Period 1, Mihir & Jacob, Weather-rama

Weather-rama A Children's Storybook

By: Jacob and Mihir

Atmosphere

Mihir

Known as "The Sky" to us, this happy helper, the atmosphere, causes weather and was naturally here as a result of Earth forming.

It's interaction with planes and balloons made by us and the layers of the atmosphere forms weather in the troposphere, the layer closest to us. It is the cause of the terrible tornadoes, yet it is also responsible for the nice weather after it. There are four layers of the Earth's atmosphere: the troposphere, where you

Atmosphere cont.

Mihir

can find rising hot-air balloons; the stratosphere, which is where aircrafts cruise; the mesosphere, where shooting stars (meteors) burn up; and ionosphere (a.k.a. thermosphere), that causes auroras and provide space for astronauts in orbit.

Convection

Jacob

Convection is the transfer of heat through a liquid or gas. Air heated by the Sun is able to heat objects it comes in contact with through convection. An example of convection is a space heater. It takes in the air and heats it then when the air circulates through the room that warm air heats up what it touches.

Wind Currents

Jacob

Wind currents are caused by differences in pressure over areas of land. There are three types of wind currents, Easterlies, Westerlies, and Trade winds. Easterlies are winds that start in the East and go West.b Westerlies are winds that start in the West and go East. And Trade Winds are wind that go either North or South towards the equator.

Ocean Currents

Mihir

Ocean currents are conveyer belts that are apparent all over the world. But leave the surfing to the pros, because the actual shape and direction are unseeable and the currents are very powerful. Ocean currents occur all the time, which is why the the East

Ocean Currents cont.

Mihir

Coast waters are warmer than the West Coast waters. So if you like swimming, go to the West Coast. Currents are formed through the movement of surface water or deep water. Surface water moves due to wind, the deep water moves due to convection.

Pressure Jacob The force of air pressing on something from all around it High Pressure

Low Pressure

Having a lot of pressure pushing on and surrounding an object

Only having a little bit of pressure pushing on and surrounding an object

Fronts Warm Fronts produce clouds, storms, rain, and humidity. Warm fronts occur when warm air hits cold air and forms watery, hot air.

The symbol of a warm front.

Mihir

Cold Fronts produce thunderstorms and cold dryness. Cold fronts occur when cold air collides with warm air, forcing warm air up.

This then causes rain and wind.

A cold front symbol.

Fronts (cont.)

Stationary Fronts produce many days of cloudy, light rain (or snow, sleet, hail).

Stationary fronts occur when warm air collides with cold air at equal force causing the front to stop.

Mihir

Occluded Fronts produce clouds, rain, snow, sleet, and hail.

Occluded fronts, the most complicated front, forms when two cold air masses squeeze a warm air mass upwards. This forms cold weather.

Hurricanes and Tornadoes Hurricanes are formed over water like in the Gulf of Mexico in a low pressure system over warm water. This cause high pressure winds to move towards this "eye" and spiral. This eventually creates a hurricane.

Mihir

Tornadoes form in big and fluffy thunderstorm clouds where cold air and warm air hit each other. This happens at the times when storms occur, in spring.

The Sun's Energy

Mihir

The Sun sends down radiation energy to Earth. This is why you get sunburns standing outside for a long time and how you get cold without a jacket. There are three types of radiation; ultraviolet (sunburns and cancer), infrared (heat), and visible light (color). Most light is infrared and visible light.

o

55 65 75 85

Isotherm Map

95 105

Jacob

Stationary Front Occluded Front Low Pressure

Warm Front

Rain (Precipitation)

High Pressure

Snow (Precipitation)

Partly Cloudy (Cloud Cover)

Cold Front

Jacob

Weather Map

Isotherm A line on a map that connects areas of the same temperature at a certain time

&

A line on a map that connects areas of the same atmospheric pressure at a certain time

Isobar â–ş

Jacob

Isobar

Precipitation Rain is the most common precipitation (the stuff that falls from the sky). It comes down because a gaseous form of water forms clouds then falls on us. This is called the water cycle.

This also can cause thunderstorms.

Mihir

Snow is our favorite thing to play with in the winter. But do you know where it comes from?

Well, super-chilled water forms a different type of cloud and then falls to the Earth as snow.

Precipitation (cont.)

Sleet usually accompanies snow.

Sleet forms as ice crystals in a sort of "sharp" looking, wispy cloud which then falls to the earth as sheets of white ice. This is mainly what causes slipping and falling on ice.

Mihir

Hail is very rare in mild climate states. Hail comes in big golf ball sized spheres of ice. It's cloud also looks sharp and wispy. This is what causes your neighbor's car to get dented in the winter sometimes.

Types of Clouds Cumulus clouds are the white, puffy, cotton ball clouds that you see on a nice day. Cumulus clouds hold a certain amount of condensed water droplets in each day, giving it puffy edges. They grow up to be cumulonimbus clouds.

Mihir

Cumulonimbus are big pillar shaped clouds that drops thunder, lightning, and abundant rain. Cumulonimbus clouds are the grown-up versions of the fluffy cumulus cloud. Can hold a mix of ice and water.

Types of Clouds (cont.)

Stratus are low-lying fog clouds. On a foggy day, you will see the gray shape of these clouds outside the classroom window or outside in the cold. These clouds hold little drizzles of rain and might evolve into cumulus clouds.

Mihir

Cirrus clouds are highflying wispy clouds. On an uncloudy day these wispy clouds are propelled by the wind and usually hold ice crystals. You can mainly see these if it is very cold outside or when there are freeze warnings.

Dew Point

Mihir

I'm sure once in your lives each one of you have heard your parents talking about dew on the leaves in the garden. Dew are tiny droplets of cooled water that form on surfaces in the night. However, do you know how these beautiful beads of water form?

After condensation, the gaseous water vapor in the clouds reach its dew point, the temperature at which it begins to become liquid again. Then these droplets fall to Earth as dew or precipitation. Dew comes from stratus or cirrus clouds.

Satellite Images in Weather

Mihir

Scientists use satellite images to tell us how cautious we should be about weather in everyday life. The reason you are safe from tornadoes and hurricanes is because of the satellite images. Using before-and-after images from previous cases and using computer recreations, the scientists can tell us if we are in danger.

Weather Instruments

Mihir

The main instruments used for "measuring weather" are a thermometer, a barometer, weather maps, a wind vane, a hygrometer, and weather balloons. A thermometer is for measuring temperature. A barometer is for measuring air pressure. Weather maps come in two flavors, isobar and isotherm. Wind vanes (the little metal chickens that sit on top of barns) show the direction in which the wind is pushing. A hygrometer is for measuring humidity (or the amount of water vapor in the air). Weather balloons are for finding the temperature in the atmosphere.

T-Chart 11 Mihir: Atmosphere (2x slides) Ocean Currents Fronts (4x fronts, 2x slides) Hurricanes Tornadoes Sun's Energy Types of Precipitation Dew Point Scientific Images Types of Clouds Scientific Instruments

6 Jacob: Convection Wind Currents High Pressure Low Pressure Weather maps (2x) Isotherm/Isobar