the weather unit science cycle 3 predicting · pdf filedifferences in air pressure are shown...

THE WEATHER UNIT

PREDICTING WEATHER

Name_______________

Teacher: D. Strina

SCIENCE CYCLE 3

Climate refers to the conditions in the atmosphere in a place over

a long period of time.

The major factor in determining the climate of an area is its

latitude. Other factors include how close a place is to land and/or

water masses, its altitude (how high it is above sea level), the

topography of the land, ocean currents, wind and storm patterns.

Latitude is the distance north and south of the equator. Since the

equator gets the most direct rays of the sun, the climates there

are warm. The places further from the equator get less direct rays

of the sun and thus their climate is cooler.

The areas above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle

have polar climates. This means that the climate is cold year

round. The areas between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of

Cancer and the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Capricorn have

temperate climates marked by warm summers and cold winters.

The areas around the equator have warm climates the year

round.

CLIMATE

Review questions-

1

Temperature is the measure of heat in the air in a given place.

The earth is heated from the sun's energy, also referred to as

solar energy. This solar energy not only affects how hot or cold

the air is, but is a major factor in the water cycle and in the

formation of winds.

The latitude of a particular place is the major factor in

determining what sort of temperature that place tends to have.

Other factors include the season of the year, altitude,

topography, ocean currents, and in our modern age, industrial

output.

Temperature is measured with thermometers. There are two

kinds of thermometers used for weather measures - those that

measure in Fahrenheit and those that measure in Celsius. The

freezing point on the Fahrenheit thermometer is 32 degrees and

is 0 degrees on the Celsius thermometer.

TEMPERATURE

Review questions..

2

_______Fill in the blanks with the best word.

____

________

_______

__________

3

Humidity is moisture in the air. There are several

measures of humidity. One is absolute humidity which is

the greatest amount of water vapor the air could hold at

a certain temperature.

Relative humidity is how much actual water vapor is in

the air at a certain temperature. Thus humidity is

expressed in terms of percents.

Humidity is measured with a hygrometer.

The rate of evaporation goes down as the humidity in

the air increases - there is not enough room in the air to

take more water vapor through the process of

evaporation.

HUMIDITY-

Re ie questions….

4

Fill in the blank with the correct word.

WORD BANK---

________

humidity

______

warm

________.

high

______

ocean

________

low

______

humid

5

Fill in the missing words.

Name the four kinds of air masses.

________________________ _________________________

________________________ _________________________

Answer True or False.

Answer the questions.

7

Although they are invisible, the air is filled with tiny molecules.

We feel these molecules press against us at times - this is air

pressure. Since the molecules in the air are so tiny and are

very active and spread out, we do not see them. However,

they do play a significant role in weather as well as many other

parts of our lives.

As the air is heated on a warm day, the molecules in the air

move faster and further apart. When the molecules are cooled

down, they move slower and move closer together.

Differences in air pressure help cause winds and affect air

masses. They are also factors in the formation of storms such

as thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes.

Differences in air pressure are shown on a weather map with

lines called isobars. The map below from NASA illustrates

isobars marking areas of high and low pressure.

High pressure areas generally have dry, good weather and

areas of low pressure have precipitation.

Air pressure is measured with a barometer.

AIR PRESSURE

8

AIR PRESSURE Fill in the blanks with the correct word.

WORD BANK---------

air pressure

__________

temperature

___________.

_______

heavier

_____,

rises

low

____.

________.

high

_____.

wind

__________.

barometer

10

Fill in the missing word.

Answer True or False.

Answer the questions.

11

Weather is the condition of the atmosphere in a place over a short period

of time. Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere, including weather

over such time. Because weather affects so many aspects of our life,

meteorology is an increasingly important science.

The first people to study weather were in ancient times with crude

instruments. Rapid communications in the middle of t he nineteenth

century truly changed weather predicting into more of a science with the

ability to get data to make predictions.

The instruments used to measure and predict the weather include

thermometers to measure heat, barometers to measure air pressure,

hygrometers to measure humidity, anemometers to measure wind speed,

wind vanes to measure wind direction as well as weather satellites,

rockets, radar.

Once data is received from the many stations around the country and fed

into computers, weather maps are drawn up. These have many isobars -

lines that separate areas of high pressure (anticyclones) and low pressure

(cyclones).

Weather fronts show the beginnings of different air masses - high and dry,

high and wet, low and dry and low and wet air masses.

Areas of precipitation and cloud cover are indicated as well. Based on the

data, weather forecasts are made.

