Introduction:
What is Weather?
What is Climate?
Ka Hana ΤImi NaΤauao ΠA Science Careers Curriculum Resource Go to: www.cds.hawaii.edu/kahana
Questions to think about
• What is climate?
• How is climate different from weather?
• Are they related?
• What controls the climate?
• Does climate change?
• Can climate be predicted?
• What is the climate in Hawai’i?
“Climate is what you expect … weather is
what you get!”
Energy In = Energy Out
Climatology considers the past and can help
predict future climate change.
Measuring Weather and Climate
1. Temperature
–
–
–
Hi
Lo
Range
2. Wind
–
–
Direction
Speed
3. Rainfall
–
–
Daily
Cumulative
4. Air Pressure
5. Humidity
1.Temperature
Thermometers measure temperature.
Types of thermometers:
- liquid-in glass
- bimetallic
- infrared
- thermoelectric
1.Temperature
Liquid in Glass Thermometer
• Most common for
everyday use (medicine,
cooking, etc.)
• Liquid is either mercury
or alcohol
• Difficult to automate
1.Temperature
Bimetallic Thermometer
• Uses a coil of two different
metals attached to one another
– Different metals expand at
different rates
• Used in:
– round outdoor thermometers
– thermostats
• Difficult to automate
1.Temperature
Infrared Thermometer
• Measures the infrared radiation
emitted by an object (like
night-vision)
• Used to take an instant temp
reading of the air.
• Easily automated
– but other aspects such as ground
color can affect temp readings
2.Wind
Wind Vane
• Measures wind direction
• Points parallel with the wind
• Has a “fatter” tail than head so it won’t
point 180º in the wrong direction.
2.Wind
Anemometer
(say “an-uh-MOM-e-ter”)
• Measures wind speed
• Common type = cup anemometer
• When the wind is gusty, it overestimates
the avg. wind speed because of momentum
• Must be placed far away from obstacles to
be accurate (Distance = 10x the height of
tallest object)
3. Rainfall
Rain Gauge
•
Tipping bucket rain gauge
•
How it works:
- Rain falls into one of two buckets
- When it’s fills up with .01” of rain,
gravity causes it to tip
- Other bucket fills and tips
- Number of tips counted electronically
4.Air Pressure
Barometer
• Measures atmospheric pressure
• Works like a weight scale for the
air above it
• Mercury barometer has a bowl
with liquid in it and a tube sealed
at the top and open at the bottom
immersed in the liquid. When
pressure rises, the mercury in the
tube rises.
Mercury Barometer
4.Air Pressure
Barometer
• Measures atmospheric pressure
• Aneroid barometer uses gears
attached to a sealed air container
that expands or contracts with
decreasing or increasing pressure
Aneroid Barometer
5. Humidity
Hygrometer
• Measures humidity
• Consists of two thermometers, one of
which includes a dry bulb and the
other a wet bulb. Comparisons of the
temperatures on a chart tell us the
relative humidity
• Dewpoint- temperature at which
water vapor condenses
Predictability
“If they can’t predict the weather, how can
they possibly hope to predict the climate?”
• Weather forecasts are only useful for a
few days, maybe a week at best.
Boundary-layer eddy:
Cumulonimbus clouds:
Mid-latitude cyclone:
Big standing waves:
El Niño:
Deep ocean circulation:
10 minutes
1 hour
3 days
10 days
100 days
50 years(?)
Satellites & Radar
Activity: Fast Facts Memory Games
Memory Game rules are:
a. Only 3 people to a team & everyone keeps
score
b. Only 5 minutes to plan
c. Only 30 seconds to show your memory game
d. Only 3 tries for another team to successfully
imitate your game (and only 2 teams can try
any one game)
e. Points awarded to each team for:
1 point – trying out another team’s game
2 points – getting another team’s game correct in 3 tries
3 points – getting another team’s game correct in 2 tries
4 points – getting another team’s game correct in 1 try
Activity: Fast Facts Memory Games
Memory Game options are:
1. Lots of instrument names rhyme … create a song, poem or
chant using rhyming words to memorize the new
vocabulary
2. Each instrument measures something different … create a
clap & match game to memorize instrument names & what
they measure (e.g. thermometer – temperature)
3. Each kind of thermometer looks different … draw
thermometer pictures on flashcards or the chalkboard &
match their names & uses to them
4. Predictions can be made for short term (weather) or long
term (climate) … create a mini-play, with or without
words, to memorize which different meteorological signs
predict weather or climate & how far into the future they
do so (e.g. cumulonimbus clouds predict 1 hour of cloud
activity)
Sources Cited