CLOUDSCAPES UNIT
The following lesson was created for the United States Postal Service by Dr.
Jacqueline Hansen in conjunction with the issue of the Cloudscapes postage stamps,
October 2004.
Lesson 1: Weather-Wise Guys
Grade: 4-5
Standards for the Cloudscapes Unit:
■ International Reading Association/National Council of Teachers of English Standards
for the English Language Arts: 1,3,4,5,6;
■ National Education Technology Standards: basic operations and concepts; social,
ethical, and human issues; technology research tools; technology problem-solving and
decision-making tools;
■ National Science Education Standards: Earth and Space Science Content Standards D
and E;
■ National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards: measurement, data analysis
and probability.
BULLETIN BOARD
Depict each fact on a raindrop or snowflake. Write weather words (and student-generated
definitions) as segments on a thermometer.
Fantastic Facts: (1) Only 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh.
(2) People are composed of 65% water.
(3) Each American uses about 100 gallons of water a day.
(4) Some deserts receive less than 1” of rain per year; rain forests get 400” per year.
Word Wall: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, exosphere, weather,
Hadley circulation, Coriolis Effect, infiltration, transpiration, evaporation, condensation,
and precipitation.
STAMP ASSORTMENT ACTIVITY
Using an assortment of stamps, students find 4 stamps to represent each of the seasons
and/or that show hot and cold places on our earth.
SET INDUCTION
When it gets really, really cold outside, how do you keep warm? Student responses might
include wearing layers of clothing or using layers of blankets.
The Earth needs protection from the intense rays of the sun and the extreme cold of outer
space. That is why the Earth is wrapped in several layers of air blankets, called the
atmosphere. The atmosphere is what makes Earth a planet that can support human life!
Today you’re going to learn about the layers of the atmosphere, what weather is, and the
water cycle. It is important to learn about the weather around us because it affects us
every day! As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Some are weather-wise; some are
otherwise.” Let’s learn how to be weather-wise guys and gals!
MINI-LECTURE
The atmosphere has five layers. All of our weather occurs in the troposphere, which
extends about 10 miles above the Earth’s surface. It contains mostly nitrogen and oxygen,
but also has smaller amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and
other gases. These create a miniature “greenhouse” to trap heat to keep the Earth’s
surface warm. Some special spy planes fly in the stratosphere, 10-30 miles above the
Earth’s surface. In this layer, concentrated ozone molecules absorb ultraviolet radiation
from the Sun to protect the Earth from too much heat. The coldest part of the atmosphere
is the mesosphere, which reaches from 30-50 miles away from the Earth’s surface. Space
shuttles and meteorites fly in the ionosphere (thermosphere), between 50-300 miles from
the surface, where temperatures can reach up to several thousand degrees Farenheit.
Satellites orbit in the exosphere, 300-1000 miles above the surface of the Earth. Weather
is caused when molecules of air are set into motion by the uneven heating of the Earth’s
surface. Heated tropical air rises and moves towards the North and South poles while
polar air sinks and flows towards the equator. This northsouth airflow is called the
Hadley circulation. Furthermore, because the earth spins at 1,038 mph at the equator and
0 mph at the poles, airflow is warped, causing the Coriolis Effect. This uneven spinning
and heating of the atmosphere causes jet streams, the water cycle, and other weather
phenomenon.
LITERATURE LINK
Discuss the stages of the water cycle: infiltration into the soil, transpiration through
leaves and roots, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Read The Magic School
Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole. Visit the local water treatment plant to discover
how water is recycled and how people can conserve water. After the visit, student teams
demonstrate their knowledge of the water cycle and importance of water conservation.
Option 1: Cut out two 8” circles from cardstock. Cut a “pie slice” in the top circle. Fasten
the circles in the center with a brad so that they will spin. Draw and label the stages of the
water cycle on the bottom circle so that only one stage shows in the pie-shaped window
at a time.
Option 2: Create water cycle mobiles. Cut a circular rim from cardstock. The top edge
will be a rainbow; the bottom edge is the ground. Suspend pictures of the water cycle at
appropriate points.
Option 3: Students create water conservation posters. Display at community sites with
the principal’s permission.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Make a rainbow by visiting WikiHow and following instructions for several ways to
create your own rainbow: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Rainbow.