Biology 5460
Fall 2011
Student Led Debates
Utah Veg. Project
Utah Veg. Online Manual
Climate Project
Grading and Exams
Course Policies
Objectives & Texts
Past Course Evaluations
WebCT
Class Meeting Schedule
10:45 am - 12:05 pmTuesday and Thursday
320 AEB
Mark Blonquist
Instructor(801) 585-5671
mark.blonquist@utah.edu
Jinny McGavien
Coordinator(801) 581-6414
jinny.mcgavien@utah.edu
Suzy Khacahturyan
Teaching Assistant
suzy.khachaturyan@gmail.com
Climate Change Project
Is it possible that global warming has begun to change temperatures in the Intermountain West during the past century? If so, in what ways has the climate changed? To address these questions, you will examine long-term temperature data for Utah and other parts of the Intermountain West.
Click below to access to Excel data sheets containing (a) mean monthly maximum air temperatures (Farenheit) and (b) mean monthly minimum air temperatures (Farenheit) for the following cities:
| Arizona | Idaho | Nevada | Utah |
| Bagdad | Ashton | Austin | Blanding |
| Flagstaff | Boise | Dyer | Cedar City |
| McNary | Coeur D'Alene | Las Vegas | Duchesne |
| Parker | Grangeville | Orovada | Fillmore |
| Phoenix | McCall | Reno | Logan |
| Prescott | Pocatello | Wendover | Manti |
| Tucson | Winnemucca | Moab | |
| Yuma | Salt Lake City |
Your assignment is to analyze these data for 3 cities and to determine if one or more aspects of the climate have changed in the past century.
Your 5-3-15 write up must consist of (a) 5 pages of text and figures, explaining the observations and coming to a scientific conclusion, (b) 3 separate graphics representing analyses or trends within the data sets, and (c) 15 relevant references. Remember that we expect the group to work together in the data analyses, graphics production, references selection, and data analysis discussions, but that the text writing is to be done on an individual basis.
You might not be so familiar with a statistical test like the t-test. If so, click here for more information on t-tests.
The project must be completed and uploaded no later than December 2nd at 11:59 pm. Please submit your papers earlier, if at all possible.