Download ATOMSPHERE: ON THE AIR

ATOMSPHERE:
ON THE AIR
CFE 3213V
OPEN CAPTIONED
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY
1993
Grade Levels: 5-10
20 minutes
1 Instructional Graphic Enclosed
DESCRIPTION
A student-produced radio talk show discusses earth’s
atmosphere. Investigates its functions, layers,
composition, movement, and the greenhouse effect.
Time-lapse photography and computer graphics
illustrate the information. The atmosphere protects the
earth, supports life, and must be kept healthy for human
survival.
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
• To name the layers of the atmosphere.
• To discuss the composition and functions of the
individual layers of the atmosphere.
• To outline the role the atmosphere plays in
weather.
• To investigate environmental issues related to the
atmosphere.
BEFORE SHOWING
1. Read the CAPTION SCRIPT to determine
unfamiliar vocabulary and language concepts.
2. Ask the following questions:
a. What is an atmosphere?
b. What planets in the solar system have an
atmosphere?
c. What is the function of earth’s atmosphere?
d. What makes up earth’s atmosphere?
3. Determine the length of 1 kilometer, 10
kilometers, 100 kilometers, and 500 kilometers.
Determine the equivalent of each in miles.
4. Visit a greenhouse. Describe the condition of the
air, the amount of moisture, the amount of light, and the
temperature. Hypothesize what would happen if:
a. The greenhouse contained carbon dioxide.
b. The fans did not circulate the air.
c. A person lived in the greenhouse.
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AFTER SHOWING
Discussion Items and Questions
1. What are the three elements that make up the
majority of the earth’s atmosphere?
2. What are the names of the layers of the
atmosphere?
3. In which layer do humans live?
4. Why do jets fly in the stratosphere?
5. What are some trace gases in the atmosphere?
6. What two conditions determine the kinds of
clouds that appear and the kind of precipitation that
falls?
7. Why don’t all prevailing winds blow in the same
direction?
8. What weather accompanies a high- and lowpressure area?
9. How does the jet stream affect local weather?
10. Why do pilots need to be aware of the weather
forecast?
11. What causes the sky to change color?
12. Why is the moon pockmarked with craters and the
earth is not?
13. Why can’t a person feel air pressure on a daily
basis?
14. When is ozone good and when is it bad? What
are ways an individual can help keep the atmosphere
clean?
15. What are simple actions people can take to
prevent pollution and keep the atmosphere intact?
Applications and Activities
1. Investigate where, when, and how various
windstorms form. Examine hurricanes, typhoons,
cyclones, and tornadoes.
2. Research the work of Sir Francis Beaufort.
Report on the scale named for him.
3. Make a bulletin board display of various types of
clouds. Describe the weather associated with each
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cloud type. Make a forecast daily, based on clouds
seen.
4. Make a windsock. Materials needed are:
a. Margarine tub with a snap-on lid
b. Empty plastic bread wrapper
c. Several meters of string or thread
d. Hole punch
e. Measuring stick
5. Answer the following questions after making the
windsock:
a. What happened when the windsock was hung
in the first location?
b. What happened when the windsock was hung
in the second location?
c. What happened when the windsock was hung
in the third location?
d. In which location was the strongest wind?
e. What did the windsock do in the strongest
wind?
f. Theorize and draw what the windsock would
do when no wind is blowing
g. What people might use a windsock in their
jobs?
h. Why are windsocks used?
i. Why might windsocks be used by people who
are deaf or hard of hearing?
6. Research and report on how planetary or local
weather is affected by the jet stream.
7. Map the wind circulation patterns of the earth.
Determine what would occur if the wind circulation in
the local area reversed its present direction.
8. Report on weather satellites. Answer the
following questions:
a. Who sends up the satellites?
b. Into what layer do they go?
c. What is the purpose of the weather satellites?
d. What is their cost?
9. Visit a weather station. Report on the equipment
used to make a weather forecast.
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10. Visit a site on the Internet to check local weather
forecasts for a week. Graph the changes in
temperature, the amount of precipitation, and the
percentage of cloud cover.
11. Survey the local area to investigate the sources of
air pollution.
a. Invite a qualified person to discuss the reasons
for the pollution.
b. Inquire how the pollution can be reduced.
12. Correspond with a state or national legislator,
asking for statistics on current air pollution.
13. Discuss the effect air pollution has on the health
of people, animals, or plants.
14. Bring articles for a scrapbook concerning:
a. Air pollution
b. Global warming
c. Ozone depletion
d. Greenhouse effect
15. Complete the review sheet entitled “Layers of the
Atmosphere.” (See INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS.)
INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS
One instructional graphic is included with this lesson
guide. It may be enlarged and used to create
transparencies or copies.
• LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
WEBSITE
Explore the Internet to discover sites related to this
topic. Check the CFV website for related information
(http://www.cfv.org).
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CAPTION SCRIPT
Following are the captions as they appear on the video.
Teachers are encouraged to read the script prior to
viewing the video for pertinent vocabulary, to discover
language patterns within the captions, or to determine
content for introduction or review. Enlarged copies
may be given to students as a language exercise.
(reporter)
The weather forecast
Welcome to
"On The Air"--
calls for clear skies
with high clouds,
a science show
produced by students.
changing to rain late...
You ask us
science questions,
(reporter)
Representatives report
and we answer them.
Interestingly enough,
that they have reached
little agreement...
[changing radio stations]
today's show
is on the air.
You heard that first
on WLUW,
It's about
the atmosphere.
your energy radio station.
Energy
(Brian)
When you see the Earth
from space,
Now for
an energy quiz question.
it seems
to hang there alone
What weighs
5,000 trillion tons,
with nothing but clouds
around it.
is in front of you,
(Saskia)
But something is around it.
but you can't see it?
That something
is a huge ocean of gases
Stay tuned
for the answer.
called the atmosphere.
"On The Air,"
The atmosphere
is held in place
with Saskia Young
and Brian Bosak is next.
by our planet's gravity.
I'm Brian Bosak.
Otherwise,
it would drift into space.
I'm Saskia Young.
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(Brian)
It's what Earth's atmosphere
is made of
it's there.
(Saskia)
Let's get to the phones.
and the things it does
Dial 491-4-AIR.
that lets life
on Earth exist.
While we're waiting
for questions,
[thunder]
let's cover the basics.
The atmosphere
that surrounds our planet
Oxygen is one element
in the atmosphere
is like the blue ocean is
for fish.
we couldn't live without.
They are always
passing through it.
Without oxygen,
humans
and lots of other animals
We, the creatures
of the land and air,
couldn't exist.
are always passing through
our ocean of air--
You could live without food
for a month
our atmosphere.
or without water
for a few days.
(Saskia)
When we think of the sky,
You can only live
a few minutes
we tend to look up.
But the sky actually begins
at ground level.
without oxygen.
And don't forget some
of the other gases.
We stand, walk,
and move
through the sky.
Carbon dioxide and nitrogen
[birds calling]
are important
for plants to grow.
(Brian)
Of course, except for clouds,
And plants are the source
of the oxygen we need.
the atmosphere
is invisible.
[bell ringing]
(Brian)
Without the atmosphere,
You can't see it.
Unless the wind
is blowing,
there would be no sound,
you can't feel it.
because sound
is the vibration
But, even so,
of air particles.
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If there was no air,
there would be no sound.
near the Earth's surface.
[silence]
Temperatures decrease
with altitude
(Saskia)
Well, fortunately,
to the top
of the troposphere,
our listeners
can hear our sounds.
where they may reach
-80 degrees Celsius.
The atmosphere is made
of several layers.
The troposphere goes up
to about 10 kilometers--
(Brian)
Think of it
as a skyscraper
a little higher
than Earth's highest mountain.
with many floors.
Between 10 and 50 kilometers
in the stratosphere,
Some floors have shops...
things warm up,
and others have offices...
mostly because of ozone.
and up top,
there's a fancy restaurant...
Ozone heats the air
and a place with a view.
by absorbing
the sun's ultraviolet rays.
The atmosphere
is sort of like that.
Temperatures may reach
around 0 degrees Celsius.
(Saskia)
Scientists have split
the atmosphere
The stratosphere
is where
transcontinental jets fly,
into layers
that move up toward space.
because there's
almost no turbulence
Each layer
has a different name,
from weather systems.
and each layer
has a different purpose.
The mesosphere is next.
Here, temperatures
begin to drop again.
We separate the atmosphere
into layers
by temperature.
At its upper limit-about 90 kilometers--
We live at the bottom
of the atmosphere,
temperatures can hit
-138 degrees Celsius.
in the troposphere.
Trails of hot gases
from meteors
The troposphere
is warmest
can be seen here.
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The thermosphere begins
where the mesosphere leaves off
to the phones.
Hi!
You're on the air.
and reaches
about 500 kilometers
(caller)
This is for Brian.
The sun may heat
the thermosphere
What's the atmosphere
made of?
to more than
1,000 degrees Celsius.
Well,
it's different
The thermosphere
largely corresponds
to the ionosphere.
from layer
to layer,
Here,
electrically charged molecules
but in
the troposphere,
reflect radio waves
back to Earth.
things are
pretty steady.
