NAME: India Reynolds
SUBJECT: Science – Predicting Weather
OBJECTIVES:
 The student will learn the different instruments used to predict weather
 The student will learn to predict the weather by using home made
instruments and observations.
 The student will learn to collect data and make a prediction based of that
data.
 The student will learn to dress according to the environmental cues.
BENCHMARKS:
CCG - Understand changes occurring within the lithosphere, hydrosphere,
and atmosphere of the earth.
SC.05.ES.02
Describe patterns of seasonal weather.
SC.05.ES.02.01
Describe weather in measurable quantities including temperature,
wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation.
SC.05.ES.02.02
Interpret data over a period of time and use information to describe
changes in weather from day to day, week to week, and season to
season.
MATERIALS AND COST:
List the equipment and non-consumable materials and estimate costs of each.
Edmark (program provided through the district)……………………..$0
Wind Indicator
Clothe rectangle………………………………………………………………………. $1.00
Molding clay……………………………………………………………………………… $5.99
Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost……………………………$6.99
List the consumable supplies and estimated cost for presenting to a class of 10
students.
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Pipe cleaners……………………………………………………………………………………………$1.00
Pencil (classroom supplies)………………………………………………………………………..$0
2 liter soda bottle (recycled)……………………………………………………………………$0
Sharpie marker………………………………………………………………………………………. $1.00
Cardboard 8x11…………………………………………………………………………………………….50
Masking tape……………………………………………………………………………………………$2.39
Weather Data sheets (school copy machine)………………………………………. $0
Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost………………………………$4.89
Time:
Initial Prep Time: 3 hours
Preparation Time: 15 minutes per activity
0 minutes on a daily basis
Instruction Time: One full school year
Clean-up Time: Based on the student. Clean up is just another opportunity to teach
other skills needed for the individual to care for themselves at
an independent level.
Assessment: The assessment for this population of students is simply if they
are able to demonstrate the ability to predict the weather and
dress accordingly
BACK GROUND INFORMATION
PREDICTING WEATHER
http://www.virted.org/WEATHER/Predict.html
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 the nineteenth century truly changed
weather predicting into more of a science with the ability to get data to make
predictions. The first US government weather service was formed in 1870 and
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today is located in Maryland, with assistance from reports from many stations and
substations throughout the country.
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.
Tools Use for Weather Prediction
While the National Weather Service uses sophisticated equipment such as Doppler
radar and high-altitude balloons to collect data, you can use many of the same tools
they use.
Barometer
Barometers measure the air pressure, which is sometimes referred
to as barometric pressure. The pressure of the air on the pool of
mercury in the barometer causes the mercury to rise in a tube. We
measure the height of mercury in the tube in inches. Therefore, air
pressure is often stated in inches of mercury.
More common are anaeroid barometers, which don't contain mercury but have a
small box inside instead. The air pressure on this box causes it to change shape,
moving a needle on a gauge that indicates the air pressure. Normal air pressure
readings vary from 28 to 31. Quick changes in air pressure often mean a change in
the weather is about to occur. That's why you'll often hear and read about
barometric pressure during local weather reports.
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Anemometer
Meteorologists use anemometers to measure wind speed, but you
can estimate wind speed just by looking around. Watch how smoke
rises in chimneys, how leaves move in trees, and how flags wave in
the wind. Sailors and other people sometimes rate their
observations of wind speed according to the Beaufort scale.
If you don't have an anemometer to measure wind speeds, you can get a good idea
of how fast the wind is blowing just by looking at objects around you. In 1805, the
British Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort devised an observation scale for measuring
winds at sea. The Beaufort Scale measures winds by observing their effects on
sailing ships and waves. Beaufort's scale was later adapted for use on land and is
still used today by many weather stations.
Look at the diagrams below. Each represents one level on the Beaufort scale.
Wind Vane
While anemometers measure how fast the wind is blowing,
wind vanes tell you from which direction the wind is blowing.
And knowing where the wind is coming from might give you
clues to the temperature and the amount of water in the air
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moving into an area. For example, winds from the south are often warmer and carry
more moisture than winds from the north.
