Transcript “Experiencing” Climate Change for Gen-Ed Students

“Experiencing” Climate Change for
Gen-Ed Students:
Thoughts and Experiences on
Active Learning
Todd D. Ellis
Assistant Professor of Meteorology
SUNY College at Oneonta
SERC Hurricanes and Climate Change - 21 October
2008
Confucius Says
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
• 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. Ellis
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008
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
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•
Todd D. Ellis
Sling psychrometry is
really fun, Kestrels are
cool
How might changing your
observation method affect
Students at Paragon Senior Secondary
School in Mohali, Punjab, India taking Cloud
Observations
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008
Heat Islands
•
Experiment #2 - Urban
Heat Island Measurements
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Class project for
upperclassmen/intro grad
students
A sketch of a heat island epa.gov
Designing your own
experiment (and then
watching it fail) is a good
way to learn about the
effects of microclimates
Landsat Image of Atlanta,
GA
Todd D. Ellis
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
NASA Scientific Visualization
Studio
21 October
2008
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
Todd D. Ellis
They are thinking about unique ways to
portray the data, and are really going
21 October
all out
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
2008
Post-Mortem
• One of the most
instructive things I’ve found in
Analysis
my classes is not the forecast, but the postmortem analysis
•
Todd D. Ellis
As far as climate connections, I think it can
then set the stage for which changes are
important
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008
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. Ellis
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008
Spinning Around
•
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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. Ellis
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008
http://wwwpaoc.mit.edu/labguide/
Not only demonstrating
the thermohaline
circulation, but asking
students to explore what
would happen if the
density difference
decreased?
Todd D. Ellis
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008
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. Ellis
Hurricane and Climate Change Workshop
21 October
2008