Otherwise,
they might escape into space,
It's a mixture
of gases
and we'd never hear them.
that's always
the same:
Beyond the thermosphere
is the exosphere.
78% nitrogen,
Here, air molecules
are so widely dispersed
21% oxygen,
and that last 1%
is trace gases
that there is no temperature
that you could feel.
like
carbon dioxide,
The exosphere extends
from about 500 kilometers
hydrogen,
and argon.
to where it gradually
mixes with space.
Water vapor's
there, too.
Troposphere...
where we live.
(Brian)
The atmosphere
Then stratosphere,
mesosphere,
always has
some water in it,
thermosphere,
in a gaseous form
called water vapor.
and exosphere.
Exactly.
Air can only hold
so much water vapor.
Let's go
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Additional vapor condenses
into water droplets.
Weather!
The atmosphere
surrounding our planet
Huge groups of droplets
form clouds.
is in perpetual motion.
In these clouds,
The complexity
of this movement is evident
the droplets collide
to form larger droplets.
when we string together
satellite pictures
When they become
too big and heavy
in satellite animations.
to be supported
by the air,
Here, a giant storm
is bearing down
they fall to the ground
as precipitation.
on the midwest
and southern Canada,
(caller)
So all precipitation
carrying rain and snow.
is the result
of water vapor
Another weather system
is moving on shore.
and temperature change.
The complexity
of air movement
You're
on the air.
is evident
in cloud patterns,
What's
the question?
but the prevailing winds
in our hemisphere
(caller)
Does weather happen
occur in three basic bands.
throughout the atmosphere?
The cold polar easterlies
(Saskia)
Weather happens primarily
in the troposphere.
blow through
northern North America.
The fast, powerful westerlies
In fact,
"tropo" means "change."
occur between the North Pole
and the equator.
The changes that are
always taking place--
The warm tropical easterlies
that's weather.
carried explorers
to this continent.
Let's go
to our meteorologist,
The vertical build of clouds
Tom Skilling.
associated with a giant storm
is evident
Chicago's Energy
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with animated satellite imagery.
High above us,
Air motion on our planet
far more organized winds blow.
takes place
in two basic planes.
The most predominant
among these
The sideways
or horizontal movement
is the jet stream wind
is what we call wind.
that blows between
10,000 and 45,000 feet,
Winds occur between regions
of varied temperature.
or 4 and 15 kilometers
above Earth.
The larger
the temperature change,
These winds carry storms
the stronger the wind.
and form on the south edge
of cool air
But just as prevalent
and just as important
that seasonally
expands southward.
are the vertical motions
of air.
The jet stream,
the winds on Earth--
When air sinks
over a continent,
all driven
by the sun's energy.
a dome
of fair-weather high pressure
(Saskia)
Pilots also need
develops.
to know about weather.
High-pressure days
are generally nice days,
Before every flight,
with blue skies, few clouds,
and dry winds.
pilots receive
a formal weather briefing.
On other regions,
Good morning, Commander.
the air rising away
from the planet cools,
Good morning.
producing clouds
I'm flying
to Philadelphia.
and dropping pressures
at the surface,
How does
the jet stream look?
making a low-pressure system.
(Saskia)
This includes
large air masses and systems
Low-pressure days
are often stormy days,
and turbulent weather cells.
with clouds, wind,
and precipitation.
By flying the right direction
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in a jet stream,
the sun sliding down
past the horizon.
pilots can save
lots and lots of fuel.
Light coming
from this low angle
Wind speeds near the center
of these bands
travels through more air,
often reach
150 kilometers per hour.
so most of it is lost.
Only the red, yellow,
and orange light
Thank you
very much.
is left to reach our eyes.
(Saskia)
You're on the air!
(Saskia)
How do you know this stuff?
(caller)
Why is the sky blue?
(Brian)
It's handy on dates!
(Brian)
That's probably
the most popular question.
After the sun sets,
you can see stars...
It's hard to imagine,
(Saskia)
Let's move on.
but 32 kilometers
above Earth,
(Brian)
You're on the air.
the sky is black.
(caller)
My brother wants to know this.
At 29 kilometers high,
light from the sun
Do meteoroids burn up
in the atmosphere?
enocunters
densely packed air molecules.
He says they do.
Most of that light
continues to the surface,
I say
they burn up in space.
but air molecules
are just the right size
Who's right?
Your brother is.
to scatter
blue and violet light
Meteoroids are bits
of rock or metal
throughout the sky.
that zoom
into Earth's atmosphere
(caller)
What about sunsets?
at between 54,000 to 300,000
kilometers per hour.
