Syllabus and Grading
Outline for AATM 200 (6151) – Natural Disasters
Official course description in the undergraduate bulletin.
This course fulfills
both a Natural Science General Education requirement and a
Challenges for the 21st Century General Education requirement.
There are no specific
prerequisites for this class.
FALL 2015: Lecture Center 2 ; Mon/Wed/Fri, 9:20 AM to
10:15 AM
Prof. Landin’s e-mail address: mlandin@albany.edu
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 10:30 AM to Noon
TA Office Hours:
Michael Fischer (ES 325, 10 AM to Noon)
(Professor Landin
and his TA are also available by appointment.)
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The
goals of this course are to provide students with an understanding
of the
energy and forces behind natural events that can become natural
disasters
due to the ever increasing human population.
Various mitigation
and
safety strategies will be discussed for each type of natural disaster,
to meet
the ultimate challenge of being a “survivor” on our wonderful and
dynamic,
yet occasionally dangerous planet.
Course web
page: http://www.atmos.albany.edu/daes/atmclasses/atm200/
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Course Text: "Natural Disasters - 9th Edition"
by: Patrick L. Abbott,
McGraw-Hill Publishing,
(ISBN: 978-0-07-802287-6), 2014
Note: two
copies of the 9th Edition text are
on 3-hour reserve
from the
Circulation Desk in the Main Library
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The following 9th Edition chapters will be covered:
Ch.M17 – The Great Dyings (Mass
Extinctions) PDF download
Note 1: Parts of other chapters will be introduced as support material.
Note 2: Additionally, the students will select four topics from the following
list to conclude the semester: ice storms & blizzards, landslides &
avalanches, floods, droughts & famine, wildfires, heat & cold waves,
solar storms, and pandemic diseases.
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This course is
A-E Graded. Four exams will be
given. Exams #1,
#2 & #3 will
all be full-class 50-minute exams and the Final Exam
will be a 2-hour,
“cumulative exam.” The exams will count
for 90%
of your final
grade. The remaining 10% is earned through completing
three primary
homework assignments (i.e., 10 homework points).
THERE WILL BE NO EXAM MAKE-UPs! Exceptions made only by obtaining a
“Dean’s E-mail”
from the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, by providing
them proper documentation as to why you missed the exam. Have them
send the e-mail
to all your professors. (Athletes
are to hand in
the appropriate
paperwork as soon as possible to account for any
potential clashes
of exam dates and lectures, with games/meets.)
Special
arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Attendance is
highly recommended. Recent
semesters have proven
that earning an
“A” without attending lecture is near impossible!
A random
“Disaster Check” (to be explained in class) will be
performed each lecture.
A “Disaster” will occur once during each
of the four primary sections of the class, along
with potential
“aftershocks.” For
each “Disaster,” every student having the
proper “mitigation” (to be explained) will earn 1 final grade
Bonus Point. Thus, there is a maximum of 4 final grade Bonus
Points
to be earned, along with potential unlimited additional
“aftershock” partial Bonus Points.
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To figure your
final grade, if you take all three exams and score
a 30 or better
on each exam, then you will
keep the "best two" of
your first three exams, each worth 30% of your exam
grade. The
Final Exam will
make up 40% of your grade. (In other
words, you
get to drop your lowest grade of the first three
exams.) If you
miss any of the first three exams (or score less
than a 30 on any
of them) then you will keep all three grades,
each worth 20% of
your grade, with the Final Exam still making up 40% of
your grade.
(In other words,
miss any exam or score less than a 30, you keep
them all.) To
figure your final numerical grade, take 90%
of your
exam grade and add in your Homework
Points and Bonus Points.
The following
Grading Scale will be used: A 90+ ; A- 86-89 ;
B+
82-85 ; B
78-81 ; B- 74-77 ; C+ 70-73 ; C 66-69 ; C- 62-65 ;
D+
58-61 ; D 54-57 ; D- 50-53 ; E 0-49 ; S 66-100 ; U 0-65.
Performance Bonus: If your three-exam average plus your homework
points and final grade Bonus Points is “90.0” or higher (as in
Example #3), then
you will receive an “A” in the class and be
exempt
from taking the Final Exam, provided that you “sign in”
for attendance (i.e., remain for *all* 55 minutes
of class) at
each of the final five lectures. An unexcused absence at any
of the final five
lectures will require that you take the Final
Exam and have
your grade calculated as above.
Example #1: Ex
#1: 96; Ex #2: 92; Ex #3: 64; F.Ex: 70; Gr=90 (A)
Example #2: Ex
#1: 96; Ex #2: 92; Ex #3: 0; F.Ex: 70; Gr=73 (C+)
Example #3: Ex
#1: 86; Ex #2: 82; Ex #3: 86; F.Ex: --; Gr=90 (A)
Example #4: Ex
#1: 50; Ex #2: 65; Ex #3: 65; F.Ex: 45; Gr=65 (C-/U)
(Above examples
assume all 10 homework points and the maximum
4 final grade
Bonus Points earned through the “Disaster Checks.”)
Cell phones,
iPods and any other electronic gadgets (i.e., anything
with an
"on/off" switch) are prohibited during exams. They are to be
turned off and
out of sight. Anyone caught cheating
will be granted
an automatic
"E" in this course and subject to prosecution by the
University's
judicial system. You are to show your UAlbany I.D. card
when handing in
an exam and know your 9-digit UAlbany student number.
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Below is the tentative
syllabus, by date, using chapter numbers.
As we go through
the semester, you will be able to download a class
“Lecture Summary,” including daily class announcements, the sections
covered in each
edition of the text, the major topics covered, and a
useful
"Study Guide". The individual
daily notes for this course
will not
be posted, but as an option,
a “Notes Template” will be
available for
each lecture. You are expected to have
excellent
attendance and
you are fully responsible for all material presented
in lecture.
Dates Monday Wednesday Friday
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Aug 24,26,28: no
class Intro/1 1
Aug 31; Sep 2,4: Energy 9 9
Sep 7,9,11: no
class 10 10
Sep 14,16,18: no
class 10 10
Sep 21,23,25: 11 no class 11 (end Part 1)
Sep 28,30; Oct 2: 2 Exam #1 3
Oct 5,7,9:
3 3 4
Oct 12,14,16: 4 5 5
Oct 19,21,23: 6 6 7
Oct 26,28;30: 7 (end Part
2) 8 17
Nov 2,4,6: Exam
#2 17 DVD
Nov 9,11,13: M17 M17 M17
Nov 16,18,20: 12 12 12 (end Part 3)
Nov 23,25,27: Exam #3 no class no class
Nov 30; Dec 2,4: *T1 *T2 *T3
Dec 7,9: *T4 00
Final Exam: Thu, Dec. 17, 10:30 AM
M17 The Great Dyings (PDF
download)
*
The final four topics to be
determined by a class web page vote;
the actual
voting period (during October) and procedure will be
announced in class.
There will be a
number of video presentations scattered throughout
the
lectures. You are responsible for any
additive material. Most
of these videos will not be available outside of
class. Another
good reason to have excellent attendance.
Get ready for an
educational, eye-opening and fascinating semester!
It has been said
that the farther we are away from a great natural
disaster, the
closer we are to the next one!