WEATHER IN A TANK: Exploiting Laboratory Experiments in the Teaching of Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climate

A collaboration between faculty and students at six universities in a project called Weather in a Tank is described, in which ways of teaching atmosphere, ocean, and climate dynamics are explored that bring students into contact with real fluids and fundamental ideas. Exploiting the use of classic rotating laboratory experiments, real-time meteorological data and associated theory, teaching tools, curricular, and evaluation materials have been developed that focus on fundamental aspects of atmospheric and oceanographic dynamics for use in undergraduate teaching. The intent of the project is to help students learn how to move between phenomena in the real world, theory, and models.