Shannon Krebs and Kelli Doyle
Climate
1 Climate CLIMATE. We hear this word almost everyday, but what is climate? Climate is the weather in an area for a long period of time. Climate change is the global climate changes. A famous climate change that happened in the past was the ice age! Right now we are going through a climate change. This climate change is being caused by rays from the sun being trapped in the atmosphere of the Earth because of pollution. This is called the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is causing the Earth to warm up. But do not be worried, this is not a bad thing because climate changes have happened many times on the Earth, so climate change is nothing to be scared of. Watch the video below to see how the greenhouse effect works!
Weather What is the dierence between climate and weather? Unlike climate, weather is only a temporary condition. Weather is constantly changing. One day it can be raining and the next day it can be bright and sunny. Weather can change because of the rotation of the Earth around the Sun and also dierent level of humidity, or water, in the atmosphere. Here is a video that talks more about weather and climate!
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2 THE SUN What is the Sun? Most of you might recognize the image in the background as the sun, but the sun is the closest star to us on planet Earth. It is 92,960,000 miles away from us and the surface temperature of the sun is 5800 Degrees Kelvins! The sun warms the Earth and it is the reason why we are alive, without the sun there would be no people on Earth. The sun also has a gravitational pull on the Earth and it causes the Earth and the rest of the planets to rotate around it.
The Earth’s Rotation Around The Sun The Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours. In its rotation, it’s axis is tilted in at 23.5 degrees.The Earth orbits around sun. It takes 365.25 days for the earth to make a full orbit around the sun. That is why we have leap years of 366 days every four years. Sometimes, the earth is closer to the sun, while other times it is farther away. This results in the different seasons that we experience. Here is a video that shows how the Earth rotates around the sun!
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3 Precipitation
What is Precipitation? Precipitation is any form of liquid or solid water particles that fall from the atmosphere, or clouds, and reach the surface of the Earth. Precipitation can be rain, snow, and many other forms of water particles that reach the Earth.
Rain Have you ever splashed in a mud puddle in your rain gear? You know that rain causes puddles, but do you know what rain is? Rain is a form of liquid water. It falls in droplets from clouds that have condensed atmospheric vapor that has become heavy enough to fall due to gravity. In Indiana, rain tends to fall more in the springtime, but it can also fall during the summer and autumn months and even in the winter (though that is rare). Remember the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers.�
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Snow Did you know that no two snow flakes are alike???
SNOW! Everyone loves a snow day! You
clouds freezes and clumps together and
can build snowmen, make snow angels,
then it falls out of the clouds and onto the
and have snow ball fights. But what is
ground around us. Snow is actually ice so
snow? Snow is a form of PRECIPITATION. It
that is why it is so slippery to walk on and
snows when it is freezing outside. To be ex-
why it is so cold.
act it snows when the temperature outside is less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit. When it is below freezing the moisture that is in the
Click on the link below to build your own snow flake!
http://whyfiles.org/2013/make-a-snowflake-2/ 7
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Other Types of Precipitation Are snow and rain the only types of precipitation? Even though snow and rain are the most common types, there are many more types of precipitation! A few other common types of precipitation are hail and sleet. Like snow these are also forms of ice precipitation. Hail can be a very dangerous type of precipitation. Hail is little balls of ice and they can even be as big as a golf ball!
Sleet is a lot less scary type of pre-
dependent on the temperature out-
cipitation. Sleet is a mixture of rain
side. Hail and sleet happen when it
and snow, but it can also be very
is cooler outside, but not cold
slippery to walk on. So why do have
enough for snow, so that is why they
these dierent types of precipita-
are less common than regular rain
tion? Because of the temperature!
and snow!
The type of precipitation that falls from the clouds is all Click on the link to play a game about all types of precipitation!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/whati sweather/aboutweather/precipitati on.shtml
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4 Storms Have you ever had to use a flashlight when the power was out? Many people have their power go out during storms as a result of wind, rain, ice, or snow. But what causes these storms to occur? Storms tend to occur when cold air, which is dry and dense and hot air, which is wet and not as dense, cross paths. The warm air comes from the Equator and the cold air comes from the poles. When the two meet, the warm must go above the cold air causing there to be a drop in surface air pressure. Then, cold air sensing the pressure change rushes into fill this area of low pressure. This causes more warm air to go above the cold air and change the cycle. Â
Click on this link to see a live doppler radar of the United States, this will let you see where storms are!
http://www.wunderground.com/ndfdimage/viewimage
Thunder and Lightning Storms BOOM! That sound can scare anyone and then flash of light that comes after it can either be terrifying or spectacular. These two things are thunder and lightning. A thunderstorm is the most typical type of storm that occurs all around the world. But why do thunderstorms occur and what causes thunder and lightning? Thunderstorms occur when the air pressure in the sky becomes unstable. What this means is that the lower layers of the atmosphere are warm and humid, but the upper layers of the atmosphere are cold. So because the two temperatures do not mix, it creates an instability and that is how lightning is formed. But how is thunder formed? Thunder is actually the sound of the lightning! Did you know that light travels faster than sound? That is why thunder always comes after lightning! Â Click here to hear thunder and see lightning!
Click on this link to create your own lightning!
http://whyfiles.org/2013/play-with-lightning-2/
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Tornadoes You may be familiar with the story of Dorothy and Toto  getting lost in Munchkin Land after a tornado struck their Kansas home. How did this tornado or twister occur? Tornadoes form after cool dry air from Canada and warm and moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meet and create an instability in the atmosphere. This, plus a change in wind direction, and an increase in wind speed can cause rotating column of air to extend from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes can travel at up to 300 miles per hour, so it is important to seek shelter in a sturdy structure like a basement or an inner room in your house. Click here to watch a video of a tornado!
