuss all elements of the global circulation system that you can see. Discuss why the circulation patterns are more "uniform" or smooth in Southern Hemisphere, compared to the Northern Hemisphere.

(Evaluation rubric: Students should be able to independently obtain and examine the appropriate images. They should be able to illustrate and/or annotate the images electronically. They should be able to make the connection between the "real" (cloud patterns observed on the images) and the "ideal" (global circulation system.) Particularly good students should also make the connection between LACK of clouds in certain zones and the global circulation system. Their discussions should consider elements of topographical differences, land sea contrasts, ocean currents, and so on. They should point out that the relative lack of very large landmasses in the Southern Hemisphere, compared to the Northern Hemisphere, allows the southern circulation patterns to more closely approach the ideal patterns.)
 

4. Essay/Demonstration: Locate and download an upper level chart, such as the 500-mb chart, and a synchronous surface satellite image showing cloud patterns. Annotate and illustrate the chart and satellite image to show all elements of the global circulation system that you can see. Compare and contrast the two views, and discuss why the patterns aloft appear to be more "Uniform" or "smoother" that the patterns you see at the surface.

(Evaluation rubric: Students should be able to independently obtain and examine the appropriate images. They should be able to illustrate and/or annotate the images electronically. They should be able to make the connection between the patterns observed aloft (upper level charts) and the patterns observed near the surface (satellite image of clouds.) Their discussions should consider elements of topographical differences, local wind and cloud patterns, land sea contrasts. They should be able to point out that local small-scale features still have to exist within the larger global picture.)

5. Essay/Demonstration: Use appropriate satellite images to locate a cold front or a warm front near your location. Find two stations on opposite sides of the front, and obtain the vertical soundings for these stations. Discuss if the data you obtain is consistent with what you would expect for two sites on opposite sides of a front. Develop a mathematical model that will predict the temperature at any elevation for both sides of the front. Discuss the usefulness and accuracy of your model.

(Evaluation rubric: Students should be able to independently obtain and examine the appropriate images. They should be able to analyze the data and develop a simple linear predictive formula, using graph paper or, preferably, a spreadsheet. They should be able to use it to predict temperatures at various altitudes. They may have to make simplifying assumptions if the data are somewhat irregular, but his is also a worthwhile activity. They may find that their temperatures do not follow the prediction of "cold" on the cold side of a front and "warm" on the warm side of a front. In this case, it is valuable to point out to the students that reducing temperatures to sea level values is a convenient way of comparing the temperature of air masses without the confounding effects of altitude. They should be able to make the connection between the observations made locally at the two selected stations and the regional or global patterns observable on satellite images. Their discussions should consider usefulness and accuracy issues in an honest and direct way - no real-world scientific observation and calculation are made without the help of simplifying assumptions! They should be able to take points from the plot and define a linear relationship between temperature and elevation. It must be noted that this relationship is not always linear, but it normally is. It also must be noted that there may be inflections in the plot or even reversals. All of these need to be noted and taken into account in the discussion and analysis. The simplifying assumption here is to assume that the data are arranged in linear fashion, but those different linear segments can be combined. Look carefully at the student's ability to take a generality, linear relationships as expressed mathematically, and relate this to a specific locality, the decrease in temperature with increased altitude. Students should also be able to demonstrate an understanding of the relationships, mathematical and scientific, by using the model to predict temperatures at various elevations.)
 

6. Essay/Demonstration: Research and select an historical hurricane from the Caribbean or Pacific. Find one that has an abundance of archived images, locate the images, and assemble a sequence of images that shows the entire development and dissipation of the storm. Write an essay, illustrated with your images, which addresses the origin, development, and disposition of hurricanes, their energy, and their moisture.

(Evaluation rubric: This is a big project, but not particularly demanding of high level thinking skills. What it is intended to do is sharpen student's research abilities, interpretive abilities, and communications skills. Students should be able to independently obtain and examine the appropriate images, and assemble these materials into a professional report. The report should be illustrated with images showing the storms development from a tropical depression to a tropical storm, and on to hurricane status. Illustrations should include satellite images at the least, better if they include other weather data as well.)
 

7. Essay/Demonstration: Locate a weather system (a cold front, a tropical storm, a winter storm, a rain storm, et cetera) that is apparently heading towards your location. Try to locate one that is still some time and distance away. Examine all of the information you can find on the internet in terms of satellite images, soundings and so on, and begin making a series of predictions about how the system is going to affect you and your location. Use the weather prediction from a local weather caster or the local newspaper as a model. As the system gets closer to you in time and space, compare the accuracy of your forecasts with those made by the professionals. Discuss how and why your predictions are accurate or inaccurate. Are you more accurate the closer the system is to you in time? What sorts of information would you need to make a more accurate prediction?

(Evaluation rubric: This project should be attempted after considerable background work with weather and climate. One of the hopes and aims of this project is to get students to thinking about what a prediction really is, and to examine issues of accuracy in weather prediction. They should be able to locate the appropriate images and information, they should be able to identify what type of system they are examining - frontal, orographic, tropical, et cetera - and they should be able to communicate their predictions in clear language, using the terminology of weather.)