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“Experiencing” Climate Change for Gen-Ed Students: Thoughts and Experiences on
Active LearningTodd D. Ellis
Assistant Professor of MeteorologySUNY College at Oneonta
SERC Hurricanes and Climate Change - 21 October 2008
I hear and I forgetI see and I rememberI do and I understand
Confucius Says
• Current efforts in visualization• Observations and Climate - What’s in your data?• Climate comparisons - Putting dream vacations to
work• Post-mortem Analyses - How did the pieces fit?• Thoughts on the future• Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics - How to
interpret the climate change data• Spinning Around - Experiments on the Small Scale
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
There’s more to data than just
numbers• Students are often familiar with the data, but not always with the measurements
• Experiment #1 - Measuring humidity different ways
• Sling psychrometry is really fun, Kestrels are cool
• How might changing your observation method affect climate records?
Students at Paragon Senior Secondary School in Mohali, Punjab, India taking
Cloud Observations
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Heat Islands• Experiment #2 - Urban
Heat Island Measurements
• Class project for upperclassmen/intro grad students
• Designing your own experiment (and then watching it fail) is a good way to learn about the effects of microclimates
epa.gov
NASA Scientific Visualization Studio
Landsat Image of Atlanta, GA
A sketch of a heat island
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Climate Comparisons• Intro to Meteorology (this
semester)
• Asking Students to Compare Climates between the local station and a world city of their choice
A Work in Progress - the results are due this week
Students have been going out and getting additional data
They are thinking about unique ways to portray the data, and are
really going all outTodd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Post-Mortem Analysis• One of the most instructive things I’ve found
in my classes is not the forecast, but the post-mortem analysis
• As far as climate connections, I think it can then set the stage for which changes are important
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
•We are developing a new class devoted to climate change science, policy debates, and mitigation proposals
•Students should know how to understand the emerging studies on the multitude of statistics at play
•There is hope - students have shown that they know how to dig in with a little guidance
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Spinning Around
• We have a department “Weather in a Tank” unit that we use currently for in class demos with an eye for independent study
• A thought - would we be able to simulate the theoretical shutdown of the thermohaline circulation? would the ocean freeze and wolves run free in the classroom?
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Not only demonstrating the
thermohaline circulation, but asking
students to explore what would happen if the density difference
decreased?
http://www-paoc.mit.edu/labguide/
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
Conclusions
•When students “do”, the questions they ask are enlightening, their intuition improves, and they gain valuable work skills as well
•I’m hoping to share ideas on what we can visualize and “do” to teach about these connections with climate
Todd D. Ellis21 October
2008Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop