Be an Expert: Weather

1. Today's weather     5 points
Describe today's weather. 

• Current temperature
• Today's  high temperature
• Today's  low temperature
• Barometric pressure; Rising or falling?
• Precipitation: Type and amount
• Wind Direction
• Wind Speed
• Humidity

2. Weather Vocabulary     5 points

• meterology
• climate
• forecast
• drizzling
• condensation
• evaporation
• Blizzard
• humidity
• fog
• wind
• lightning
• hail
• cloud
• millibar
• Doppler Radar
• precipitation
• sleet

3. Weather Dependence     5 points
Explain how weather is important to each of these groups.

• Farmers
  
  
• Sailors
  
  
• Pilots

4. Watch or Warning?     5 points
Describe the difference between a weather watch and a weather warning?

5. Weather and Climate      5 points
What is the difference between weather and climate?

6. Global Warming     5 points
List 3 pieces of evidence that support global warming.

7. Old Wives (and Husbands) Tales      5 points
List 4 weather folklore sayings that help predict the weather.
(Example: Rain before 7 stops by 11.)

8. Weather Instruments     5 points
What is the purpose for each of these weather instruments?

9. Dangerous Weather Conditions      10 points
Describe these dangerous weather conditions

10. Tornado Intensity Scale     5 points
Describe the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity.
Include the F scale number and wind speed.

11. Weather Records: Temperature     5 points

12. Weather Records: Precipitation      5 points

13. Weather Career     5 points

• What education is necessary to become a meteorologist?
  
  
• What training is necessary to become a meteorologist?
  
  
• What are the responsibilities of a meteorologist?
  
  

14. Identifying Clouds     5 points
Make a Cloud Key Wheel found at: http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/reproducibles/profbooks/cloudkey.pdf
Use the wheel in the next project.

15. Cloud in the Bottle     10 points
To demonstrate the principles involved in cloud formation you will make a cloud In a bottle. 
Demonstrate this in front of your class.

Materials
Wide mouth gallon pickle jar
Heavy duty clear plastic bag
Rubber bands or masking tape

Procedure
1. Place about 20 ml of water in a wide mouth gallon pickle jar
2. Place a lit match into the jar.
3. Quickly place a heavy duty clear plastic bag over the mouth of the jar and secure a firm seal by placing a rubber band/masking tape around the top of the jar.
4. Push the bag into the jar quickly, then pull the bag out. Observe!

This activity illustrates how humidity, temperature, and air pressure influence the formation of clouds. The water produces high humidity in the jar and the smoke introduced by the match provides nuclei on which the water vapor can condense. As the bag is pushed into the jar pressure and temperature in the jar increases causing the jar to clear. Upon pulling the bag out, pressure and temperature decrease allowing water vapor to condense and produce a "cloud" inside the jar.

16. Make Your Own Barometer      10 points

Materials a glass or beaker with straight sides a ruler (12 inch) tape one foot of clear plastic tubing a stick of chewing gum water

Procedure
1. Tape the ruler to the inside of the glass. Make sure that the numbers on the ruler are visible.
2. Tape the plastic tube to the ruler. Make sure that the tube is not touching the bottom of the glass.
3. Chew the stick of gum so that it is soft.
4. Fill the glass about half way with water.
5. Use the plastic tube like a straw and draw some water half way up the tube.
6. Use your tongue to trap the water in the tube.
7. Quickly move the gum onto the top of the tube to seal it.
8. Make a mark on the ruler to record where the water level is in the tube.
9. You'll notice, over time, that the water level rises and falls.
10. Each time you notice a change in the water level, make another mark.
11. Pay attention to the change in weather as the water level changes.

The water in the tube rises and falls because of air pressure exerted on the water in the glass. As the air presses down (increased atmospheric pressure) on the water in the glass, more water is pushed into the tube, causing the water level to rise. When the air pressure decreases on the water in the glass, some of the water will move down out of the tube, causing the water level to fall. The change in barometric pressure will help you to forecast the weather. Decreasing air pressure often indicates the approach of a low pressure area, which often brings clouds and precipitation. Increasing air pressure often means that a high pressure area is approaching, bringing with it clearing or fair weather.

17. Weather Log     10 points
Keep a daily weather log for 1 week.
Use TV, radio, the newspaper and the Internet as sources.