Psychrometer
Psychrometers, or wet bulb thermometers, measure relative
humidity. A psychrometer uses two thermometers, one bulb of
which is covered with a wet cloth. As the cloth dries, the cooling
effect of evaporation lowers the temperature on that
thermometer. Then the temperatures on the two thermometers
are compared on a special chart to find the relative humidity.
Often, the relative humidity is the weather condition that makes
people the most uncomfortable.
Thermometer
Thermometers measure the air temperature via the expansion or
contraction of a liquid or a metal as the air temperature changes.
Some thermometers contain red-colored alcohol, others contain
mercury, while still others have a bimetal coil attached to a gauge.
In the United States, temperature is measured using two scales, both of which are
based on the state of water at sea level. Most people use the Fahrenheit scale, on
which water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. Scientists and other
people who regularly use metric measurements measure temperature on the Celsius
scale, on which water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees.
Rain Gauge
Rain gauges are very simple instruments used to measure the
amount of liquid precipitation. Any open container with a flat
bottom and straight sides will work just by adding a scale of
inches to it. Other kinds of precipitation are usually recorded by
collecting the precipitation in a similar instrument, then letting the
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precipitation melt to find out the liquid equivalent. But at home, you might just
want to use a ruler or yardstick to measure a deep snowfall! Then you can use the
average conversion of 10 inches of snow equals 1 inch of rain to find out how much
water fell.
TEMPERATURE
http://www.virted.org/WEATHER/Temperature.html
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.
AIR PRESSURE
http://www.virted.org/WEATHER/Pressure.html
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
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pressure. High pressure areas generally have dry, good weather and areas of low
pressure have precipitation.
Air pressure is measured with a barometer.
PRECIPITATION
http://www.virted.org/WEATHER/Precipitation.htm
Precipitation is any form of water that falls to the earth from the sky - such as
hail, sleet, snow or rain.
Sleet is small, partly melted bits of ice. It is formed either by raindrops falling
through an air layer that is below freezing or a snowflake passing through an air
layer that is warmer and melts the snowflake. Hail is small bits of ice or ice and
snow that have a soft center. As the hailstones bounce up and down in the
atmosphere, they form alternating layers of harder and softer ice or snow until
some become quite big, though most are small. Snow is formed by water vapor
being frozen about a dust particle in the air, forming crystals of hexagonal shape.
Rain is water vapor that forms on a dust particle that becomes heavy enough to fall
from the sky.
Rain and snow amounts are measured with a rain gauge. A rain gauge is a special
container marked evenly so that the amount that falls in a given time period in a
location may be measured.
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WATER CYCLE
http://www.virted.org/WEATHER/WaterCycle.html
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic
cycle, is a cycle of evaporation and condensation
that continuously occurs on earth.
Water evaporates from our many bodies of
water as the earth is heated by the sun's rays.
This water vapor rises and then cools. The tiny
bits of water vapor condense back into liquid
form and eventually become heavy enough to
fall back down to earth in the form of rain or
other precipitation, with much of it replenishing
the bodies of water. Thus the water cycle is
very important to weather as a whole.
Clouds
The sun shines and heats a body
of water. Moisture from its
surface evaporates.
The water vapor then rises into
the sky where it begins to cool
down. The tiny bits of water
vapor come together to form
bigger droplets within clouds.
Clouds are collections of tiny water and/or ice
particles in the air. Clouds close to the earth
are called fog.
Clouds are created when water vapor in the air
cools below the dew point and forms droplets on
tiny particles in the air. This occurs when warm
air is pushed upwards into the atmosphere and
cools.
The clouds become bigger and
heavier with water droplets.
Eventually these water droplets
fall to earth again.
The rain falls back on the land
and water. The water will again
be heated and the process will
begin again.
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Clouds are classified by their shape and by their height in the atmosphere. The
names of the clouds come from Latin words that describe their characteristics:
CLOUD TYPE
High Clouds
DESCRIPTION
Cirrus - Generally made up of ice crystals, appear as
feathery "horse tails"
Cirrostratus - a thin white layer of clouds.
