Weather
BLOCK 1 2014-2015
What we KNOW…
 The earth is has atmospheres.
The lowest one is troposphere,
then stratosphere,
thermosphere, ionosphere,
exosphere.
 Hail is more common in warm
places than it is in cold places.
 There are many forms of water
and other similar gases and
liquids.
 Water Cycle: evaporates to the
clouds and then comes down
again
 Humidity is “water giblets” in
the air.
 Thermometers measure
temperatures in Fahrenheit and
Celsius.
 The sun is the most important in
the water cycle.
 Tsunamis are created when the
Earths’ plates are moving under
the sea.
 One who studies meteorology is
called a meteorologist.
 An earthquake happens when
the plates shift together and hit
each other.
 Sun affects the water.
 Evaporation is when water
comes up and goes into the
clouds.
 There are tools that can tell
temperature in the future and
present.
What we WANT to know…
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How are tornadoes formed?
What is global warming?
How does water evaporate?
Why do places have different
temperatures?
“I want to be able to memorize the
layers of the atmosphere.”
How thunder and lightning created?
How is hail created?
If a solid object went through a cloud,
would it make it rain?
What are the different types of clouds?
Is rain fresh water?
How does the sun impact the weather?
What is thunder snow?
How do people know the weather of
the day?
How are tornadoes different from
hurricanes?
Why does temperature change?
How do snowstorms happen?
What is acid rain?
Why does water turn into ice?
Why does it rain? Does it have to be
cold rain or can it be hot rain because
it’s closer to the sun?
With evaporation, why does moisture
stop at the clouds instead of continuing
upward?
Why are trees turned white when
struck by lightning?
How do storms form?
Why is temperature measured in
Fahrenheit in the US and Celsius other
places?
What we will LEARN…
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Weather can change daily.
Many factors are measured to describe and predict weather
conditions… LIKE:
o Wind speed and direction
o Precipitation
o Temperature
o Air pressure
In different latitudes and hemispheres, there are different
and sometimes opposite seasonal weather patterns.
Learn to read basic weather instruments LIKE:
o Thermometer  Temperature
o Barometer  Atmospheric pressure
o Anemometer  Wind speed
o Wind vane  Wind direction
o Rain gauge  Precipitation
(AKA udometer, pluviometer, ombrometer)
Presence and types of clouds:
stratus, cirrus, cumulus, fronts
Warm and Cold Fronts
Make basic weather predictions!
Local weather conditions influenced by global factors like
air and water currents.
Jet stream
Gulf stream
El Niño
Hurricanes are shorts storms that form over WARM ocean
water; caused by global weather patterns.
Sun is driving force of energy for most biotic & abiotic
cycles on Earth’s surface. Sun’s energy fuels Water Cycle
(evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation).
When warm things and cool things come together, warm
things lose heat and cool things gain it until same
temperature (could be touching or at a distance)!
HEAT TRANSFER  Conduction, Convection, Radiation!
Convection in the oceans and atmosphere helps move
thermal energy around Earth and influences weather and
climate!
Conductors vs. Insulators!
Weather
BLOCK 2 2014-2015
What we KNOW…
What we WANT to know…
 Everything is really black and
white but the air and sun
affect our eyes to see color.
 Weather is storms, droughts,
tornadoes, etc.
 In the desert there are sand
holes. “I think tornadoes
make sand holes.”
 The Water Cycle is a pattern.
 Due to some weather
changes, there can be an
effect on Earth. For example,
ice can cause rock to crack.
 Rain makes metal rust.
 Tornadoes happen by hot air
and cold air mixing.
 Water vapor goes up to the
clouds and if it’s cold, the
water vapor will turn into ice.
 Condensation is when water
freezes and turns into a
different type of
precipitation.
 Weather has to do with
climate.
 Cloud cover is when clouds
cover part of the sky.
 Rain falls from the clouds
because the clouds get so
heavy.
 Weather has to do with water.
 How do meteorologists tell the
weather?
 How do tornadoes form?
 What changes weather?
 How do you make clouds?
 Why is lightning attracted to metal?
 How do anemometers and
barometers work?
 What makes tsunamis?
 How do people make black clouds?
 How does water fall from the sky?
 How are hurricanes and hail storms
made?
 Are there any more different clouds
than what are listed in the weather
glossary?
 When water evaporates, how does
it stop?
 Can there be weather when there is
no gravity?
 What is magma?
 How do clouds turn grey?
 How does lightning form?
 Does weather change in space?
 Do heat waves create fires?
 Why do clouds stay in the sky?
 What is barometric pressure?
 How does a storm crack a rock or
stones?
 If clouds are in the air for a long
period of time, how do they
disappear?
What we will LEARN…
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






