Teller Elementary School: Passion Pursuit s1

Teller Elementary School: Passion Pursuit

Weather "Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get.” Mark Twain

1. What is the difference between climate and weather? Does that make sense given the quote above? How can you show what you have learned?

2. How is climate linked to the equator? To help answer this question, conduct the experiment on page 6 of Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor (see Ms. Bass for the book).

3. How does the temperature of the land and the temperature of the earth’s water impact climates around the world? To help answer this question, conduct the experiment on page 12 in Investigating Weather by B. Silverman (see Ms. Bass for the book).

4. What causes the seasons? To help answer this question, conduct the experiment on pages 8 – 9 of Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor or pages 16 – 17 in Investigating Weather by B. Silverman.

5. What causes changes in weather? To help answer this question, conduct the experiments on pages 14 – 16 of Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor. Make sure that you explain what high pressure and low pressure systems are and how they impact weather. 6. Air pressure is measured by a barometer. You can make a barometer and measure air pressure. See pages 36 – 37 in Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor or page 16 in Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor.

7. What causes precipitation to fall? Include your answer to this question in a poster or model of the water cycle.

8. What are the forms of precipitation and how is each formed?

9. Clouds come in three main groups. What are they? Why are clouds different? What do they have in common? Where do clouds come from? How do they impact weather? Do they impact climate, too?

10. Why are clouds white? Why do they turn gray sometimes? Why do they float? How do clouds move? Why do clouds form at different heights in the atmosphere?

11. Make a cloud. You can find directions on page 28 of Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor (see Ms. Bass for the book). What did you learn from this experiment?

12. What is fog? How is it formed? How is fog different from clouds?

13. What causes wind around the world? Are there wind patterns or is wind random? Do winds impact climate? Do winds impact weather?

14. How is wind measured? Make a poster of the Beaufort scale. You can also make an anemometer by following directions on page 24 in Investigating Weather by B. Silverman.

15. Make wind by following the experiments on pages 20 – 21 in Investigating Weather by B. Silverman. Make sure an adult approves your use of a lamp before you begin. What did you learn from this experiment?

16. How is weather predicted? How accurate is weather forecasting? Try to contact a local meteorologist and see if you can interview him/her. Prepare questions in advance. 17. If you wanted to be a meteorologist, what type of classes would you need to take in high school? What would your focus be in college? To find out about being a meteorologist, see http://www.weatherwizkids.com/?page_id=113

18. There are many types of violent weather. Pick one or more to report on in greater depth. See the attached page for suggested questions to answer during your research.

19. Consider record breakers. What was the most destructive tornado? What was the largest hurricane? How much snow fell during the biggest blizzard? Find a series of records that fascinate you and share them with others.

20. What is global warming? What might be causing it? What might the consequences be for our world? For us in Denver?

21. To learn more about the greenhouse effect, conduct the experiment on page 29 in Weather and Climate by Barbara Taylor. What did you learn by doing this experiment?

22. Many scientists believe that climate change is and/or will affect our weather. Other people disagree. Research this controversy and write an opinion piece supported by facts.

23. Check out the website for the National Weather Service: http://www.weather.gov/ What was the most interesting thing that you saw on this website?

24. Check out the weather sayings that follow. Pick one and determine what it means. Can it be explained by modern technology or is it more folklore?

