Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Science - Fifth Grade
What is Weather?
Multimedia Lesson
What is Weather?
Presentation
What is Weather?
Presentation
Weather Station
Virtual Lab
Identifying Weather Instruments
Interactive
Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Study Guide
Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Quiz
Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Flash Cards
Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Worksheet
Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Game
Weather, Weather patterns and climate
Vocabulary List
What is Weather? Flip Chart Set
Flip Chart
What is Weather?
Flip Chart
Who studies weather?
Flip Chart
Types of Clouds
Flip Chart
Precipitation & Humidity
Flip Chart
Air Temperature & Pressure
Flip Chart
Wind Speed & Direction
Flip Chart
Investigating Weather
Flip Chart
What is Weather Vocabulary
Flip Chart
Our Atmosphere
Flip Chart
The Water Cycle
Flip Chart
What is Weather?
Flip Chart
Who studies weather?
Flip Chart
Types of Clouds
Flip Chart
Precipitation & Humidity
Flip Chart
Air Temperature & Pressure
Flip Chart
Wind Speed & Direction
Flip Chart
Investigating Weather
Flip Chart
What is Weather Vocabulary
Flip Chart
Study Guide Weather, Weather patterns and climate
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WEATHER: PATTERNS AND CLIMATE You often hear people say “it is humid out” but what exactly is humidity? Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. Now water vapor doesn’t just have to do with humidity; it also has something to do with how clouds are formed. How do clouds form? Water in the air is called water vapor (an invisible gas). Now, when warm air rises, it expands and cools. When it cools, it loses its ability to hold a lot of water vapor – SO some of the water vapor condenses onto tiny pieces of dust in the air. When the water vapor combines with the dust in the air, a cloud begins to form. Lesson Checkpoint: How exactly do clouds form? There are three main types of clouds: Stratus clouds are low clouds that are usually flat and layered. They most often cover much of the sky. Cumulus clouds are LARGE puffy-looking clouds. They look like large balls of cotton. These are the clouds that you look at in the sky and you can imagine them being in the shapes of different animals or objects. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Cirrus clouds are very high, wispy clouds. They often look like stretched out pieces of cotton. Lesson Checkpoint: Describe a cumulus cloud. Precipitation When water droplets become too heavy for the cloud to hold onto, they fall as precipitation to the Earth’s surface. Rain, sleet, hail, and snow are all forms of precipitation. Air Pressure As air gets close to the Earth’s surface and warms up, the particles in the air move farther apart. The warm air then pushes down with less pressure and then rises forming an area of low pressure. Low air pressure results in a cloudy day. As air gets close to the Earth’s surface and cools, the particles in the air move extremely close together, this thick, cooler air sinks forming an area of high pressure. High air pressure results in clear skies. Lesson Checkpoint: What type of weather does high air pressure usually bring? © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Wind When air moves from an area of high pressure to a place with low pressure, WIND is created. Air Masses An air mass is a huge body of air that has basically the same temperature and amount of moisture. The movements and contents of air masses cause most weather conditions. The temperature of and moisture in an air mass depend on the area over which it formed. The Four Most Influential Air Masses that Affect the Weather in North America: Maritime Polar Air Mass: This is a cool and moist air mass that develops over the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean. Maritime Tropical Air Mass: This is a warm and moist air mass that forms over the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean and affects North America. Continental Polar Air Mass: This is a cold and dry air mass that develops over Northern Canada and affects North America. Continental Tropical Air Mass: This is a hot and dry air mass that develops over the deserts of Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States and usually only affects the weather in the Unites States during the summer months. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Lesson Checkpoint: Name and describe one major air mass that affects the weather in the United States. Cold and Warm Fronts A front is an area where two air masses meet. A warm front forms when a warm air mass bumps into a cold air mass that is not moving or is moving at a slow pace. Warm fronts usually move more slowly than cold fronts. A cold front forms when a cold air mass bumps into a warm air mass that is moving fast, is not moving, or is moving at a slow pace. What is needed for a thunderstorm to occur? Thunderstorm Recipe Key ingredient #1: Moisture Moisture is needed for clouds to form, which is where rain falls from! Thunderstorms develop in cumulus clouds only. The more moisture in the air, the more clouds develop in the sky. Key ingredient #2: Instability When warm air rises, it cools. If the warm air is warmer than the air around it as it rises, it keeps rising higher and higher causing the air to be unstable. The warm air rises until it cools and becomes the same temperature as the air around it, causing the air to be stable again. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Key ingredient #3: Uplift Warm air needs to rise for a thunderstorm to develop. Different things can make the warm air near the Earth’s surface rise into the air. The heat from the Sun can cause the air to rise and wind can also cause warm air to rise. Lesson Checkpoint: What is the recipe for a thunderstorm? What is a hurricane? A hurricane is a storm that forms over oceans that bring winds reaching over 74 miles/119 kilometers per hour. Hurricanes build up over oceans. Water vapor from the oceans condenses in the air; this process releases energy. The energy that is released causes the powerful winds of a hurricane. Since hurricanes are fueled by the oceans, hurricanes decrease in strength once they hit land. Hurricanes last longer and affect more area of land than tornadoes do. What is a tornado? A tornado is a funnel-shaped column of air that touches the ground. A tornado is very destructive as it destrosy anything and everything in its path. Compared to a hurricane, a tornado is smaller but it brings stronger winds than hurricanes do. How do tornadoes form? A change in wind direction before a developing thunderstorm and an increase in wind speed and height cause a horizontal column of spinning (or rotating) air near the Earth’s surface. Air then causes this rotating air to move from being horizontal (parallel to ground) to becoming vertical (straight up and down). A tornado is now formed and when it touches ground, it causes destruction to anything in its path. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
What is climate? Climate is the typical yearly weather in a particular area. Two important factors that determine an area's climate are the area’s air temperature and amount of precipitation. The climate of an area determines what plants grow there and what animals will live there as well. Climate Factors Various landforms affect the climate of certain areas. For example, areas on top of mountains are cooler in temperature than the lower areas. Location of land in relation to landforms also plays a part in the area’s climate. For example, land on one side of a mountain may be cool and moist while the other side may be hot and dry. Being closer to a large body of water (like the ocean) affects an area’s climate as well. Air inland changes faster than land that is near an ocean. So, during a hot summer day, it would be cooler by the ocean than it would be inland away from the ocean. Lesson Checkpoint: What is one factor that affects the climate in an area? Climate Zones There are three major climate zones on the Earth: Polar zone Temperate zone Tropical zone The location of the zone determines its climate. Several things can cause changes in climate: Volcano eruptions Meteoroid or asteroid impacts Carbon dioxide & other gases being constantly released into the atmosphere. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Table Of Contents: What is Weather?