Cirrocumulus - Fluffier high white clouds.
Intermediate
Clouds
Altocumulus are thick, flattened layers of clouds
Low Clouds
Stratocumulus - quite large fluffy cloud layers
Altostratus - A thick gray layer of sometimes don't
allow the sun or moon to appear.
Stratus - A continuous cloud layer.
Nimbo stratus - A continuous cloud layer that is dark
and is seen on days of constant rain or snow.
Vertical Clouds
Cumulus - Huge fluffy clouds with a flat base bottom and
piled up into the sky.
Nimbocumulus - Dark cumulus clouds seen during
thunderstorms.
http://www.virted.org/WEATHER/WeatherMain.html
Cirrus Clouds
Cirrus clouds are the most common of the high clouds.
They are composed of ice and are thin, wispy clouds
blown in high winds into long streamers. Cirrus clouds
are usually white and predict fair to pleasant weather.
By watching the movement of cirrus clouds you can tell
from which direction weather is approaching. When
you see cirrus clouds, it usually indicates that a change
in the weather will occur within 24 hours.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
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Cirrostratus clouds are thin, sheet like high clouds that
often cover the entire sky. They are so thin that the
sun and moon can be seen through them. Cirrostratus
clouds usually come 12-24 hours before a rain or snow
storm. http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Cirrocumulus clouds
appear as small, rounded white puffs that appear in
long rows. The small ripples in the cirrocumulus clouds
sometime resemble the scales of a fish. Cirrocumulus
clouds are usually seen in the winter and indicate fair,
but cold weather. In tropical regions, they may
indicate an approaching hurricane. http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
"Alto" Clouds
Altostratus clouds are gray or blue-gray mid level
clouds composed of ice crystals and water droplets.
The clouds usually cover the entire sky. In the
thinner areas of the clouds, the sun may be dimly
visible as a round disk. Altostratus clouds often
form ahead of storms with continuous rain or snow.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Altocumulus clouds are mid level clouds that are made
of water droplets and appear as gray puffy masses.
They usually form in groups. If you see altocumulus
clouds on a warm, sticky morning, be prepared to see
thunderstorms late in the afternoon.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Stratus Clouds
Stratus clouds are uniform grayish clouds that often
cover the entire sky. They resemble fog that doesn't
reach the ground. Light mist or drizzle sometimes falls
out of these clouds.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
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Stratocumulus clouds are low, puffy and gray. Most
form in rows with blue sky visible in between them.
Rain rarely occurs with stratocumulus clouds; however,
they can turn into nimbostratus clouds.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Nimbostratus clouds
form a dark gray, wet looking cloudy layer associated
with continuously falling rain or snow. They often
produce precipitation that is usually light to moderate.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Cumulus Clouds
Cumulus clouds are white, puffy clouds that look like
pieces of floating cotton. Cumulus clouds are often
called "fair-weather clouds". The base of each cloud it
flat and the top of each cloud has rounded towers.
When the top of the cumulus clouds resemble the head
of a cauliflower, it is called cumulus congestus or
towering cumulus. These clouds grow upward and they
can develop into giant cumulonimbus clouds, which are thunderstorm clouds.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Cumulonimbus clouds are thunderstorm clouds. High
winds can flatten the top of the cloud into an anvil-like
shape. Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with heavy
rain, snow, hail, lightning and even tornadoes. The anvil
usually points in the direction the storm is moving.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
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Special Clouds
Mammatus clouds are low hanging bulges that droop
from cumulonimbus clouds. Mammatus clouds are
usually associated with severe weather.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Lenticular clouds are
caused by a wave wind
pattern created by the
mountains. They look like discs or flying saucers that
form near mountains.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Fog is a cloud on the ground. It is composed of billions
of tiny water droplets floating in the air. Fog exists if
the atmospheric visibility near the Earth's surface is
reduced to 1 kilometer or less.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Contrails are condensation trails left behind jet
aircrafts. Contrails form when hot humid air from jet
exhaust mixes with environmental air of low vapor
pressure and low temperature. The mixing is a result
of turbulence generated by the engine exhaust.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Green Clouds are often associated with severe
weather. They form when the clouds are illuminated by
light reflected off green vegetation, such as large
corn fields or a heavily wooded forest. In the Great
Plains region of the U.S. green clouds are associated
with storms likely to produce tornadoes.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm
Cloud types give you clues about what's going on in the atmosphere and can
sometimes alert you to weather changes ahead.
