How this CD-ROM is organised

This CD-ROM is organised along the lines of the book Weather and Climates explained, a southern perspective, which has 16 Chapters. For each Chapter, this CD-ROM contains a summary, a set of Notes accompanying the book, some suggested further reading, a list of multiple-choice questions, some essay questions, a set of numerical exercises, some practical experiments we have tried out, and some teaching suggestions, all pertaining to the Chapter at hand. The most significant part of this is the set of Notes, which are form part of the content of the book.

Some general comments about each topic within the CD-ROM follows.


A. Scope

For each chapter, a short summary is given, with key ideas, main learning topics and a list of the Sections in the book.


B. Notes

The Notes are an integral part of the material in the book, and the book contains many references to them. They provide further insights in the physical processes, illustrate concepts, and build bridges towards biology, geomorphology, forestry, agriculture and physics. They are aimed at a slightly more advanced level. Some Notes include Figures, which, if not original, are accredited under Section 17.3 (Acknowledgements) in the book.


C. Suggestions for further reading

This section contains, for each Chapter, a set of references we suggest for further reading. They are broken down by Sections in the book. The criteria of selection were accessibility, up-to-dateness, breadth and importance of the references, though it was sometimes necessary to compromise between these. The full reference for each short reference is given in the complete reference list on CD-ROM.


D. Multiple-choice questions


E. Essay questions

A brief answer (max 1 page) is expected for each essay question. They are designed as food-for-thought. The list of suggested readings (C) may be a starting point for further literature searches. Some useful hints for essay writing are given here. One of us (E. Linacre) has written a paper on estimating evaporation rates which can be used as a nice essay example. We also suggest a method for assessing an essay or report.


F. Exercises


G. Experiments

This section contains suggestions for practical experiments aimed at improving the understanding of some concepts introduced in each Chapter. Some experiments are carried out in the field, others can be done in the lecture theatre or at home. Some useful hints for writing up a report on experimental work are given here.


H. Teaching suggestions

This section contains useful suggestions for the instructor, again for each Chapter. In preparation for the presentation of the material of any Chapter, the lecturer may also which to examine Section G, practical experiments, some of which make excellent in-class demonstrations.


I. Literature consulted

For each Chapter, this section lists the references we used to write the book and CD-ROM. They are useful up-to-date references in short form, often with a specific page number. The full reference can be found in the complete reference list on the CD-ROM.