Earth Science: Weather Watch

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» What's the Big Challenge (PDF)
» Learning Set 1 (PDF)

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The Big Challenge: Write a plan for responding to a severe-weather event.

Using weather maps of USA, students explore how weather is measured, the difference between weather and climate, and the factors that affect the weather and climate in six different climate regions of the United States. They discover that latitude, the tilt of Earth’s axis, and the proximity to large bodies of water affect surface temperatures. They investigate what causes precipitation, and in the process, they learn about the transfer of thermal energy and the water cycle. They also explore the effect of global winds and ocean currents on weather and climate. Students then learn about different types of severe weather and investigate how to respond to different severe-weather events.

Implements STEM initiative
Uses the Engineering Design Cycle

• air masses
• air pressure
• atmosphere–composition and structure
• blizzards
• climate change
• cloud formation and types
• condensation
• density
• Earth's tilt and surface heating
• El Niño and La Niña
• evaporation
• floods
• fronts
• global winds
• hail formation

• humidity
• hurricanes
• jet stream
• kinetic theory of matter
• latitude
• local winds
• ocean currents
• precipitation
• seasons
• severe weather
• snow formations
• specific heat capacity
• temperature

• thermal energy transfer–conduction, convection, and radiation
• tornadoes
• water cycle
• weather and climate
• weather maps
• weather patterns
• weather predictions
• wind direction
• wind speed

• asking questions
• interpreting data
• keeping good records
• making claims
• making and running models
• observing

• predicting
• communicating results
• using evidence
• using scientific tools
• using scientific visualization

21ST CENTURY SKILLS
Collaboration
Communicating plans and ideas Developing explanations
Finding trends in data
Critical thinking including:

• building on the work of others
• collecting, organizing, and analyzing data
• observations and interpretation using science knowledge
• using evidence to support claims