After Earth Winds, Currents and Climate LP
For Teachers: The following is a lesson plan designed to be used with the first section
of the Climate Change material from the After Earth Science website. We recommend
that you download and print the student worksheet pages and distribute them for
interactive use with the learning tools and animations provided by the web site on this
topic.
Goal: Understanding interactions of winds, currents and climate that set the stage for
human activities to influence the biosphere and contribute to climate change.
Objective: Students will be able to write an explanation in their own words of how
interactions among solar energy, winds and currents in the biosphere regulate heat and
create climate.
Overview: Directions for the exercise are contained in the body of the lesson plan.
 Students will first gain some related terms. We recommend that you allow
students to access the web freely to define these terms, and then conduct a
discussion to agree as a class on a definition for each term.
 Students will next access the web site and use the worksheet to master the
material presented on the site.
 Possible formative assessment for this lesson:
1. Last question of worksheet.
Key to student worksheet: (Note that underlined words in key are blanks on student
worksheet)
Winds, Currents and Climate
Objective: Students will be able to write an explanation in their own words of how
interactions among solar energy, winds and currents in the biosphere regulate heat and
create climate.
When scientists want to investigate a question or run an experiment, the first
thing they do is learn as much as they can about the subject. This worksheet is
designed to help you organize your notes on a very complex subject.
Define the terms below:
Climate
Weather
Circulation
Current
Go to the Climate Change page: (link) Fill in the notes below:
Our Global Climate System:
1. Our global climate system is powered by solar energy in the form of heat.
2. If the amount of heat retained in the biosphere changes, or if the distribution of
heat between the equator and the poles changes, then the structure and the
operation of the climate system will CHANGE.
Write sentence #2 in your own words, below. OR draw a diagram.
3. Warm air rises . Cold air falls (or sinks). Near the equator, intense solar radiation
heats Earth’s surface and air above it. As that air warms, it rises. As it rises, it
spreads north and south, loses heat to space, and ultimately sinks back towards
Earth’s surface. This rising and falling produces cells of circulating air that move
in opposite directions north and south of the equator.
View the first visual and draw a diagram of these cells below.
4. Read the second paragraph and watch the second visual.
Similar processes of heating and cooling produce two more sets of circulating cells
one each in the northern and southern temperate zones, and one centered over each
pole. Because Earth is spinning, the laws of physics cause this rising and falling air to
blow sideways as it moves across Earth’s surface. Air circulating in cells just north and
south of the equator blows from east to west. Air circulating over the temperate zones
blows from west to east. The cells over the poles produce winds that blow from east to
west.
After watching the second animation, draw a labeled diagram of the hemisphere in which
you live showing the circulation of the atmosphere.
5. Read the paragraph that begins: “These data show two things.” In your own words,
tell what the data show. (Sample answer: 1-Easterly winds at the equator, westerly
winds in temperate zones, easterly winds at poles, 2- You can see large blobs of
red that show industrial activity and burning forests releasing large amounts of
carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.)
6. Ocean Currents. Read the next paragraph and view the visual. Fill in the blanks,
below. These prevailing winds blowing over the oceans push surface water around,
helping to drive “rivers within the seas” that we call currents. Those currents are more
complicated than prevailing winds, because continents get in their way.
Watch the animation and then draw a diagram of the ocean nearest you and the
circulation of currents in it.
7. Ocean Currents, continued. Read the next paragraph and view the visual. Fill in the
notes, below:
These currents are extremely important to climate. Why? Because solar energy also
heats oceans in the tropics, so currents flowing out of the tropics carry enormous
amounts of heat, which researchers can measure and track by satellite. The data shown
below use color to indicate sea surface temperature. Watch as warm water flows west
from the tropical Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico, and then around the tip of Florida to
form the Gulf Stream.
Watch the animation of the Gulf Stream. Notice how this current is like a river in the
ocean. In the space below, draw a map of what you see in the animation of where the
Gulf Stream circulates. Label the following on your map: Atlantic Ocean, North America,
Florida, Massachusetts (Cape Cod), England, Western Europe. Draw in the Gulf Stream
current and show the direction of flow.