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Activity One
Weather Wheel
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/reproducibles/profbooks/cloudkey.pdf
http://z.about.com/d/weather/1/5/k/-/-/-/cloudtypesymbols.gif
Activity Two
Classroom Weather Station
This activity is part of the Edmark computer program in all of the Portland
Metropolitan Area. The activity is not meant to be completed all at once.
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The Weather Bear
Addition by: Barbara J. Shaw Ph.D.
After building the different instruments for weather prediction, you and your
students can predict the weather for tomorrow. This reinforces the predictive
nature of science, and how we refine our hypotheses as we receive more
information. Students are engaged in the prediction process.
MATERIALS AND COST:
List the equipment and non-consumable materials and estimate costs of each.
Stuffed teddy bear between infant and toddler size ....... 9.99 and up
Large outdoor thermometer .................................................... 3.99 and up
Sweater, hoodie, or coat ........................................................... 5.00 and up
Stocking cap (optional) ............................................................... 1.00 and up
Mittens (optional) ........................................................................ 1.00 and up
Scarf (optional) ............................................................................ 1.00 and up
Raincoat ......................................................................................... 5.00 and up
Umbrella (optional) ..................................................................... 5.00 and up
Short sleeve t-shirt ................................................................... 2.00 and up
Sunglasses (optional).................................................................. 5.00 and up
Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost............................... $34.99 and up
Time:
Initial Prep Time:
Preparation Time:
Instruction Time:
Clean-up Time:
1 hour shopping to purchase materials
0 minutes
One full school year, about 10 minutes each day
0 minutes
Procedure:
When purchasing the materials, select the Weather Bear first. Select the rest of
the clothing and items to fit the Weather Bear. I have found all the clothing I
need at Goodwill or other resale shops. I generally purchase my Weather Bears
and thermometers from Target. (I boycott Walmart.) Also be aware of gender
clothing. Do you want your students to determine what gender, or do you? This
can be a bit tricky, however, you know your students and the classroom identity
better than anyone.
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I show all the students how to reach a thermometer, and we talk about Celsius and
Fahrenheit scales. Water freezes at 0ºC and 32ºF. It is the exact same
temperature, just different scales.
To introduce Weather Bear, I have the students predict what the weather will be
like tomorrow from their various instruments today. I write their predictions on
the board and then tell them I need their help. I would like to have them adopt my
friend, but I need to make sure that they will take very good care of my friend.
My friend is very sensitive to hot, cold, and rain. If they will do their very best to
dress my friend appropriately for the next day, I will give them my friend. I then
show them Weather Bear. Needless to say, they are VERY excited. I then
produce the clothing, and the students determine what Weather Bear should wear.
I have the students help me dress Weather Bear.
I have included a chart for you and your class to collect your weather predictions
before determining how Weather Bear should dress for tomorrow. If you are
working with 2nd or 3rd graders, then you can add additional data for them to base
their predictions. The best would be air pressure.
Older students can graph their results (temperature and air pressure graphs can
be simple line graphs) denoting when their predictions are correct, and when their
predictions are incorrect.
The teachers and students pick a name for Weather Bear.
I am providing professional development with teachers, and I proudly use India’s
unit as a very valuable and suitable scientific inquiry unit. Even Kindergartners are
engaged and eager to dress Weather Bear appropriately, thus supporting science is
predictive in nature.
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Date: ___________________________________________________________________________________________
Predicting Weather
Cloud Type
Temperature
What Should
Bear Wear Tomorrow?
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
(predict
for the
weekend)
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