The Heat is ON: Exploring the Interactions of Sun, Sea, and Sky!
Presented by Jennifer Brian, Sudeshna Lahiry, Carrie Stokes, and Connie Isidori
Saturday, November 9, 10 -11 am
Scheduled Room: GRB 332 AD
If you would like to pull up documents on your personal devices as we go through the
workshop you may access all links from the web address below:
http://www.alvinisd.net/cms/lib03/TX01001897/Centricity/Domain/1308/Agenda CAST 2013 The
Heat Is On Interactions of Sun Sea and Sky.docx
Overview:
Do you need a potpourri of tools, tips, and tried-and-true 5-E lessons used by veteran eighth
grade teachers to teach STAAR testable TEKS related to weather? Come join us to
experience hands-on learning activities that engage the brain and receive great ideas from
new resources for teaching or reviewing weather standards. All participants will receive a
weather review manipulative and several door prizes will be awarded for those attending the
entire session.
TEKS:
8(10) Climatic interactions exist among Earth, ocean, and weather systems.
(A) recognize that the Sun provides the energy that drives convection within the
atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents;
(B) identify how global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather using
weather maps that show high and low pressures and fronts; and
(C) identify the role of the oceans in the formation of weather systems such as
hurricanes.
Common Misconceptions:
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Students are unaware of the relationships between air pressure, winds, currents,
hurricanes, and the Sun’s energy.
Air has no mass.
Water in the ocean has the same properties everywhere.
Air in the sky has the same properties everywhere.
Density does not cause currents, only waves cause currents.
Big things are more dense, small things are less dense.
Big/heavy things sink, whereas small/light things float.
Any cold weather results in disproving the global warming theory.
Preliminary Concepts:
Students should already be formally introduced to the concepts of mass, density, and volume and
specifically the volume of a syringe. Students should also understand that equatorial regions on
the planet receive longer day light hours and more direct sunlight then polar regions causing the
poles to be cooler than the equator.
Vocabulary:
Salinity, thermohaline circulation, convection current, differential heating, high air pressure,
low air pressure,
Agenda
Objectives for Convection and Water Currents:
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Salt water and cold water are denser than fresh water and warm water. Salt water and
cold water are therefore heavier and sink.
When ocean water evaporates near the equator, the water becomes denser because
most of the salt remains in the water. Ocean water also becomes saltier and denser
near the poles as salt remains behind after water freezes. The densest ocean water is
found at the poles because it is both salty and cold.
Deep ocean currents are driven by thermohaline circulation or convection
currents that redistribute the heat absorbed at the equator around the planet. Our
current weather and climatic patterns are dependent upon this circulation.
Engage – A real attention getter! Flinn Density Box Demonstration Video.The
following activity can be substituted or used in conjunction with the
Flinn Density Box demonstration. This demonstration uses everyday
supplies to explore Temperature, Salinity, and Deep Ocean Currents
and it includes guided discussion questions to set up the foundation for
understanding convection currents.
Explore – “Bad News Bears” newspaper article: Students learn about why polar
bears are drowning in the arctic and what this could mean for the
future of ocean currents. Concept of convection current is introduced.
Explain – Density Bags Student and Density Bags Teacher: Test the effects of salinity
and temperature on the floating and sinking of liquid samples in jewelry bags.
Students predict what will happen and then explain why it happened in
writing.
Expand – Making Convection Currents: Students observe convection in water due to
temperature differences and describe the pattern of water movement with
words and pictures. During a class discussion students learn that the same
process happens in both the oceans and the atmosphere.
Evaluate –Lava Lamp Claim, Proof, Reasoning (CPR): Students have to predict
or make a claim concerning how Bob’s lava lamp will work with a low
wattage light bulb and support the claim with proof and reasoning
learned from class. Observing Convection: Interactive webpage and
quiz that models convection in the air.