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Weather can change daily.
Many factors are measured to describe and predict weather
conditions… LIKE:
o Wind speed and direction
o Precipitation
o Temperature
o Air pressure
In different latitudes and hemispheres, there are different
and sometimes opposite seasonal weather patterns.
Learn to read basic weather instruments LIKE:
o Thermometer  Temperature
o Barometer  Atmospheric pressure
o Anemometer  Wind speed
o Wind vane  Wind direction
o Rain gauge  Precipitation
(AKA udometer, pluviometer, ombrometer)
Presence and types of clouds:
stratus, cirrus, cumulus, fronts
Warm and Cold Fronts
Make basic weather predictions!
Local weather conditions influenced by global factors like
air and water currents.
Jet stream
Gulf stream
El Niño
Hurricanes are shorts storms that form over WARM ocean
water; caused by global weather patterns.
Sun is driving force of energy for most biotic & abiotic
cycles on Earth’s surface. Sun’s energy fuels Water Cycle
(evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation).
When warm things and cool things come together, warm
things lose heat and cool things gain it until same
temperature (could be touching or at a distance)!
HEAT TRANSFER  Conduction, Convection, Radiation!
Convection in the oceans and atmosphere helps move
thermal energy around Earth and influences weather and
climate!
Conductors vs. Insulators!
Weather
BLOCK 3 2014-2015
What we KNOW…
What we WANT to know…
 I know there is evaporation
when hot air comes – this is a
part of the Water Cycle.
 Lightning is produced when
positive and negative energies
combine. Thunder is produced
when hot molecules created by
lightning mix with cold
molecules.
 Snow is formed when water
evaporates into clouds, the
molecules freeze and mix
together.
 A meteorologist is a person who
studies weather.
 Weather can affect solids.
 When water molecules aren’t in
motion very much, they get
packed together and become
solid water to create snow/hail.
 Precipitation is rain, snow, hail,
ice, etc.
 Tornadoes are formed when
warm air and cool air are
combined and wind starts to
move around. Then the cyclone
touches down.
 When it’s below zero degrees,
it’s below freezing.
 A cloud is made up of gases and
water. When it holds too much
water, it rains.
 Weather controls how the day
would look outside.
 If there was no weather, what would
happen?
 How does the weather man predict
tomorrow’s weather?
 How does everything work with
weather?
 How does water form to ice and snow?
 What are clouds made of?
 Why is the sky blue during the day?
 What is the purpose of weather?
 More about the types of clouds…
 How is humidity formed?
 How are tornadoes formed?
 Why does it rain?
 How does weather start?
 How does lightning happen?
 What is the ocean’s affect on weather?
 What is weather’s affect on the ocean?
 How are different tools used in
weather?
 What makes clouds white?
 Why isn’t the earth pulling clouds to it
with gravity?
 Why does gravity pull clouds down as
fog in certain times?
 How does a hurricane start?
 How does the water cycle start?
 How do we get droughts when it’s
moist?
 When it rains, where does water go
after it goes into sewers?
 How does the soil absorb water?
 How does it rain sometimes in one spot
but not in another?
What we will LEARN…
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


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




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Weather can change daily.
Many factors are measured to describe and predict weather
conditions… LIKE:
o Wind speed and direction
o Precipitation
o Temperature
o Air pressure
In different latitudes and hemispheres, there are different
and sometimes opposite seasonal weather patterns.
Learn to read basic weather instruments LIKE:
o Thermometer  Temperature
o Barometer  Atmospheric pressure
o Anemometer  Wind speed
o Wind vane  Wind direction
o Rain gauge  Precipitation
(AKA udometer, pluviometer, ombrometer)
Presence and types of clouds:
stratus, cirrus, cumulus, fronts
Warm and Cold Fronts
Make basic weather predictions!
Local weather conditions influenced by global factors like
air and water currents.
Jet stream
Gulf stream
El Niño
Hurricanes are shorts storms that form over WARM ocean
water; caused by global weather patterns.
Sun is driving force of energy for most biotic & abiotic
cycles on Earth’s surface. Sun’s energy fuels Water Cycle
(evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation).
When warm things and cool things come together, warm
things lose heat and cool things gain it until same
temperature (could be touching or at a distance)!
HEAT TRANSFER  Conduction, Convection, Radiation!
Convection in the oceans and atmosphere helps move
thermal energy around Earth and influences weather and
climate!
Conductors vs. Insulators!
5.E.1.1
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Weather can change daily.
Many factors are measured to describe and predict weather
conditions… LIKE:
o Wind speed and direction
o Precipitation
o Temperature
o Air pressure
In different latitudes and hemispheres, there are different and
sometimes opposite seasonal weather patterns.
5.E.1.2 Collect and compare weather data to
predict the chances of a particular weather
condition.
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Learn to read basic weather instruments LIKE:
o Thermometer  Temperature
o Barometer  Atmospheric pressure
o Anemometer  Wind speed
o Wind vane  Wind direction
o Rain gauge  Precipitation
(AKA udometer, pluviometer, ombrometer)
Atmospheric conditions associated with weather patterns…
LIKE:
o Presence and types of clouds:
stratus, cirrus, cumulus, fronts
o Fronts (Warm and Cold)
Make basic weather predictions!
5.E.1.3 Local weather conditions are influenced
by global factors like air and water currents.
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Jet stream = air current in upper atmosphere (over North
America) that has powerful influence on weather conditions
there.
Flows from WEST to EAST and changes location depending
on global conditions.
GULF stream = warm water surface current in Atlantic Ocean
that moves from SOUTH Florida UP the EASTERN seaboard and
ACROSS the ATLANTIC.
o Moderates weather along EASTERN seaboard, warms the air
and land there during cooler months.
El Niño = Water in the PACIFIC Ocean (near equator) gets
hotter than usual. Warm water in WEST Pacific in a normal year
(forms thunderstorms); In an El Niño year, warmest water
moves EAST across Pacific; thunderstorms disrupt the jet stream
and change weather pattern. Affects North & South America for
a long time.
Hurricanes are shorts storms that form over WARM ocean
water; caused by global weather patterns.
o
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5.P.2.1 Sun is driving force of energy for most
biotic & abiotic cycles on Earth’s surface. Sun’s
energy fuels water cycle (evaporation, transpiration,
condensation, precipitation).


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When warm things and cool things come together, warm things
lose heat and cool things gain it until same temperature (could
be touching or at a distance)!
HEAT TRANSFER  Conduction, Convection, Radiation!
Convection in the oceans and atmosphere helps move thermal
energy around Earth and influences weather and climate!
5.P.3.2 Heating and cooling can cause changes in
materials, but not all materials are the same.
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Many kinds of changes occur at faster and higher temps.!
Conductors vs. Insulators!