(Brian)
Even harder to imagine.
Friction
with the atmosphere
Try to picture
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usually burns them up--
is below the top
of Mt. Everest,
most of the time
in the mesosphere.
which is about
8,500 meters high.
(Saskia)
A really humongous one
The higher you go,
hit the Arizona desert
20,000 years ago.
the thinner and lighter
the atmosphere becomes.
It made a crater
175 meters deep
Breathing can become
extremely difficult.
and 1,300 meters across.
Mountain climbers
sometimes carry
Very few meteoroids
get through,
special
oxygen-supplying equipment
unlike the moon,
which has no atmosphere.
when they climb
very high mountains.
Its surface
is pockmarked with craters
Since we're beneath
all this atmosphere,
from meteorites
slamming into it.
weight is bearing down on us.
You're on the air.
That weight puts
about 1 kilogram of pressure
(caller)
This is Terry.
on every square centimeter
of our bodies.
Hey, Terry!
We don't feel it
Does the atmosphere
weigh anything?
because the pressure is equal
all around our bodies.
If it does,
why can't we feel it?
We've adapted to it.
(Saskia)
First of all,
Good question, Terry.
Thanks for calling.
the atmosphere
weighs a lot--
(Saskia)
The air carries
tiny particles of dust
about 5,000 trillion tons-lots of zeros.
and other solids
called aerosols.
Most of this weight
They're invisible
is crammed
into the troposphere.
except when
they're crowded together
75% of that
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in huge quantities.
(caller)
This is for Brian.
Aerosols include
lots of things:
What's your question?
car exhaust
and other pollution,
(caller)
What's the greenhouse effect?
salt from the ocean,
volcanic dust,
(Brian)
Normally, sunlight passes
through the atmosphere
and smoke from forest
and brush fires.
and heats
the Earth's surface,
In the stratosphere,
which radiates heat
back into space.
ozone is added to the mix.
There's not much of it,
But we are changing
this natural cycle.
but what there is
does a big job.
We are cutting down
huge forests--
Ozone protects living things
forests that absorb
carbon dioxide...
from the sun's
harmful ultraviolet radiation.
and using enormous amounts
of fossil fuels,
Only one-millionth
of the atmosphere is ozone,
which produce
even more carbon dioxide
but ozone absorbs
ultraviolet radiation
and other gases, too.
more efficiently
These gases are building up
in the atmosphere,
than any other substance
in the atmosphere,
and like greenhouse panels,
keeping most radiation
from reaching Earth.
trap much of the heat
that would otherwise
escape back into space.
If it did,
the planet probably
couldn't be lived on.
This global warming
may radically alter
Earth's climate.
(Saskia)
While ozone is beneficial
in the stratosphere,
(caller)
Ozone in the stratosphere
is good,
it is a pollutant
in the lower atmosphere.
but as a pollutant,
it's bad.
It can burn
your eyes and lungs.
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The greenhouse effect
keeps us warm,
We can do things
to help keep
the atmosphere clean.
but too much of that
is bad.
Think about
what you can do.
(Brian)
That's right.
Fossil fuels are burned
(Saskia)
Time has gone by fast!
when we forget
to turn out lights.
Before we split,
Walk, ride a bike,
or take a bus
we'd like you
to think about
instead of drive.
how you can help take care
of the atmosphere.
For Saskia Young,
this is Brian Bosak.
For years,
We've been coming to you
from our atmosphere.
people figured
that the wind and rain
Next week,
would keep cleaning
the atmosphere.
our show will focus
on insects.
Wind and rain
aren't enough.
See ya there!
There are billions
of people in the world.
So hot, it's cool!
Energy!
The things they do
88.7
are putting pollutants
into the air.
That was a great show!
It's impossible
for the atmosphere
Next we have sports,
but let's hop
to the skydeck
to cycle them all out.
The governments
of many countries
for the latest on traffic.
Funding for purchase
and captioning of this video
have taken steps to reduce
the amount of pollutants
was provided by the
U.S. Department of Education
people can put
into the atmosphere.
PH: 1-800-572-5580 (V).
14
CFE 3213 V
ATMOSPHERE: ON THE AIR
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
DIRECTIONS:
Identify the layers of the atmosphere and their altitudes
and temperatures. Record one fact about each layer.
km
km
Fact
1.
km
Fact
1.
Fact
1.
km
to
0 km
Mt. Everest
Fact
1.
Earth
ANSWERS
500
km
1000
90 km
-138
Fact
1.
C
C
50 km
Fact
1.
0
Fact
1.
Mt.Everest
Fact
1.
Earth
10 km
-80
to
0km
C
C