25. Check out the weather jokes at http://www.weatherwizkids.com/?page_id=13 Try writing your own weather jokes!!

26. Create a game that uses the information that you have learned about weather.

27. Create your own project or projects related to weather. Tornados What is a tornado? How do tornadoes form? What are some other factors for tornadoes to form? What do tornadoes look like? Can more than one tornado form at a time? What is a funnel cloud? What is a supercell thunderstorm? What is a mesocyclone? What is a microburst? What is a wall cloud? What is a hook echo? What is a waterspout? What is a gustnado? What is a landspout? What is a dust devil? Where do tornadoes occur? How many tornadoes occur in the U.S. each year? Where is Tornado Alley? When are tornadoes most likely to occur? What are the wind speeds in a tornado? How fast do tornadoes move? How long is a tornado usually on the ground? What does a tornado sound like? Can tornadoes be stopped? Lightning & What is lightning? Thunder What causes lightning? How hot is lightning? What causes lightning to be colored rather than the usual white or blue? What are cloud flashes? What is a “stepped leader”? Is it possible to have thunder without lightning? Is lightning always produced by a thunderstorm? What causes thunder? How do you know if lightning is nearby? How far away can you see lightning and hear thunder? What is dry lightning? What is a “bolt from the blue”? How many volts and watts are in lightning? Why are positive lightning bolts deemed more dangerous than the more common negatively charged bolts? Does lightning strike from the sky down, or the ground up? Why are you less likely to see static electricity in the summer? Can you tell how far away a storm is? Does lightning happen during the winter? What is thundersnow? What happens to the ground when lightning strikes it? What is fulgurite? Hurricanes What is a hurricane? How do hurricanes form? What is storm surge? When does hurricane season start? Who names hurricanes? What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon? Who are the “Hurricane Hunters”? Thunderstorm What is a thunderstorm? What causes a thunderstorm? What is a severe thunderstorm? Where are severe thunderstorms most common? What are the stages of a thunderstorm? What is a single-cell thunderstorm? What is a multi-cell thunderstorm? What is a squall line? What is a supercell thunderstorm? What is a bow echo? What does a thunderstorm look like? When are thunderstorms most likely to occur? How many thunderstorms are there? What kinds of damage can thunderstorms cause? Why do meteorologists use the word “convection” when talking about thunderstorms? Rain & Floods How does rain form? What causes rain? How big are raindrops? How fast do raindrops fall? What is virga? What is a monsoon? What are sinkholes? What are the different types of sinkholes? How do you measure rain? Blizzards 1. What is a blizzard? 6. How do blizzards form? 7. What is a Nor’Easters? 8. What is the difference between a “Winter Storm Watch" and a “Winter Storm Warning?” 9. Does it have to be really cold during a blizzard? Can it ever be too cold to snow? How is snow formed? What are snowflakes? What are snow squalls? What is thundersnow? How many inches of snow equals one inch of rain? Weather Sayings 1. Red skies at night, sailors delight. 2. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. 3. When the clouds look like horsetails, rain or snow will come in 3 days. 4. When your bone joint hurt a storm is coming. 5. When the wind howls around corners and cracks, and down chimneys rain is coming. 6. When the glass (air pressure) is low on a ship, the sailors get ready for a storm. 7. A ring around the sun or moon means a storm is coming. Count the stars within the ring and rain will come in that many days. 8. When you see 'sun dogs' (a bright spot on either side of the sun) look for rain. 9. Rain in three days when the horns of the moon point down. 10. Rain before seven quits before eleven. 11. If it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain every Sunday for 7 weeks. 12. It will rain the same time the next day if the sun shines while it rains. 13. If the groundhog sees its shadow on February 2nd, there will be 6 more weeks of winter. 14. When squirrels lay in a big store of nuts, look for a hard winter. 15. Three days of heavy morning fog, watch for bad weather in 90 days. 16. Lightning never strikes the same place twice. 17. When bees stay close to the hive, rain is close by. 18. When the forest murmurs and the mountains roar, close your windows and shut the doors. 19. Moss dry, sunny sky, moss wet, rain you'll get. 20. Count the cricket chirps to tell the temperature. 21. Count the seconds between lightning flashes and thunder to tell how far away the storm is. 22. When smoke descends, good weather ends. 23. Horse (cows) tails in the west – the weather is the best! Horse (cows) tails in the east is weather coming at the least. 24. Rain is on its way if people with curly hair find it curlier and people with straight hair find it straighter. 25. Before a rain storm: o Cats will clean themselves more and meow more, o Cow and sheep will huddle together seeking comfort, o Horses "switch and twitch" and sometimes bolt, o Insects fly lower and bite more, and o Birds chirp louder. 26. Flies will swarm before a storm. 27. When a rain storm is coming: o dandelions close their blooms tightly, o morning glories tuck in their blooms as if ready for a long nap, o clover folds up its leaves, o leaves on many trees rollup or show their underside, 28. When leaves show their underside, be sure that rain betide. 29. No dew at night, rain by morning. No dew at morning, rain by next day. 30. April showers bring May flowers.

31. March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. (Or March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. 32. Ring around the sun, time for fun. Ring around the moon, storm coming soon. 33. Snow like cotton, soon forgotten. Snow like meal, will give a great deal. 34. Evening red and morning gray, send a traveler on his way. Evening gray and morning red, brings the rain upon his head. 35. The sky is red, the devil is dead, and it’s going to be good tomorrow. 36. Ice in November to bury a duck, the rest of the winter is slush and muck.