Global Atmospheric Circulation and the Indian Monsoon
This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection
This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.
This page first made public: May 30, 2013
In this project students learn through lecture, video, and sketching about the Coriolis effect, the "Six-Cell Generalized Global Atmospheric Circulation Model", the shifting ITCZ, the Indian Monsoon, and its impact on the day-to-day lives of the people of India.The outcomes for this assignment are aligned with course-specific outcomes articulated in the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum. They are:
- Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments in the context of ocean science.
- Explain the basic structure and function of the ocean realm, the impact of humans on it, and the impact of the ocean realm on humans.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
- The conceptual underpinnings of atmospheric dynamics: the greenhouse effect, atmospheric convection, the Coriolis effect, high and low pressure systems, adiabatic processes, relative humidity, and cloud and storm formation.
- Reading, understanding, and creating maps, sketches, graphs, etc.
How the activity is situated in the course
Content/concepts goals for this activity
- Coriolis effect
- the "Six-Cell Generalized Global Atmospheric Circulation Model"
- the shifting ITCZ
- the Indian Monsoon
- its impact on the day-to-day lives of the people of India
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Other skills goals for this activity
Description and Teaching Materials
The quiz can readily be broken into parts.
Quiz-Assessment-Global Circulation and Indian Monsoon (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 110kB May30 13)
Teaching Notes and Tips
The quiz/assessment also works well as a collaborative activity, where students work in pairs especially for working through sketching the conditions that lead to the dry and wet monsoons.
References and Resources
Al Jazeera news report on severety of drought, early July, 2012: India monsoon floods kill dozens - a YouTube video
IBN report, 28 June 2012. Report explains how monsoons are delayed: Monsoon will revive in July: IMD - an article from CNN's IBN Live
BBC story from 15 July, 2012. This report describes both flooding and drought occurring at same time: Monsoon: Huge impact on north Indian state Haryana - a video from BBC News
IBN from 2 July, 2012: Will North India's wait for monsoon end this week? - an article from IBN Live
From 20 August, 2012: Revival in monsoon brings cheer to North India - a video from Economic Times