A&O SCI 3
Introduction to Atmospheric Environment
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Nature and causes of weather phenomena, including atmospheric circulation, clouds and storms, lightning and precipitation, fronts and cyclones, and tornadoes and hurricanes. Atmospheric radiation, global warming, and greenhouse effect. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Like the previously mentioned reviews - this class was an extremely difficult GE and I would NOT recommend it unless you're genuinely interested in meteorology and have some sort of background in physics. However, I took this class because there was nothing else left to enroll in so if you’re in the same situation here is some advice: - The lectures are extremely dry and boring but still show up because there are iClicker questions (graded for participation not correctness) and he offers extra credit for showing up to lecture and answering the questions. - The workload is manageable -- There are homework assignments that are a quiz-like format which you have 6 attempts and discussion activities due every week. Using the slides and textbook can help with the homework questions and showing up to discussion was somewhat helpful. - Go to office if you're confused because you're going to be confused at some point. The lectures build off of each other and it can be difficult to catch up if you don’t understand something from a previous lecture. Professor Mitchell is a pretty nice, approachable, and understanding guy and he will try his best to explain to you difficult concepts. Though, I never went to the TA’s office hours mainly because he can get pretty confusing in his explanations, especially during discussion - To study for the midterm and final, memorize the homework questions, discussion activities, and pay attention to the Iclicker questions in class because they should be almost the same or similar content. In my experience, the midterm was pretty hard because I just looked at the review slides that were posted and hoped for best but you literally NEED to study and digest the information, especially when trying to understand the diagrams shown in class - There is a separate lab for this class which is online and it sounds easy, but the directions for the lab reports are pretty unclear on what to do so i literally dropped the lab (but if you genuinely need this lab it can still be doable) - Extra credit — he offers 5% extra credit if you show up and participate in all the lectures and attend all the discussions - If all else fails and going to office hours or discussion still confuses you, watch a bunch of YouTube videos on the main concepts learned in class. - Good luck and remind yourself that it is okay if certain concepts don’t come to you right away
Winter 2024 - Like the previously mentioned reviews - this class was an extremely difficult GE and I would NOT recommend it unless you're genuinely interested in meteorology and have some sort of background in physics. However, I took this class because there was nothing else left to enroll in so if you’re in the same situation here is some advice: - The lectures are extremely dry and boring but still show up because there are iClicker questions (graded for participation not correctness) and he offers extra credit for showing up to lecture and answering the questions. - The workload is manageable -- There are homework assignments that are a quiz-like format which you have 6 attempts and discussion activities due every week. Using the slides and textbook can help with the homework questions and showing up to discussion was somewhat helpful. - Go to office if you're confused because you're going to be confused at some point. The lectures build off of each other and it can be difficult to catch up if you don’t understand something from a previous lecture. Professor Mitchell is a pretty nice, approachable, and understanding guy and he will try his best to explain to you difficult concepts. Though, I never went to the TA’s office hours mainly because he can get pretty confusing in his explanations, especially during discussion - To study for the midterm and final, memorize the homework questions, discussion activities, and pay attention to the Iclicker questions in class because they should be almost the same or similar content. In my experience, the midterm was pretty hard because I just looked at the review slides that were posted and hoped for best but you literally NEED to study and digest the information, especially when trying to understand the diagrams shown in class - There is a separate lab for this class which is online and it sounds easy, but the directions for the lab reports are pretty unclear on what to do so i literally dropped the lab (but if you genuinely need this lab it can still be doable) - Extra credit — he offers 5% extra credit if you show up and participate in all the lectures and attend all the discussions - If all else fails and going to office hours or discussion still confuses you, watch a bunch of YouTube videos on the main concepts learned in class. - Good luck and remind yourself that it is okay if certain concepts don’t come to you right away
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - I would recommend this class overall. Mitchell is a SUPER nice guy and you can tell he really wants his students to succeed. The workload is pretty light too, with one discussion packet every week and homework on canvas with about 20 questions. The midterm and final largely consist of the clicker questions, homework, and discussion questions very often, and they are not too hard. If you don't study THE TEXTBOOK, however, the final may be hard. If you really want to do well in the class you should study both his lectures AND the textbook to make sure you really understand the content. TA wasn't much help, though. Overall I would recommend this class as a GE, and it gets much more interesting towards the end too once you really understand the content and weather mechanisms. You just have to be patient with yourself when understanding the fundamentals of the course and after that it's genuinely very interesting to learn about the weather.
Winter 2024 - I would recommend this class overall. Mitchell is a SUPER nice guy and you can tell he really wants his students to succeed. The workload is pretty light too, with one discussion packet every week and homework on canvas with about 20 questions. The midterm and final largely consist of the clicker questions, homework, and discussion questions very often, and they are not too hard. If you don't study THE TEXTBOOK, however, the final may be hard. If you really want to do well in the class you should study both his lectures AND the textbook to make sure you really understand the content. TA wasn't much help, though. Overall I would recommend this class as a GE, and it gets much more interesting towards the end too once you really understand the content and weather mechanisms. You just have to be patient with yourself when understanding the fundamentals of the course and after that it's genuinely very interesting to learn about the weather.