General Education Common Graded Assignment: ERSC 131
Writing a Regional Weather Analysis
ASSIGNMENT:
Students will be creating a report in on the climate data of a region and exploring how the climate impacts the regions weather and living organisms.
PURPOSE:
The purpose this assignment is to look at one region of the United States, examine the climatic conditions and seasonal weather patterns for this region, identify the relationship between the dominant flora and fauna and the climatic data for the region, and prepare a report for future pilots flying in this region in each season.
Weather phenomena vary greatly across a landmass as large as the United States. Physiographic features such as mountains and coastlines combine with large latitude variations to produce a wide range of temperatures, precipitation, wind patterns and storm activity. An understanding of the biota in a region requires an understanding of the climatic conditions in that area. For pilots flying from one region to another, and even within one particular region of the United States, knowledge of the weather characteristics and the features that control these characteristics is essential.
Audience: The audience for this report is students interested in the causes of a regions climate and weather, the seasonal variations in weather patterns in the United States, and its impacts on aviation. Make sure you use appropriate vocabulary from our class, but since this report may be used by students not in a meteorology course, make sure to explain/define the vocabulary and avoid abbreviations.
GRADING:
This assignment will account for 10% of the total course grade
See rubric on Blackboard for details about how your report will be graded
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Electronic copies must be submitted as a Word document or a PDF to Blackboard for grading by the due date listed on the course schedule
Electronic submissions must be made with the students ID number (900 or 901#) as the file name through Blackboard. Student and instructor names should not appear on electronic submissions.
ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICATIONS:
Your report should be based on a region of the United States described in the text Flying Americas Weather and include all the information outlined in Part 1 below. Since the book is no longer being published and our bookstore could not get enough copies, you can find PDFS of the chapters from the book in the FAW Book Chapters.
You may chose whichever region from the book you prefer, but you may NOT use the region you did for the group project. (If you use the same region, your score will be reduced by 10%.)
Use a minimum of three (3) scientific or government sources (Flying Americas Weather counts as one of these sources and must be used). In addition to the book, find at least two more scientific or government sources relating to the regional weather and/or climate of the region you chose. These sources should be scholarly or government agencies. Make sure to cite these sources as well as the book Flying Americas Weather. The information you to cite the Flying Americas Weather book is in the document FAW Book Information
Utilizing library databases will help you locate appropriate sources. You can find these databases by going to: http://libraryguides.ccbcmd.edu/az.php You should also explore the Meteorology Research Guide: http://libraryguides.ccbcmd.edu/c.php?g=346523&p=5131942 and the CCBC Library Website: http://library.ccbcmd.edu/.
Include a title page with your Name, ERSC 131, and the region you chose to research.
The actual paper (not including the title page and the reference list) should be at least 1,200 words long. All pages must be typed in Times New Roman 12-pt font, double-spaced with 1 margins.
You must include APA style in-text citations and a references page. Please summarize the information you learned in your own words and cite the source(s) and cite the sources you summarize/paraphrase. Large sections of direct quotations will not be accepted (even if they are properly cited) and will result in a 5% decrease in the grade. Direct quotes do not demonstrate an understanding of the material; they only demonstrate that you can cut and paste with quotation marks. The information you to cite the Flying Americas Weather book is in the document FAW Book Information
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR REPORT:
Part 1: Write a report on the region you chose from Flying Americas Weather.
Since the book is no longer being published and our bookstore could not get enough copies, you can find PDFS of the chapters from the book in the FAW Book Chapters.
In your report, please make sure to address each of the topics listed below:
1. A summary of the regions climate – including the Kppen climate classification for the region;
2. An overall description of the physical topography and surface features of the region;
3. A description of how the physical topography impacts the regions weathe
