Download Weather on Earth Storyline - Elementary Science Curriculum

Science Home Page
Weather on Earth Storyline
Prepared Graduate Competency
Evaluate evidence that Earth's geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere interact as a complex system.
Big Ideas
Earth's surface changes constantly through a variety of processes and forces.
Weather conditions change because of the uneven heating of Earth's surface by the Sun's energy.
Weather changes are measured by differences in temperature, air pressure, wind and water in the
atmosphere and type of precipitation.
Enduring Understandings and Grade Level Expectations
Weather is the condition of the atmosphere’s temperature, humidity,
precipitation, wind, and air pressure at a given time and place.
The different energy-transferring properties of earth materials leads to
uneven heating of Earth’s surface.
Evaporation and condensation contribute to the movement of water
through the water cycle, redistributing water over Earth’s surface.
Climate is the average or typical weather that can be expected to occur in a
region of Earth’s surface, based on long-term data analysis.
Essential Questions
Why does the Sun heat different
surfaces at different rates?
Why does the weather change from
day to day?
Investigation 1: What is Weather?
Part One:
The Air Around Us
2 Days
Inquiry Question:
Science Home Page
Part Two:
Earth’s Atmosphere
2 Days
Inquiry Question:
Formative
Assessment
2 Days
Inquiry Question:
What is Earth’s
atmosphere?
What is Air?
Part Three:
Local Weather
How do
meteorologists
measure and record
weather variables?
Formative
Assessment
Formative
Assessment
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
Air is a mixture of gases.
Some are permanent;
others are variable,
depending on activities in
the environment.
Earth’s air is distributed
in layers that together
make up the atmosphere.
Weather is the condition of
Most of Earth’s air
resides in the troposphere,
the layer of the
atmosphere closest to
Earth’s surface.
Meteorology is the science of
weather, and meteorologists
are the scientists who study
Earth’s weather.
Air has mass, takes up
space, and is
compressible.
Weather happens in the
troposphere.
Science
Resources Book:
What is Air?
Science
Resources Book:
Earth’s
Atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere at a
given time in a given place.
Weather is described in
terms of several variables.
Specific instruments are used
to measure weather.
Science Resources
Book:
Weather Instruments
I Check
Investigation
1
Investigation 2: Heating Earth
Part One:
Heating Earth
Materials
4 Days
1 Day
Inquiry Question:
What happens to
earth materials
when they are
exposed to
sunlight?
Formative
Assessment
Science Home Page
Part Two:
Conduction
3 Days
Inquiry Question:
How does energy
transfer to the air?
1
Formative
Assessment
Part Three:
Convection
2 Days
Part Four:
Color and Energy
Transfer
3 Days
Inquiry Question:
Inquiry Question:
What happens
when a volume of
fluid is warmed at
the bottom?
Formative
Assessment
What is the best
design for a solar
water heater?
Formative
Assessment
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
The Sun is the major
source of energy that
heats the Earth.
The air is heated by
conduction between
Earth’s surfaces and air
particles as a result of
contact.
Convection is the
circulation of fluid
(liquid or gas) that
results in energy
transfer; cool masses
sink, lifting warm
masses.
A solar water heater is a
system designed to use
solar energy to heat
water. A solar collector is
a material used to absorb
solar energy.
The different energytransferring properties
of earth materials (soil
and water) can lead to
uneven heating of
Earth’s surface.
Science
Resources Book:
Uneven Heating
The air is heated by
absorption of energy
radiated directly from
the Sun and reradiated
from Earth’s surfaces.
Science Resources
Book:
Heating the Air:
Radiation and
Conduction
Convection currents are
driven by uneven
heating of Earth’s
surface.
Science Resources
Book:
Wind and Convection
Wind Power
A black collector surface
heats up water faster than
a white surface; a cover
makes the solar water
heater system efficient.
Science
Resources Book:
Solar Technology
I Check
Investigation
2
Investigation 3: Water Planet
Science Home Page
Part Two:
Evaporation
Part One:
Condensation
3 Days
Inquiry Question:
Part Three:
Water Cycle
2 Days
Inquiry Question:
What causes
condensation to
form?
Inquiry Question:
How does water
vapor get into the
air?
Formative
Assessment
3 Days
What is the water
cycle?
Formative
Assessment
Formative
Assessment
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
Condensation is the
process by which gas
(water vapor) changes
into liquid (water).
Evaporation is the process
by which liquid (water)
changes into gas (water
vapor).
Condensation occurs on a
cool surface
As temperature increases,
the rate of evaporation
increases.
Learning Outcomes:
Most of Earth’s water (97
percent) is salt water in the
ocean; Earth’s fresh water is
found in the atmosphere,
lakes and rivers, soil, ground
ice, ground water, and
glaciers.
Evaporation and
condensation contribute to
the movement of water
through the water cycle,
redistributing water over
Earth’s surface.
Science
Resources Book:
Condensation
The Sun’s energy drives
weather.
Science Resources Book:
Where is the Earth’s
Water?
The Water Cycle
I Check
Investigation
3
Investigation 4: Weather and Climate
Part One:
Severe Weather
Science Home Page
Part Two:
Weather Maps
2 Days
Inquiry Question:
Part Three:
Climate
3 Days
Inquiry Question:
Inquiry Question:
What causes severe
weather?
What information can
you get from a
weather map?
Formative
Assessment
Formative
Assessment
Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes:
The Sun’s energy drives
weather.
Meteorologists use three
main sources to acquire data
for forecasts: surface
measurements, atmospheric
measurements, and satellite
images.
Severe weather occurs when
one or more variables are
extreme, resulting in
conditions that are
dangerous or destructive.
What is the
difference between
weather and climate?
Summative
Assessment
Learning Outcomes:
Meteorologists use weather
maps to display weathervariable data as an aid to
forecasting weather.
Weather maps display high
and low pressure, weather
fronts, and precipitation.
Science
Resources Book:
Severe Weather
2 Days
Science
Resources Book:
Weather Maps
Climate is the average or
typical weather that can
be expected to occur in a
region of Earth’s surface,
based on long-term
observation and data
analysis.
If Earth’s mean
temperature continues to
rise, organisms, including
humans, will be affected
in many ways.
Science Resources
Book:
Earth’s Climates
Global Climate Change
I Check
Investigation
4