Why is the climate in England warmer and milder, on average, than the climate in New
Foundland, Canada (which is at the same latitude)? Sample answer: Because the
gulf stream current transports water heated at the equator to the coast of England
and Western Europe which gives off heat.
8. Ocean currents and the winds that drive them affect more than just temperature.
Currents, especially warm currents, release lots of water vapor to air moving above
them. What happens to that water vapor? Sooner or later, and somewhere or other, that
water vapor falls as rain or snow. Just where and when that precipitation falls depends
on which way the winds blow, and how air temperature in those winds changes.
Warm air can carry more water vapor than colder air. When winds run into
mountains, air is forced upwards, and it cools. That cooling causes lots of water
vapor to condense and fall.
Watch the next animation. On the map below:
A. Draw arrows that show the direction the major winds are blowing--The westerlies
in the temperate zones of the northern and southern hemispheres, and the trade
winds of the equator.
B. Watch where the yellow occurs (precipitation) in the animation. Place some X’s
where the major precipitation falls--in South America; in North America; in
Europe and in Africa.
C. Now look at a globe in the classroom or other map that shows where mountain
ranges are. Does the location of your X’s confirm the idea that water vapor is being
blown in from the ocean and forced up over the mountain ranges to condense? Yes
D. Based on the diagram you are making from these data, label your map with RF for
areas you would expect to be rain forests. (should show Amazon Basin, South
America; possible Cascade Mts and Coastal Mts of North America; Alaskan
Pennisula; possible Central America, central Africa, Indonesia)
E. Again, based on the diagram you are making from these data, label your map with D
for areas you would expect to be deserts. (likely N. Africa, Egypt, India)
In a paragraph below, explain why the rain forests are located where they are in the
world, and why the deserts are located where they are in the world. (Sample Answer:
The water vapor from the ocean gets swept up by the large circulation of winds on
the planet and then gets forced up over mountain ranges on land. This causes the
water vapor to condense and LOTS of rain to fall which is a great place for rain
forests to be. Deserts are created on the other sides of mountains, when all the
water vapor that came from the oceans has already been taken out of the
atmosphere.)
In your own words, how do the winds, ocean and currents create climate? (Hint, look at
the summary paragraph on the website page for help.)
Sample Student Answer: The “machinery” that creates climate is powered by heat
that is trapped in the biosphere. Air/atmosphere warms and rises, and moves as
winds around the Earth. These winds move in directions that are prompted by the
spinning of the Earth and the rising and falling of the warm and cold air cells.
Winds blow across ocean waters and create currents that move in the same
direction as the winds, until they bump into continents. The transport of warm
ocean water around the earth contributes to milder climates in some areas as heat
is dispersed. The oceans also contribute water vapor to the air which can then be
pushed up over mountain chains by the prevailing winds. This causes the water
vapor to condense and fall to earth creating wet zones where forests may grow on
the windward sides of mountain chains, and dry zones where deserts may form on
the leeward sides of mountains.
Winds, Currents and Climate
Student Worksheet
Objective: Students will be able to write an explanation in their own words of the
interactions among wind, current and heat in the biosphere that create climate.
When scientists want to investigate a question or run an experiment, the first
thing they do is learn as much as they can about the subject. This worksheet is
designed to help you organize your notes on a very complex subject.
To get started, some vocabulary. Define the terms, below:
Climate
Weather
Circulation
Current
Go to the Climate Change page (List link address here)
Fill in the notes below:
Our Global Climate System:
1. Our global climate system is powered by __________ _________ in the form of
_________.
2. If the amount of heat retained in the biosphere changes, or if the distribution of heat
between the equator and the poles changes, then the ___________and the
___________
of the climate system will CHANGE. Write sentence #2 in your own words, below. OR
draw a diagram.
