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TEACHER RESOURCE NETWORK/TEACHER CHANNEL®
Grade 6: Meteorology & Oceanography:
The Impact of weather and climate on the Earth
I. Time Required: 1 to 3 class periods for culminating activity.
II. Overview:
a. Students will observe how the interaction of atmospheric conditions effect weather and
climate.
b. The pre-requisite skills required for this activity should be commensurate with grade level. They
should have prior knowledge of the earth as a planet, water, and air.
III. Standards addressed in the module:
c. S6E2. Students will understand the effects of the relative
positions of the earth, moon,
and sun.
c. Relate the tilt of the earth to the distribution of
sunlight throughout the year and its
effect on climate.
S6E4. Students will understand how the distribution of land and
oceans affects climate and
weather.
a. Demonstrate that land and water absorb and lose heat at
different rates and explain
the resulting effects on weather
patterns.
b. Relate unequal heating of land and water surfaces to form
large global wind systems
and weather events such as
tornados and thunderstorms.
c. Relate how moisture evaporating from the oceans affects
the weather patterns and
weather events such as hurricane.
S6E6. Students will describe various sources of energy and with
their uses and
conservation.
a. Explain the role of the sun as the major source of energy
and its relationship to wind
and water energy.
d. Related Standards addressed in the module:
1. S6E3.
IV.
Enduring Understandings:
a. Students will understand:
1. Because the Earth turns daily on an axis that is tilted relative to the plane of the Earth's yearly
orbit around the sun, sunlight falls more intensely on different parts of the Earth during the year.
The difference in heating of the Earth's surface produces the planet's seasons and weather
patterns.
2. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining
climatic patterns.
3. Heat energy carried by ocean currents has a strong influence on climate around the world.
4. The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the Earth's surface, including winds,
ocean currents, and waves.
5. Waves transfer energy from one place to another. Waves in oceans and lakes can be caused by
wind blowing over the surface of the water.
6. Ocean currents influence the weather in coastal areas. Currents can be caused by wind,
differences in salinity, differences in water temperatures caused by uneven heating of the earth,
the Coriolis Effect, which is a consequence of the Earth's rotation, and the gravitational pull of
celestial bodies.
V.
VI.
VII.
Essential Questions:
1. How does the sun interact with the earth to produce weather and climate?
2. How does the tilt of the earth affect the seasons and Earth's climate?
3. How does an ocean affect the weather and climate of adjacent land?
4. How does the sun's heating of water in the tropics affect climate in the rest of the world?
5. What happens to water after it evaporates from the ocean and land?
6. How does the sun's energy cause winds and hurricanes?
Concepts:
a. The student will know that weather is the effect of the conditions of the atmosphere at a
particular time and place.
b. The students will know unequal heating of land and water forms wind systems and weather
events. Wind is caused by the differences in air pressure, going from an area of high pressure
to lower pressure.
c. The student will know that the oceans holding a large amount of heat have major effects on
climate.
d. The student will know the large convection currents are formed because of the temperature
differences between the equator and the poles. This produces global wind systems. The
equator receives the greatest amount of direct sunlight vs. the pole regions.
e. The student will know the rotation of the earth makes large wind systems curve, which is the
Coriolis Effect
Language:
a. Earth's axis, orbit, rotation, air masses, formation of weather patterns, transfer of energy,
tornadoes, hurricanes, gravitational pull, Coriolis effect, salinity, weather, climate, high and
low pressure.
VIII. Evidence of Learning
a. By the conclusion of the module the students should be able to create a weather forecast and
explain and demonstrate the effects of heat on weather patterns, wind systems, tornadoes,
thunderstorms, and hurricanes
b. Culminating Activity:
i. Goal: Give students experience with synthesizing weather
variables, with cooperative learning,
weather map
reading, interpretation and prediction.
ii. Role: Students will be Meteorologist.
iii. Audience: Students, parents, and teachers.
iv. Scenario: Students will research the weather conditions for a
specific city and use the data to
prepare a weather forecast for
people living there.
a. Students will work in groups of three and gather data from WWW. Wunderground .com
for the city they are researching.
b. After collecting all the data, the students will prepare a weather forecast, and record the
forecast.
v. Product: The student teams will present their recorded forecast to
the class.
vi. Standard: Students will be assessed on how accurate the forecast
was and their participation in
the class presentation using B.
Frandsen, 2004. Participation Rubric for group Development.
IX.
See attached materials for actual instructions and additional fun experiments.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE ACTIVITY ONE
Modeling Air Masses and Fronts
Materials:
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Plastic box with lid
Match
Ruler
Water
Reading Lamp with 100 watt bulb
Paper towels
Paper
Ice
Safety! Always use goggles and other safety equipment during all activities.
Procedure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Cover the bottom of the box with 5cm of water. Keep the walls of the box dry.
Carefully light a 6 inch twist of paper. Blow it out, directing the smoke into the box with the lid upside down on
the box and held partially open so that the box is filled with smoke.
Let the lid close trapping the smoke and put five ice cubes quickly in one end of the box.
Turn on the reading lamp, so that it shines over the other end of the box.
Observe and record what happens inside the box, and on the bottom of the lid.
Move the lamp so that it shines over the middle of the box.
Observe and record what happens inside the box and on the bottom of the lid.
Fronts form where air masses of different temperatures meet. With this activity you should be able to observe the
location of a front and infer what type of front forms. This activity aligns with essential question (1) and concept (a)
from the module.
Conclusions:
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7.
Infer where the clouds come from.
Describe where condensation and precipitation form.
Identify what section of your box represents a cold air mass.
Identify what section represents a warm air mass.
Infer where the weather front is in your box.
Describe where the front moved.
Identify which kind of front you made.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE ACTIVITY TWO
MODELING THE WATER CYCLE
Materials:
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Dixie cup
Baggy
Tape
Water
Procedure:
1.
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Put a small amount of water in the Dixie cup (two tablespoons).
Put the Dixie cup in a baggy and close the baggy.
Tape the baggy with the Dixie cup inside of it to a window that gets direct sunlight.
Observe and record what happens inside the baggy.
The Water Cycle starts when water evaporates from our creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans into the air
and rises with the heat of the sun. The water vapor cools as it rises and forms clouds. When the cooled droplets
become to heavy, they fall as rain or snow.
Conclusions:
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2.
Infer where the droplets on the inside of the bag came from and where they will eventually go.
What caused the water to do what it did?