Alina and Eric's Children's Book

Alina and Eric's Informative Storybook Ms. Riley's 1st period

Atmosphere The Atmosphere is a layer of gases that surrounds the Earth. The Atmosphere provides oxygen for animals to live, and also protects living things from ultraviolet radiation, which the Sun's Rays give off.In other words, the Atmosphere is the sky above us. Clouds in the sky provide rain to grow plants and crops. Life revolves around the atmosphere.

Wind Currents Wind Currents are present all around the world. Each hemisphere, or half-Earth, has three major wind patterns. These wind patterns are known as the Polar Easterlies, the Westerlies, and the Trade Winds.

The Polar Easterlies blow from the East to the North, or from the North to the East, and are located near the South/North Pole.

Wind Currents These winds are located between the Equator and the Pole.

The Trade Winds are located around the Equator and blow from from the Northeast to the Equator. These are known as the Trade Winds because Sailors who carried goods often used these winds to sail in a controllable direction.

Wind Currents The Wind Currents are highlighted in yellow.

Ocean Currents

Ocean currents flow from place to place in oceans. These are caused by breaking waves, winds, and extreme temperature differences. Ocean Currents largely depend on the strength of waves, so they are also affected by the Moon. Currents are the reason for the movement of water in Earth's oceans.

Ocean Currents Ocean currents are caused by the layering of hotter and colder waters in the ocean. It is also affected by wind currents.

These currents can carry temperature towards port cities. For example, the Arctic Current carries cold water towards southern cities.

Ocean Currents These are the major ocean currents. They span oceans and can change the temperature on nearby lands.

Convection Convection is a form of heat transfer.

Convection Currents occur when a heated substance rises to the top and pushes the colder substance downwards. When the colder substance reaches the bottom, it is heated and rises to the top, pushing the cooler substance down again.

This cycle is a motor for many

Convection Convection powers the ocean's deep currents, and moves water towards gulfs and bays. The cycle also powers the Earth's Mantle, and sets the Tectonic Plates in motion. Also, upward air currents heated by convection cause clouds to form, as shown below.

High Air Pressure We live in a world of high air pressure. High air pressure exists close to the ground at all times. Air Pressure is created because air has mass. When you put a piece of paper on a desk, the paper exerts pressure on the desk, although it is not much. The amount of pressure depends on the mass of the object, so if you were to put a piano on your desk, the pressure that the piano exerts would be enough to collapse the desk. So, in the same way, the air in a room exerts force on all objects in the room. The pressure is high because the air down low is cold, and cold air has more mass than the hot air up high.

Low Air Pressure Have you ever experienced riding an airplane? If so, you must have noticed your ears popping when the plane took off, and again when the plane landed. This is the result of a change in air pressure.

Down on the ground, air pressure is very high, but up high in the atmosphere, air pressure is extremely low. This is because the air up high is hot, and has less mass than cold air. Therefore, the pressure is

Cold Fronts Cold fronts are the results of fast-moving cold air masses sliding under a slowermoving hot air mass. Cold fronts move extremely quickly and bring violent thunderstorms and showers to all areas affected by it. Cool air moves in after a cold front moves away from an area, and brings clear skies and slightly cooler temperatures.

Cold Fronts Cold Fronts are represented by blue triangle-shaped lines, and Warm Fronts are represented by red circle-shaped lines.

The process of cold fronts are shown below.

Warm Fronts Warm fronts are the result of a clash between two air masses of different temperatures. A warm front is created when a cold air mass and a warm air mass meet and the warm air mass slides on top of the cold air mass. When this occurs, the results are dependent on the humidity of the warm air mass. If the warm air is humid, rain and showers fall along the front where the two masses met. If the

Warm Fronts -clouds appear. Warm fronts move slowly, so many days, maybe weeks, of foggy or rainy weather should be expected. Once a warm front has moved past an area, that area will experience humid weather for the next few days.

Occluded Front An occluded front is different than the other fronts. An occluded front occurs when a warm air mass is caught between two cold air masses. The warm air is forced upwards by the two opposite cold fronts, similar to the peanut butter that comes out of your sandwich after you grip it too hard. At the same time, the two cold fronts may mix together, and the warm air is completely cut off from the ground. Up high in the atmosphere, the warm air cools off and

Hurricanes A hurricane is a massive storm. It has winds that reach up to 200 mph! It starts on warm moist waters, like the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. As the moisture evaporates, it rises until lots of heated air are twisted in the atmosphere. The winds begin to circle clockwise or counterclockwise. The most peaceful part of the hurricane is the eye (the center).

Hurricanes A hurricane begins as a tropical storm, or a tropical cyclone. Tropical storms are created over water, as the result of moisture evaporation and a low pressure center. Winds begin to spiral and counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise south of the equator. The tropical cyclone draws power from the water and continues it's path of destruction over oceans and land alike.