1. Lesson Objectives
2.1. What is Weather?
2. Engage
3.1. What is weather?
3.2. Clear Skies and Sunshine
3.3. Wind and Rain
3.4. Snow and Cold
3. Explore
4.1. Describing Weather
4.2. Weather Change - Temperature
4.3. Weather Change- Storm
4.4. Cold Weather
4.5. Warm Weather
4. Explain
5.1. Our Atmosphere
The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of gases which makes up our atmosphere. Oxygen and water vapor are two types of gases in the atmosphere.
5.2. Water on Earth
Water covers most of the Earth's surface.
5.3. The Water Cycle
Water constantly moves from the Earth's surface into the air and back again. This process is called the water cycle.
5.4. States or Forms of Water
Sunlight provides the energy for water to move through the water cycle. Water changes form when it is heated or cooled. Water can exist as a solid (ice), liquid, or a gas (water vapor).
5.5. Evaporation
Heat from the Sun causes liquid water on the Earth's surface to change to water vapor or gas. This is called evaporation.
5.6. Condensation
As this water vapor rises into the air, it cools causing the vapor to turn into tiny water droplets and form clouds. This change is called condensation.
5.7. Precipitation
As these tiny water droplets in the clouds join together they grow too heavy and fall to Earth as rain, snow, sleet or hail. This process is called precipitation.
5.8. Water Cycle Terms
5.9. What is Weather?
Weather is what the air is like outside at any one place and time. Weather is a combination of the types of clouds in the sky, air temperature, the amount of water in the air, and wind.
5.10. Who studies weather?
Scientists who study the weather are called meteorologists.
5.11. Measuring Weather Conditions
Meteorologists use various tools to measure weather conditions and predict future weather.
5.12. Sky Condition
Sky condition is observed using your eyes. The sky can be sunny, partly cloudy, or cloudy.
5.13. Types of Clouds
The types of clouds in the sky can tell us the kind of weather we will have.
5.14. Types of Clouds - Cirrus Clouds
Cirrus clouds are thin and form high up in the atmosphere. They often tell us that the weather is about to change.
5.15. Types of Clouds - Cumulus Clouds
Cumulus clouds are fluffy and look like pieces of floating cotton. They usually predict fair weather, unless they form into stormy cumulonimbus clouds.
5.16. Types of Clouds - Stratus Clouds
Stratus clouds are smooth, gray clouds in layers that cover the entire sky. Sometimes they produce a light rain or snow.
5.17. Cloud Types
5.18. Precipitation
Water that falls to the ground from the clouds is precipitation. Precipitation can be in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail depending on the air temperature between the clouds and the ground. A rain gauge is used to measure how much water has fallen.
5.19. Measuring Rainfall
5.20. Humidity
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. The air feels dry when the humidity is low and damp when the humidity is high. A hygrometer is used to measure the amount of water vapor in the air.
5.21. Measuring Humidity
5.22. Air Temperature
Air temperature is how hot or cold the air is. Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius (oC) or degrees Fahrenheit (oF), using a thermometer.
5.23. Measuring Air Temperature
5.24. Air Pressure
The air in the atmosphere is pulled toward the Earth's surface by gravity. The weight of the air pushing down on the Earth's surface is the air (barometric) pressure. A barometer is a tool used to measure air pressure.
5.25. Measuring Air Pressure
5.26. Wind Speed and Direction
Air that moves from one area to another is called wind. Differences in air pressure and heat from the Sun cause winds.
5.27. Wind
A wind meter (anemometer) is used to measure how fast the wind blows. A wind vane shows the wind direction from which the wind is blowing.
5.28. Measuring Wind Speed and Direction
5.29. Identifying Weather Instruments
5.30. What is Weather?
5. Elaborate
6.1. Investigating Weather
6.2. Weather Station
6.3. Write a Weather Report
6.4. Weather Station
6. Evaluate
7.1. What is Weather?
7. Lesson Summary
8.1. What is Weather?
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