Closeness to bodies of water and the topography of the land where a

station is located can also be factors in determining what the weather will

be like.

PREDICTING WEATHER

16

________ __________

__________

___________ __________

Predicting Weather Quiz

Do you know your....?

17

Tracking the weather

Answer TRUE or FALSE.

19

Make your own THERMOMETER……

Make your own ANEMOMETER 1- with cups

Make your own WEATHER VANE

Make your own BAROMETER

Make your own CLOUD WHEEL 1 & CLOUD CHART

Make your own CLOUD WHEEL 2

Make your own ANEMOMETER 2- with protractor

and Styrofoam ball & Beaufort Scale & Wind Chart

Make your own RAIN GAUGE

Make your own WHIRL HYGROMETER and Chart

Team Members:________________________________

_____________________________________________

GROUP________

4

2

3

1

5

6

7

9

8

20

Materials

An empty container with a wide top (e.g. empty can of beans or tuna, a big

cup, pickle jar, plastic, peanut butter jar..etc.)

A big balloon

Something straight, long, and light (e.g. a chopstick, straw, etc.)

Glue or tape

A couple rubber bands

A piece of cardboard

Tools

Scissors

Marker or pen

Time

Less than 30 minutes

Steps

Cut the bottom off the balloon.

Wrap the top of the balloon over the empty container and secure it with

your rubber bands.

Glue or tape your straight, long, and light pointer to the center of the

stretched balloon. If you find that the container can't hold up the pointer,

pour a little water in to add some weight.

Make a little stand out of your cardboard, and draw your barometer levels.

Line up your pointer to your cardboard gauge, and let the fun begin.

Low pressure typically indicates bad weather, while the high pressure

means more stable conditions

Cloud Watchers

Weather Forecasting Chart

Cumulus

Stratus Cirrus

If the cloud

is:

The weather

could be:

If the cloud

is:

The weather

could be:

If the cloud

is:

The weather

could be:

Low Sunny Low A little rain

Medium Thunderstorms Medium Rain

High Getting colder High Rain or snow

High Sunny, dry

Our Cloud Observations for ___________ (date)

Observation #1 Time:

Drawing Shape Level Color Temp. Rain?

Cumulus

Stratus

Cirrus

Low

Medium

High

White

Light

Gray

Dark Gray

Yes

No



Cumulus

Stratus

Cirrus

Low

Medium

High

White

Light

Gray

Dark Gray

Yes

No



Cumulus

Stratus

Cirrus

Low

Medium

High

White

Light

Gray

Dark Gray

Yes

No

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w.s

rh.n

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ov

ww

w.s

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ov

N

ational Weather Service

CloudSpotterNational Weather Service

for Safety, for Work, for Fun - FOR LIFE

Cutout

Cutout

Lesson plan: Head in the clouds. Cut along dotted lines and make a small hole in the center of both wheels. Attach

wheels together using a brass fastener. Record cloud observations onto a cloud observation form. Complete lesson

plan and PDF versions of wheels/forms are located at...

http://www.srh.weather.gov/srh/jetstream/synoptic/ll_clouds1.htm

There are over 35 lesson plans in the National Weather Service education website

JetStream - An Online School for Weather, a free resource at www.srh.noaa.gov.

JetStreamJetStreamAn Online School for Weather

High Clouds

16,000 - 50,000 feet

Middle Clouds

6,500 - 23,000 feet

Low Clouds

Up to 6,500 feet

Str

ato

cu

mu

lus

Pre

dom

inantly s

tratifo

rm in

the form

of re

latively

low

gra

y a

nd/o

r w

hitis

h

layer, s

heet or

patc

h

show

ing little v

ert

ical

develo

pm

ent.

Str

ato

cum

ulu

sele

ments

are

often

arr

anged in

bands o

r ro

lls.

Cirrostratus

Transparent or semitrans-

parent, whitish cloud veil

with hairlike or smooth

appearance, totally or

partially covering

the sky, and often

producing a

partial or

complete

halo.Nim

bostratus

Dark gray cloud that

produces steady rain.

Results from thickening

Altostratus. The cloud

base lowers as rain

increases

eventually

reaching the

‘low’ cloud

region.

Cumulo

nimbus

The thunders

torm

cloud

that c

an gro

w to o

ver 1

0

mile

s high. M

ature

clouds a

re id

entified

by the fla

t anvil

-

shaped to

p.This

flatte

ning

indicate

s the

height of t

hetro

po-pause

.

