Language Translation: An approach to building student skills in solving dynamic meteorology word problems

One of the biggest challenges for students studying atmospheric dynamics is applying the theoretical aspects of dynamics to real world problems. Educators often test student abilities in this area by giving the students story/word problems. The challenge in these problems lies not in the mathematics and meteorological equations, but in the translation between words in the problem and the equations. Students traditionally gain experience in dealing with story problems by working examples. An alternative approach is to treat story problems as a language translation problem. Teaching students how to create and write a story problem teaches them the skills of language translation between the words and mathematics. Building strong translation skills implicitly improves students ability to tackle story/word problems. Presented will be a lab designed for junior/senior level students in Dynamic Meteorology that steps them through the process of creating their own story/word problem.