18.Wacky, Wild, Weather Forecast      5 Points
A mad-Libs weather asignment.
Fill in the missing words using parts of speech under each line.
Wacky, Wild, weather Forecast found at: http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/lesson_plans/wacky_weather.pdf

19.  Reading a Weather Map      15 Points
Study the map and answer the questions.

The following facts are important information to keep in mind when interpreting a weather map.

• Weather moves from west to east, about 500 miles a day. The United States is approximately 3,000 miles wide. So the weather in California today will move toward the east coast in about five days.
• Keep in mind that a cold front moves in the directions of the arrows on the symbol and often brings storms and cooler weather (usually a solid line with pointed triangles that are pointing in the direction the front is moving).
• A warm front often brings slow, steady rain with temperatures rising afterwards (usually a solid line with half circles that are pointing in the direction the front is moving).
• A stationary front means the weather (usually rain) is staying in one area for a prolonged time (usually a solid line with a combination of pointed triangles and half-circles on opposite sides of the line).
• A high pressure area forecasts clear skies (the letter H inside a circle).
• A low pressure area forecasts cloudiness and precipitation (the letter L inside a circle).

a. Name 2 states that are experiencing high pressure.

b. Name 2 states that will have rain in 2 days.

c. Name 2 states that are experiencing psrtly clouded conditions.

d. What type of weather front is moving into the eastern part of the United States?

e. What type of weather is your state experiencing?

f. Give a weather forecast for New York City for Friday, October 5.

g. What will the temperature be in North Dakota on Friday, October 5?

h. What is the temperature in northern Texas?

i. Which state will experience gusting winds, Mississippi or Iowa?

j. In 3 days, will Virginia most likely experience rain or sunshine?

k. What kind of front is going through the state of Montana?

20. Making a Thermometer     10 Points
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit invented the first accurate thermometer more than 200 years ago.
The Fahrenheit scale is named after him. We us the symbol (F) for Fahrenheit.
make your own thermometer.

MATERIALS
water
food coloring
a soft drink bottle (glass)
a clear plastic straw
modeling clay
marking pen
a pan of warm water
calculator
pencil and paper
a glass thermometer

DIRECTIONS
1. Color the water with several drops of food coloring
2. Fill the bottle with the colored water.
3. Mold the clay around the straw, about 2 inches from the end.
4. Insert the straw into the bottle and mold the clay so that you seal the straw.
    Do not let the bottom of the straw touch the bottom of the bottle.
5. The water will rise about one half inch above the clay seal.
6. Use the marking pen to mark the level of the water on the straw.
7. Check the room thermometer and write the temperature at your mark on the straw.
8. Fill the pan with warm water.
9. Set the bottle in the pan of warm water and wait for the water level to stop rising. Label that as the top reading.
10. Make equal spaced marks between the high and low temperatures.

21. Cloud Book     10 Points
Use Plymouth Stae College's cloud page found at: http://vortex.plymouth.edu/clouds.html/
Create a cloud book that displays the different types of clouds.
Organize your book into Low, Midddle, High, and Multi-layer Clouds.
Print out pictures and include information about the clouds.

22. Climograph     10 Points
Find the average temperature and precipitation for your community.
Record the information on on a line graph.
Use red for temperature and blue for precipitation.

Graph found at:
http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/science9/saskenviro/worddocs/climograph.pdf

ONLINE RESOURCES
A Career Guide for the Atmospheric Sciences found at:
http://www.ametsoc.org/atmoscareers/index.html

American Meteorological Society found at:
http://www.ametsoc.org/

Cloud Pictures found at:
http://www.scienceray.com/Earth-Sciences/Meteorology/How-to-Predict-the-Weather-Watching-Clouds.116193

Folklore and Weather Wit found at:
http://members.aol.com/Accustiver/wxworld_folk.html

Global Warming found at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarming/

How Might Global Climate Change Affect Life on Earth? found at: http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/esu501/esu501page01.cfm

How to Predict the Weather Without a Forecast found at:
http://www.wikihow.com/Predict-the-Weather-Without-a-Forecast

National Climatic Data Center found at:
http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html  

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found at:
http://www.noaa.gov/

Sources of Weather Information found at:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7639/atmosphere/wthrurls.htm

Weather Facts Page found at:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/teachertown/weathfac.html

Weather Symbols Chart found at:
http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PLBZ08.gif

Winter Weatherlore and Folklore Forecasts found at:
http://www.stormfax.com/wxfolk.htm

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