Weather

Discuss the seasons and what kinds of weather are typically found in each. Do you have all of these types of weather where you live?

Using the Beaufort Scale, small groups work together to determine the strength of the wind and discuss the number they would assign to the wind. Did everyone assess the wind as the same measurement? Why or why not?

Read about two related weather topics such as tornadoes & hurricanes, anemometers & the Beaufort Scale, or rain & snow. Write a paragraph explaining the relationships between the two.

Read an article published by NOAA (https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/) on severe weather events. Have students discuss examples of severe weather they may have experienced in their city. Do different regions of the United States experience similar or different types of extreme weather?

Sort various weather-related pictures and classify them. Count the pictures.

Using a weather map, compare the temperatures of various towns in your area for a given day. Discuss which ones were warmer, cooler, and by how much.

Rainwater is measured in inches. Using a ruler, measure water in various containers and place them in order from smallest to largest. Does the size of the container matter? Practice with whole numbers and mixed numbers.

Measure the time it takes for an ice cube to melt at room temperature. At the same time place an ice cube in a refrigerator. When the room-temperature ice cube has completely melted, check the one in the refrigerator. Discuss the difference between the two.

Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time. The four seasons occur in a specific order due to their weather patterns. Examples of qualitative observations could include descriptions of the weather (such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and warm); examples of quantitative observations could include numbers of sunny, windy, and rainy days in a month. Examples of patterns could include that it is usually cooler in the morning than in the afternoon and the number of sunny days versus cloudy days in different months.

Some kinds of weather are more likely than others in a given region. Weather scientists forecast the weather so that local communities can prepare for and respond to these events.

Sunlight warms Earth's surface.

Examples of structures could include umbrellas, canopies, and tents that minimize the warming effect of the sun.

Seasonal patterns of sunrise and sunset can be observed, described, and predicted. Seasons are created by weather patterns for a particular region and time. Local patterns create four distinct seasons. Emphasis is on relative comparisons of the amount of daylight in the winter to the amount in the spring or fall.

Wind and water can change the shape of the land. Examples of solutions could include different designs of dikes and windbreaks to hold back wind and water, and different designs for using shrubs, grass, and trees to hold back the land.

Scientists record patterns of the weather across different times and areas so that they can make predictions about what kind of weather might happen next. Examples of data could include average temperature, precipitation, and wind direction. Graphical displays could include pictographs and bar graphs.

Climate describes a range of an area's typical weather conditions and the extent to which those conditions vary over years.

A variety of natural hazards result from natural processes. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts. Examples of design solutions to weather-related hazards could include barriers to prevent flooding, wind resistant roofs, and lightning rods.

A variety of hazards result from natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions). Hazards cannot be eliminated, but their impacts can be reduced. Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions.

Earth's major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things.) These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth's surface materials and processes. The ocean influences climate. Mountain ranges influence winds and clouds in the atmosphere. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather.

Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land. Global movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight and gravity.

The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns. Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted using probability. Emphasis is on how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressures, causing weather (defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind) at a fixed location to change over time, and how sudden changes in weather can result when different air masses collide. Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Examples of data can be provided (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments.

The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect atmospheric flow patterns. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds.