• Welcome
• Intro of Prof and TA.
• Aim of course & major themes
• Typical weekly schedule
• Discussion of textbook, iClicker, & web.
  
• YouTube video on storm-chasing hazards (Day 4-50) 
• Discussion on the importance you place on acquiring info, applying knowledge to new situations, and developing lifelong learning skills.
• Discussion on how you optimize your learning by combining in-class and outside-of-class activities.
• Micro-lecture on meteorological coordinate systems.

1. Find the weekly learning goals and assignments from the course web page.
2. Visually recognize fundamental aspects of thunderstorms.
3. Explain to your friends the value of Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) and Peer Instruction.
4. Explain how the differences between meteorological and mathematical coordinate systems alter the way you use trig., and convert wind from Cartesian to speed and direction.
5. Create and use graphs where the independent variable (height, or pressure-as-a-surrogate-for height) is plotted on the vertical axis.

• To review the material covered in yesterday's lecture, Read S.Ch.1.sections 1.1 - 1.5 (from the free Practical Meteorology textbook), if you haven't read it already. 
• For tomorrow's in-class work, where you will respond to clicker questions based on the readings, Read S.Ch.1.sections 1.6 - 1.11.  The info on p20 will be useful for the homework this weekend.
• Thoroughly read: Stull.Appendix A pages 869 - 875 and p 877 in the textbook.  
• Skim section headings of S.Appendix B , so that you are aware of these data that you can use to good advantage in the rest of the term.   
  

1. Convert between any time zone and UTC.
2. Plot the average variation of air pressure, temperature, and density with altitude, and explain why they vary that way.
3. Contrast geopotential height with geometric height.
4. Name the layers and levels in the atmosphere, and summarize their main characteristics.
   
5. Clearly describe and solve numerical problems using tools like Microsoft Excel.

• Explanation of course set-up: goals, readings, assignments, exams, etc.
• Discussion & interaction on topics from readings, especially meteorological conventions, and the variation of temperature, pressure, and density with altitude and geopotential height.
• Tutorial on how to maximize your mark by solving HW exercises by using Excel (part 1). 

Pre-Readings:

• Read S.Chapter 14 sections 14.1.0 - 14.1.1 (from the free Practical Meteorology textbook), which will be covered in class on Monday.  
• Check the textbook web page to see if there are any new errata posted for the chapters you are reading. 

1. Apply topics covered earlier this week to compute number answers & infer their significance.  
2. Refine your ability to use programs like Excel to solve scientific problems.
   
3. Develop good problem-solving habits, such as clearly stating the problem and unknowns, and including units with your calculations.
   
4. Experience some of the pitfalls of solving number problems such as mismatched units, and be able to diagnose and fix your errors.