http://studyofplace.terc.edu/ActivityContent/M2_A3_S02b.html
http://oceanmotion.org/html/background/wind-driven-surface.htm
Global Wind Patterns
Ocean Currents
On the Left Side, respond to the statements. After the lesson, do the same thing on the RIGHT side. Take
notes on the back.
T
F
T F
1. All ocean current in the Atlantic Ocean moves in
X
a clockwise direction.
X
2. Ocean currents are always cold.
3. Wind affects currents.
4. Both the winds and the currents circle Antarctica.
X
5. After examining the data, you can conclude that
the direction of the wind is responsible for the
direction of the current.
X
6. Warm water currents only flow near the equator.
7. Cold-water currents flow away from the poles and
towards the equator.
8. Continents affect the direction of the winds.

X
X
X
X
Give one specific example of how the maps of winds and ocean currents are similar, and one specific
example of how they are different.
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Activity: Examining the effect of wind on ocean currents.
Questions to answer before the activity.
1. Describe what you think would happen to a body of water if you took a straw and blew across
the top of it?
Answers will vary
2. If the body of water was held inside the pan, what do you think would happen to the water
once it strikes the pan?
Answers will vary
Materials: baking pan that is at least one inch deep and 30 cm long, water, straws, and ground black pepper.
Method:
1. Each activity group is to fill the baking pan with one inch of water.
2. One corner of the pan should be sprinkled with 1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper.
3. Each person should stand in one of the four corners with a straw and blow gently across the top of the
water.
4. Record your observations on the effects of the wind (air blown through the straw) on a body of water
by tracking the black pepper movement and answer the questions below.
Questions to answer after the activity:
1. What did you observe happened when all four students blew across the top of the water in the baking
pan?
The wind pushed the water from one end of the pan to the other.
2. What happened after the water hit the edge of the pan?
The water reflected off the pan’s surface.
3. Why did the water reflect off of the pan?
The water cannot go past the edge of the pan.
4. Did the wind reflect off the pan?
No
5. Imagine the water in the pan represents the ocean and the side of the pan represents the edge of a
continent what would happen to the water when it would hit the continent?
Water would reflect off the continent.
6. What would happen to the wind when it came up to the continent?
Wind would move over the continent.
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Activity: Coriolis Effect
Questions to answer before the activity:
1. Can you draw a straight line across a spinning balloon?
Answers will vary
2. Do you think you can draw the same line from North to South Pole as the line from South to North
Pole?
Answers will vary
Materials: balloon, permanent markers
Method:
1. Blow up the balloon.
2. With the permanent marker, mark the North Pole, South Pole and equator.
3. Have partner 1 rotate the balloon like the Earth would rotate while partner 2 looks down the North
Pole. Answer question number 1.
4. Have partner 2 rotate the balloon while partner 1 looks up through the South Pole, answer question 2.
5. While partner 1 rotates the balloon steadily from left to right, partner 2 slowly tries to draw a line
straight south from the North Pole to the equator, using the other marker. While the Earth continues
to rotate, partner 1 tries to draw a line straight north from the South Pole to the equator. Answer
questions 3 and 4
Questions to answer during activity:
1. As you look down from the North Pole toward the equator, which way is the balloon spinning,
clockwise or counterclockwise?
The balloon appears to be spinning counterclockwise.
2. As you look up from the South Pole toward the equator, which way is the balloon spinning,
clockwise or counterclockwise?
The balloon appears to be spinning clockwise.
3. What happened when you tried to draw a straight line from the North Pole to the equator?
The line was not straight but instead veered west of the intended path (to the right, when
examining the line from the North Pole to the equator).
4. What happened when you tried to draw a straight line from the South Pole to the equator?
The line was not straight but instead veered west of the intended path (to the left, when
examining the line from the South Pole to the equator).
5. Predict what would happen if you again drew lines in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres but
with the Earth rotating in the opposite direction.
The curving of the objects in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres would be reversed.
Objects moving from the North Pole to the equator would veer to the left of their path and objects
moving from the South Pole toward the equator would veer to the right of their path (toward the
east, in both cases).
Name: ______________________________
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Date:__________
Step 1: Access the Internet and go to www.weather.com
Step 2: Type in the desired city into the upper right-hand search box and press search.
Step 3: Click on the ‘monthly’ box inside the menu on the left-hand side of the page.
Step 4: Scroll down the page and click on the yellow menu box titled ‘averages’.
Step 5: Record the data into the tables below.
East Coast City
Avg. Temp in
December(°F)
Avg. Temp in
March(°F)
Avg. Temp in
June(°F)
Avg. Temp in
September(°F)
Avg. Temp in
December(°F)
Avg. Temp in
March(°F)
Avg. Temp in
June(°F)
Avg. Temp in
September(°F)
Savannah, Ga
Washington
DC, MD
Augusta, Me
West Coast
City
San Diego, Ca
San Francisco,
Ca
Seattle, Wa
1. Group each east coast city to one west coast city that has almost the same distance North from the
equator.
a. Example: San Diego, Ca is just as far North from the equator as Savannah, Ga.
b. Washington DC, MD and San Francisco, Ca
c. Seattle, Wa and Augusta, Me
2. With an east coast city grouped with a west coat city, does each grouped city exhibit the same
average temperatures during summer, winter, fall and spring?
No, the west coast city has smaller averages
3. Which coast seems to have a higher yearly temperature and which ocean current affect this coast?
East Coast and the Gulf Stream current
a. Does this ocean current bring warm water from the equator or cold water from the poles?
Brings warm water from the equator
4. Which coast seems to have a lower yearly temperature and which ocean current affects this coast?
West Coast and the California current
a. Does this ocean current bring warm water from the equator or cold water from the poles?
Brings cold water from the poles
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