Cirro

cu

mu

lus

Thin

, white

patc

h o

r layer

of c

loud w

ithout s

hadin

g.

Com

posed o

f very

sm

all e

lem

ents

in

the fo

rm o

f gra

ins

or rip

ple

s. M

ost

ele

ments

appear le

ss

than th

e

wid

th o

f

one

finger.

AltocumulusComposed of mainly water

they appear as white or

gray colored roll-like

elements, bands or

individual puffs.

Tend to occur in

sheets or

patches with

wavy,

rounded

masses

or rolls.

Cu

mu

lus

Has v

ert

ical develo

pm

ent

that is

noticeable

. Looks

like w

hite flu

ffy b

alls

of

cotton w

ool. T

he fla

t

clo

ud b

ase, and its

ele

vation w

ill

depend u

pon the

hum

idity.

The

more

hum

id

the a

ir, th

e

low

er

the

clo

ud

base.

Stratu

s

Flat featu

reless

clouds t

hat

are lo

w to th

e gro

und.

These cl

ouds vary

in

color f

rom

gra

y to

white. U

sually

cove

ring th

e whole

sky.

Stratu

s

clouds a

lso

appear in

fragm

ents

during

periods

of

rain.

Alto

stra

tus

Gra

yis

h o

r blu

ish c

olo

r,

never w

hite

, and th

e

gre

ate

r part is

alw

ays

translu

cent e

nough to

reveal th

e s

un (o

r

moon). O

bje

cts

on

the g

round d

o

not c

ast

shadow

s a

nd

halo

s a

re

never

seen.

CirrusAppears as detached

clouds in the form of

white, delicate

filaments, or white, or

mostly white

patches or narrow

bands. These

clouds have a

hair-like

appearance,

or a silky

sheen,

or

both.

There are over 35 lesson plans in the National Weather Service education website

JetStream - An Online School for Weather, a free resource at www.srh.noaa.gov.

Identifying clouds is a terrific way for students to put their skills of obser-

vation and classification to work, as well as to launch them into weather

prediction. Clouds are only one of the many factors—including fronts, winds,

pressure systems, etc.—that contribute to predicting weather, but they are

one that students can easily observe. Note: Identifying clouds can be difficult

at first. Encourage students to make their best guesses based on the dominant

kind of clouds they see, or to list more than one type.

Direct ions

1Make a copy of the reproducible for each student. Show students how to make

the Cloud Key by cutting out both circles on pages 45 and 46, cutting out and

discarding the two shaded areas on page 45, and fastening the wheels togeth-

er. Page 45 goes on top.

2Show students how to use the key. Move the wheel until the

cloud you want appears, then read the name and weather

information in the box.

3Have students make a chart with these five headings:

“Date/Time,” “Cloud Type,” “A.M. Weather,” “P.M. Predicted

Weather,” “Actual P.M. Weather/Time.” (See the sample

shown here.) Invite students to fill in the chart every morn-

ing for a week, comparing their predictions to the actual

weather in the afternoon.

39

A C T I V I T Y

Cloud Key C L O U D S

Materials

(for each student)

reproducible pages 45 and 46

brass paper fastener

scissors

Th

e W

ow

’s an

d W

hy’s o

f Weath

er

Sch

ola

stic

Pro

fessio

nal B

oo

ks

Cloud Fin

der

46

Altocumulus

Thick b

lue-g

ray blanket-like

clouds m

ade o

f ice and

water a

t middle h

eights.

Rain or sn

ow likely

,

or a

t least

cloudy skies.

Strato

cumu

lus

Dark, heavy w

ater-d

roplet

clouds at lo

w or low

er-

middle heigh

ts. Ra

in

or sno

w very likely.

Cumulonimbus

Giant thunderhead clouds that

tower to high heights.

Thunderstorm

s with

heavy rain, hail,

winds, and

lightning

are on the

way.

Stratu

s

Flat la

yer of lo

w clouds. Light

rain, drizzle, or flu

rries

likely, overca

st skies

at be

st.

Cumulus

Fluffy lower clouds that often

“grow” during sunny days.

Usually mean fair weather

unless they grow tall

late in the day.

Cirrus

High wispy ice clouds.

Often seen in clear skies

and mean good weather,

but can mean a

change in the

weather!

The Wow’s and Why’s of Weather Scholastic Professional Books

45

Cloud Key

Cut out the wheel.

Cut out the two shaded areas inside the wheel.

This is the top wheel of your cloud key.

the weather unit science cycle 3 predicting · pdf filedifferences in air pressure are shown...

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