Click on the link to control your own tornado!
http://whyfiles.org/2013/control-a-tornado/ 13
Hurricanes Hurricanes are storms in the water! Hurricanes can only form in tropical regions where the water temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Hurricanes can also occur from air pressure. They occur when the air temperature is much cooler than the water temperature. Like the other storms this creates an instability between the air and the water and it causes this huge storm. Hurricanes have wind speeds of 75-200 miles per hour! That is faster than a car can drive! Also, hurricanes rotate counterclockwise in a spiral shape around the eye of the hurricane. The eye of the hurricane is the calmest part of the hurricane and has low wind speeds. The hurricane can gain energy and grow bigger when it reaches areas of warm water. Once the hurricane starts to approach land, it can be disastrous! Hurricanes cause high wind speeds on land. The wind speeds can even blow down houses! Also, hurricanes can cause heavy rain on land and high waves, which can cause flooding to houses and cars. When there is a hurricane it is important to stay inside and be prepared! Even though hurricanes can be scary, they are the most powerful storms and it can be cool to track them through the internet, or on TV. Here is an image of Hurricane Alex that hit the United States a couple of years ago. This is an image of the radar that picked up the hurricane and on the images we can see its spiral shape and how it aects even the land around the water.
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5 Droughts
A drought is when there is no rain for a very long period of time. Droughts can occur all over the world in, but they only occur in areas that are very hot and dry. Extreme droughts can occur for months and at the end of the drought there is usually a monsoon. A monsoon is a huge rain storm and it is the ending of the drought. Monsoons do not occur after all droughts though, just very extreme ones. Above is a map of the world that shows where droughts occur. Click on the link to play a gardening game to show you what happens to plants when they do not receive water. This will show you what happens to regular plants during a drought!
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/plantsgrow.htm l
Deserts
Many of you might recognize this picture as a desert. Do you know what cause this area of land to become a desert though? You guessed it a drought. Since droughts happen in really warm and dry areas of land, that is why we have deserts in Arizona and New Mexico. Also, during droughts plants do not grow right, or dierent types of plants start to grow in these places. In the picture you might recognize the green things as cactuses. Cactuses grow here because cactuses are able to store water inside of them for a very long time, so that is why they are able to survive in desert regions.
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Seasons
Can you name all of the seasons? We have spring, summer, fall, and winter. In each season there are dierent weather patterns, but why does the weather change in each season? The weather changes in each season because of the Earth’s rotation around the sun. In the United States we have summer when the northern part of the Earth is pointed towards the sun. This happens in the months of June, July, and August. We have winter when the northern part of the Earth is pointed away from the sun. This happens in December, January, and February. We have spring when the northern part of the Earth is just beginning to more from facing away from the sun to facing the sun. This happens in the months of March, April, and May. Finally, we have fall when the northern part of the Earth starts to rotate from facing the sun to facing away from the sun. This happens in September, October, and November. This is a video and hear a song about the four seasons!
Spring After a long winter, you might wonder if anything will ever grow again. Thankfully, there is a season called spring that follows winter. During the springtime, our part of the Earth gets closer to the sun. This causes temperatures to become warmer. There also tends to be a lot of rain and storms in the spring months because of the changing temperatures resulting from dierent air sometimes coming from Canada and other times coming from the Gulf of Mexico. Because of the warmer temperatures and high amounts of precipitation during this time period, plants tend to start growing and trees grow their leaves during this time period. Animals also start to be more active because of the higher availability of food. Watch this video to hear a song about spring!
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Summer The summer can be a lot of fun! There is summer vacation, camp, and hanging out with friends all day! Summer is caused in the United States by the northern point of the Earth facing the sun. We have summer in June, July, and August. Summer is known for having very high temperatures, so it is always nice to cool o by going swimming! Also, in the summer there is not that much rain. So it is also usually very dry in the summer, so always remember to drink a lot of water!
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Fall/ Autumn Have you ever jumped in a pile of leaves? This a fun activity that many children do in autumn. The Earth is moving farther away from the sun, so the temperature starts to drop. Because the temperature drops, the trees lose their leaves and plants start to die. Animals, such as squirrels, gather a lot of food to prepare themselves for the upcoming long winter when nothing will grow. Click here to hear a song about fall!
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Winter Burrrrrrrrrrr! Winter is known for having freezing temperatures and snow, lots and lots of snow. We have winter because the northern part of Earth rotates away from the sun. Winter occurs in the December, January, and February. Since there are freezing temperatures outside during winter, that is why all of the trees have no leaves. Also, rain turns to snow in winter, so winter is not known for having rain. Also, animals go into hibernation for the winter because there is no food supply for them in the winter. Even though winter is so cold, it can be a lot of fun! You can play in the snow and build snowman and snow forts with your friends!
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Season Fun! Click on the link to play a game about the seasons!
Click here to watch a video about how the seasons change!
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/sea sons/seasons.htm
Click here to play another game about the seasons!
So from these games and animation what did you learn? You should have learned to know what each season’s features are and to always wear the right clothes during these seasons. And remember each season bring new and dierent activities that you can do! http://www.turtlediary.com/kindergarten-games/ science-games/seasons.html 22
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