Students observe a past weather forecast, and consider why different locations in the country are experiencing different types of weather.
Students use a model of weather conditions on Earth to consider the relationship between temperature, pressure, wind direction, and speed to the weather in various locations.
Students use the Weather Lab Simulation to explain the relationship between air masses, ocean currents, and weather.
Students use text and video resources to explain how air masses form and what occurs when air masses interact to create frontal systems.
Students develop an Earth Reference Diagram to model the location of air masses across the globe.
Students use text and video resources to explain how air masses form and what occurs when air masses interact to create frontal systems.
Students develop an Earth Reference Diagram to model the location of air masses across the globe.
Students obtain information from an interactive resource to explain the relationship between atmospheric and oceanic conditions and El Nińo and
La Nińa events.
Students refine their Earth Reference Diagram to include El Nińo and La Nińa events.
Students will utilize the Earth Reference Diagrams they have developed over the course of the module to explain the relationship between air masses, fronts, and weather.
Students will record characteristics of different clouds and identify the type of weather they are related to.
In the previous concept, students explored the factors that affect atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and developed and refined models to explain the relationship between these global circulation patterns and the distribution of heat and moisture on the planet.
In this cycle, students will construct explanations to answer the guiding question: How do interactions between the atmosphere and hydrosphere create weather? Students will answer this guiding question by using models to explore the relationship between air masses, ocean currents, and weather. They will obtain information from text and video resources to explain how air masses form, and how the interaction of air masses affects frontal systems. Students will apply their learning, using an online interactive to explain the relationship between atmospheric and oceanic conditions and El Nińo and La Nińa events. Throughout the cycle, students will develop and refine a model of air masses on Earth, which they will use in conjunction with the atmospheric and oceanic circulation models they developed in the previous concept, to explain the relationship between air masses, fronts, and weather.
In the next cycle, students will analyze and interpret data to explain how past and current weather information is used to predict the weather, probabilistically.