ARSC/GEOL 2110
Physical Science of the Earth System
How is Earth a System?
Fall 2001

Learning objectives:  To develop skill in identifying and interpreting patterns, to become familiar with a few important global data sets, to begin to relate large-scale phenomena to local sites.

GLOBE Poster On-Line

Get a copy of the GLOBE poster to spread out on a table or post on the wall.  Form a group of 2-4 people, so that there are six groups in the class, one for each data type (solar radiation, temperature, etc.) on the GLOBE poster.  Choose a data type and write your choice on the board so that each group has its own data type.  Discuss the following questions within your group.

1. Study a single map for your data type, the one for September since that is the month we are closest to now.  Make sure you understand what the map is showing and what the color scheme means.  What regional patterns can you identify?  What might explain those patterns?  Find the condition of some locations familiar to you (e.g. Boulder, your home) on your map and decide whether the 1987 data agrees with your own observations.
2. Study the trends in time for your data type (all the maps in a column).  What seasonal patterns can you identify?  How are the patterns similar or different across different regions?
3. At some point, we will stop for a report back to the class from each group.  Briefly explain the color scheme for your data type and point out some interesting features on the September map.  Briefly describe one or two seasonal patterns you discovered. 
4. Now compare all data types (all the maps in a row) for September 1987.  What relationships or links between the different data types can you find?  How can you explain those links?
5. Consider all the data types for all the seasons, and look for a pattern that connects different data sets in a seasonal pattern (there are many—just find one).  You may focus on a region or think globally.  Interpret this pattern as best you can.
6. What additional data sets would be interesting to compare with the ones on the poster, and why?  Think broadly, including outside science disciplines.

1. Write a concise and clear paragraph describing one seasonal pattern that you discovered in the data.  Then explain as much of this pattern as you can, and list questions you have about aspects of the pattern you can’t explain. 
2. Write a concise and clear paragraph describing one pattern of links between the data types that you discovered in the data.  Explain the pattern as much as you can, and list questions you have about the aspects of the pattern that you can’t explain.
3. Drawing on reading and class sessions so far, explain how the Earth is a system.
4. This week you will be learning some methods of field investigation for a particular aspect of your site (soil, weather, water etc.) and choosing your own field site for the course project.  As part of that project, you will be linking your observations of your own site to larger-scale patterns.  Based on your reading, your study of the GLOBE data, your initial exposure to field observations, and your first visit to your own field site, suggest some questions that you can investigate to make the connections between your own very local site and the larger-scale patterns described in the GLOBE data.