Objectives for Oceans and Weather Systems:
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There are warm ocean currents and cool ocean currents as well as surface and deeper
density currents that together transfer heat absorbed at the equator around the globe.
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Ocean currents have a large impact on climates and weather patterns across the
globe. Our current weather and climatic patterns are dependent upon this
circulation.
Engage – Predicting Temperatures of Two Island Locations a discrepant event:
Students view a map of two islands, one on the equator and the other
north of the equator. They are asked based on their current knowledge
of climate and weather to compare the temperatures that they might
expect to find on the islands.
Explore – Graphing Actual Temperatures of Two Island Locations: Students are
given a table of mean monthly temperatures for both islands for one
year and asked to graph them. Coloring Warm and Cold Ocean
Currents: After labeling cold ocean currents and warm ocean currents
students are asked to explain the previous discrepant event.
Explain – Video “Hot Planet, Cold Comfort” (video trailer) with guided questions
that follow along with the video. The Gulf Stream is the great ocean
conveyor belt that brings warmth from the tropics to the higher
latitudes. However, as more fresh water enters the North Atlantic, this
conveyor is in danger of shutting down as with Europe’s Little Ice Age
that had devastating impacts on populations. Scientists study ocean
sediments and ice cores to figure out what caused the temperature
drop.
Expand – Coastal vs. Inland Temperatures / How does the Gulf of Mexico
influence the Texas climate? or have students research average
monthly high in June and average monthly low in January to determine
a temperature range for a coastal and inland city pair of their choice
from the same latitude. Students will record results on board for class
to create double bar graphs.
Evaluate – Think, Pair, Share with multiple choice questions.
Objectives for Air Pressure:
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Students will be able to describe how the properties of air (mass, volume) allow it to
create air pressure.
Students will have a better understanding of how atmospheric air pressure arises, and
is always present.
Students will be able to describe how differences in air pressure between two air
masses cause air movement. They will understand that relative high pressure always
moves toward relative low pressure.
Students will observe that a relationship exists between high or low air pressure and
temperature (the nature of the exact relationship will not be explored).
Engage – Paper Towel in Cup Air Volume Demonstration, Will Water Flow?,
Syringes with Marshmallows, Syringe Air Pressure Battles, Pressure
Effects Temperature, Inverted Cup (Most of these demos are explored
here).
Explore – Gas in a syringe interactive website: Students explore what happens to
the air pressure inside and outside of a syringe at the molecular level
as the plunger in the syringe barrel is compressed.
Explain – Air in a syringe student worksheet: Students draw pictures of air
molecules in a syringe as the plunger in the barrel of the syringe is
compressed and pulled up and then explain in writing the reasoning
behind their drawings.
Expand – Egg in a bottle: use air pressure to squeeze a hardboiled egg through
the mouth of a bottle, Collapsing can: use air pressure to
instantaneously cause a soda can to implode, Breaking a stick with
paper: use air pressure (seemingly a piece of light weight paper) to
break a stick in half.
Evaluate – Air Pressure Ideas: Snowball (Page Keeley Probes)
Helpful STAAR Review:
Students will use pizza pie card sorts to differentiate between high and low
pressure, cold and warm fronts, and sea breezes and land breezes.
HHH = High Pressure, Happy Weather, In a Hurry
LLL= Low Pressure, Lousy Weather, Last for Days
Additional Resources:
Flinn Density Box Ordering Information
For More Information, Contact:
Jennifer Brian
Connie Isidori
Eighth Grade Science/Robotics &
Engineering Teacher, Alvin ISD
jbrian@alvinisd.net Andy
Sixth Grade Science Teacher
Alvin ISD
cisidori@alvinisd.net Andy
Sudeshna Lahiry
Middle School Science Teacher
Houston ISD
Carrie Felder Stokes
Science Teacher
Arrow Academy Bethel’s Learning
Center
Carrie.stokes@arrowacademy.org
slahiry@houstonisd.org
Carrie Stokes