Hurricanes As the hurricane progresses over water and land, the center of it is peaceful. This center is called the eye, and was the basis of the saying"Eye of the storm". A hurricane brings powerful winds and violent showers and thunderstorms. As it passes a bay or a gulf, it brings storm surges, or giant waves that smash into buildings and flood highways.If the winds spiral fast enough, a hurricane may

Hurricanes As stated before, hurricanes draw power from the water in the oceans. However, as a hurricane travels over land, it loses power slowly. When the winds hit under 74 mph, the hurricane loses nearly all of it's power and is reduced to a cyclone. Hurricanes that travel over the Atlantic often begin in Africa, and drift west by the Trade Winds. Storms that drift over the Eastern Pacific start in Central America. Hurricanes in China and India are known as typhoons.

Hurricanes Hurricane Isabel, 2003, as seen from the International Space Station.

The arrow points to the eye of the storm.

Tornados Tornadoes are columns of air that violently spin and that can have wind speeds up to 300 mph (in extreme cases). They usually occur during Tornado Season or in Tornado Alley. A tornado starts to form when there is a change in wind direction and wind speed during a thunderstorm. Second, the rising air begins to spiral vertically, with it's funnel attached to the thunderstorm clouds. If the funnel cloud gets stronger, it may be able to touch down on the ground and separate from the thunderstorm, thus becoming a tornado.

The Sun's Energy The Sun is a glowing star in the center of our Solar System. It provides light for life on Earth and heats the surface of our planet.

However, the Sun also radiates two distinct types of rays, one known as Infrared and the other known as Ultraviolet. Infrared light is not very strong, although modern devices that use it allow the users to see at night.

Ultraviolet rays are extremely dangerous and causes skin cancer and 3rd degree sunburns.

The Sun's Energy The Sun's light is normally invisible to the human eye, but if you pass it through a prism, the colors of the rainbow will be released, red being the weakest and purple being the strongest.

Solar Flares are sudden bursts of flames that release large amounts of energy.

The Sun's Energy Infrared Light has extremely long wavelengths while Ultraviolet Light has extremely short wavelengths.

Weather Maps Weather Maps are generally used to describe the weather found in an area. There are many different types of weather maps, including Satellite, Radar, Temperature, Precipitation, Wind Speed, Front, and Print Maps.

This is an example of a hand created map.

Isotherm/Isobar Isotherms and Isobars are symbols used in Weather Maps. They are generally called Isopleths as a group. Isobars are lines representing equal pressure. For example, two isobars may exist at sea level, where pressure is lowest. Isotherms are lines representing equal temperature. If two areas in Texas have equal temperatures, then there will be Isotherms marked.

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation. It is formed by evaporated water from the ocean. When too much water vapor accumulates in one space in the sky, clouds form. As water vapor continues to build up, the clouds become too heavy and rain falls as a result.

Snow Snow is another form of precipitation. It is caused by the same process of rain(evaporation, condensation, precipitation), but the air in the atmosphere is much colder, and the water freezes as it precipitates.

Sleet Sleet is also a form of precipitation. Sleet is formed by evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, but the air in the cloud is cold, causing the water to partially freeze and precipitate early before completely freezing.

Hail Hail is possibly the most dangerous form of precipitation. The water that is evaporated and condensed into clouds are freezed so violently that the the resulting ice cubes can be larger than a baseball. Hail then falls to Earth, damaging everything in it's way.

Stratus Stratus Clouds are a type of cloud. Stratus clouds are typically layered and float extremely close to the ground. Stratus clouds are responsible for the fog that you see. Stratus clouds are formed from weak warm fronts and can stay intact for days in anticyclonic conditions.

Cirrus Cirrus clouds are the common white/gray colored cotton ball wisp-like clouds we see in the sky all the time. Cirrus clouds are made when water freezes at an altitude of more than 16500 feet in the air. Cirrus clouds do not produce any time of precipitation. Rather, they produce fall streaks, or tiny ice crystals that evaporate before they land on the ground.

Cumulus Cumulus Clouds are the giant white cottonlike blimps that we see in the sky.These clouds usually form in clusters, but do not produce any precipitation until they evolve into Cumulonimbus clouds, or storm clouds. Cumulus clouds themselves float relatively low compared to other clouds, so they are easily noticeable.

Dew point If the melting point of a substance is the temperature where that substance melts, then the dew point is the temperature in which water vapor condenses back into water, but evaporates at the same time.

This temperature seems logically impossible, but the dew point directly depends on the amount of humidity in the air.

Scientific Images and how they are taken Scientific Images are taken by a satellite in outer space. These pictures are then studied carefully by the scientists, and pictures that follow previous snapshots may be used to compare with the previous photo. Scientists usually repeat pictures every few weeks or days, to observe change.This can help predict future weather patterns.

Meteorological Instruments Meteorologists use several instruments to help them with their research. The Barometers measures the air pressure in an area, and can be used to determine the weather for the next few days.

Anemometers measure the air speed and can be used to determine the amount of wind for the next few days.

Thermometers are used to measure temperature.

El Nino El Nino is a warm water current in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can affect weather patterns. When water temperatures rise there, they set off a series of events that can influence weather half a hemisphere away. El Nino can trigger tornadoes, large showers that result in floods, severe thunderstorms, and possibly, the start of a tropical cyclone.