3. Warm air ___________ . Cold air ____________
Near the equator, intense solar radiation heats __________ _________and _______
above it. As that air __________, it rises. As it rises, it spreads ________ and
________, loses _________to _________, and ultimately ________back towards
Earth’s ________. This rising and falling produces cells of circulating air that move in
__________ ______________ north and south of the equator. View the first visual and
draw a diagram of these cells below.
4. Read the second paragraph and watch the second visual.
Similar processes of __________ and ___________ produce _____ more _________ of
circulating cells –one each in the northern and southern ______________
___________, and one ___________ __________ ___________ ___________.
Because Earth is ________________, the laws of physics cause this rising and falling
air to blow ____________ as it moves __________ ___________ ____________. Air
circulating in cells just north and south of the __________blows from__________ ____
___________. Air circulating over the ____________ __________ blows from
________ ____ ______. The cells over the ___________ produce winds that blow from
________ ____ ______.
After watching the second animation, draw a labeled diagram of the hemisphere in which
you live showing the circulation of the atmosphere.
5. Read the paragraph that begins: “These data show two things.” In your own words,
tell what the data show.
6. Ocean Currents. Read the next paragraph and view the visual. Fill in the blanks,
below. These prevailing winds __________over the oceans __________ ___________
_________ around, helping to drive “rivers within the seas” that we call ____________.
Those currents are more complicated than ____________ ______________, because
_________________ __________ __________ _____________ _______________.
Watch the animation and then draw a diagram of the ocean nearest you and the
circulation of currents in it.
7. Ocean Currents, continued. Read the next paragraph and view the visual. Fill in the
notes, below:
These currents are extremely important to climate. Why? Because ___________
____________also heats __________ in the ___________, so currents flowing out of
the tropics carry ____________ ___________ _______ ________, which researchers
can measure and track by satellite. The data shown below use color to indicate _______
__________ ___________. Watch as ___________ __________ flows west from the
tropical Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico, and then around the tip of Florida to form the
__________ ___________.
Watch the animation of the Gulf Stream. Notice how this current is like a river in the
ocean. In the space below, draw a map of what you see in the animation of where the
Gulf Stream circulates. Label the following on your map: Atlantic Ocean, North America,
Florida, Massachusetts (Cape Cod), England, Western Europe. Draw in the Gulf Stream
current and show the direction of flow.
Why is the climate in England warmer and milder, on average, than the climate in New
Foundland, Canada (which is at the same latitude)?
8. Ocean currents and the winds that ________ __________ affect more than just
____________. Currents, especially warm currents, release ________ _____
________ __________ to air moving above them. What happens to that water vapor?
Sooner or later, and somewhere or other, that _________ vapor _______ as ________
or _________. Just where and when that ______________ __________ depends on
_______ _________ the ________ ________, and _______ _______
_____________ in those winds ______________. Warm air can carry ________ water
vapor than colder air. When winds run into _________________, air is _____________
____________, and it _____________. That cooling causes lots of ____________
___________ to ____________ and ___________.
Watch the next animation. On the map below:
A. Draw arrows that show the direction the major winds are blowing--The westerlies in
the temperate zones of the northern and southern hemispheres, and the trade winds of
the equator.
B. Watch where the yellow occurs (precipitation) in the animation. Place some X’s
where the major precipitation falls--in South America; in North America; in Europe and in
Africa.
C. Now look at a globe in the classroom or other map that shows where mountain
ranges are. Does the location of your X’s confirm the idea that water vapor is being
blown in from the ocean and forced up over the mountain ranges to condense?
D. Based on the diagram you are making from these data, label your map with RF for
areas you would expect to be rain forests.
E. Again, based on the diagram you are making from these data, label your map with D
for areas you would expect to be deserts.
In a paragraph below, explain why the rain forests are located where they are in the
world, and why the deserts are located where they are in the world.
In your own words, how do the winds, oceans and currents create climate? (Hint, look at
the summary paragraph on the website page for help.)