Building on classroom materials developed for the National Weather Service (NWS), the COMET Program will create an innovative pilot module of interactive, laboratory investigations for undergraduate introductory atmospheric science courses. This pilot module entitled: "Weather Satellites: Types, Imagery and Applications", is developed in collaboration with educators experienced in curriculum, course, and materials development. It engages non-science majors in active and visual representations, replacing existing, static laboratory materials with four-dimensional illustrations of atmospheric sciences concepts and weather phenomena. The project provides interactive data collecting activities, and related field experiment guidelines. Additionally, it provides imbedded K-12 classroom activities for the estimated (up to) 20% of introductory course students who will go on to teach. Materials are developed in the context of "best teaching practices" and science content standards published by the National Research Council (1996). Project is the initial step toward the creation of a series of comprehensive, contemporary laboratory activities for introductory weather and climate courses.
