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Natural Disasters and Storms in Philadelphia 1. What is a natural disaster? 2. Does Philadelphia have many natural disasters?

o Nature (noun) – everything in the world not made by people like plants, animals, water, rocks, and stars

o Natural (adjective) – made by nature, not people

o Disaster (adjective) – something that happens fast

and is bad for people Natural disaster is a bad event. It hurts many people and things.

No. Philadelphia does not have many natural disasters. There are few natural disasters. Philadelphia has many storms.

What is a storm? When cold, dry air meets warm, moist (wet) air, there is a storm.

When the two types of air, or air masses, meet it is called a front.

If the cold air pushes away the warm air, it is a cold front. There is a heavy storm.

If the warm air goes over the cold air, it is a warm front. There is a light storm.

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3. Precipitation 4. Temperature

Precipitation is water that falls to the ground.  

thermometer How cold? How hot? 5. Weather: today’s temperature and precipitation 6. Climate: temperature and precipitation over a long period of time

Philadelphia has a lot of preciptation in July.

Philadelphia is hot in July and August. Philadelphia is cold in

December, January and February.

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7. Cold! Snow and ice 8. What causes a snow storm?

Philadelphia has snow, ice, and hail (freezing rain) in the winter. Philadelphia usually has 20 inches of snow a year. Biggest snow storms in Philadelphia:

January 1996: 31 inches February 2010: 28.5 inches December 2009: 23 inches February 2003: 19 inches

When cold, dry air moves south and meets warm, moist (wet) air moving north, we have snow. Some of the storms are called “nor’easters.” A “nor’easter” is a big storm with wind. The storm moves along the east coast of the United States. The storms are from September to April. A “nor’easter” has rain or snow.

9. Hot! Hot! Heat Wave! 10. Earthquakes

In the summer, Philadelphia is hot. When it is very hot for more than 3 (three) days, it is a heat wave. Philadelphia has more than 30 very hot days in the summer. The hottest day in Philadelphia was August 7, 1918. It was 106° Fahrenheit or 41° Celsius.

In am earthquakes, the earth rumbles, shakes and trembles. The earth slides. There was an earthquake in Philadelphia on August 23, 2011.

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11. Hurricanes 12. Floods A hurricane is a big storm with wind, rain, thunder and lightening. Hurricanes start in warm water – 80° Fahrenheit or 27° Celsius. Philadelphia has heavy rain from hurricanes. Most hurricanes are in August, September and October.

A flood is when water covers dry land. There is a lot of rain or snow. In Philadelphia, most floods are by rivers. There are floods during any month of the year.

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Challenge Assignment #2: Reading and analyzing data from maps, a graph and a chart

Graph: Philadelphia

Map

Chart

Average total snowfall and days with new snow in Philadelphia

Days Month Inches Centimeters 4 January 6.5 16.5 4 February 8.8 22.4 2 March 2.9 7.4 0.5 April 0.5 1.3 0.2 November 0.3 0.8 2 December 3.4 8.6 12.2 YEAR 22.4 56.9

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Challenge Assignment #3: Global Warming What surrounds the earth? What is the greenhouse effect? What is global warming?

A greenhouse is a glass house to grow plants.

The glass or plastic keeps the sun’s heat in the house.

The greenhouse is like the earth. The sun heats the earth. Gasses keep the heat near the earth.

The gases are trapped in the atmosphere. The earth becomes warmer. The earth warms up. This is global warming.

The  atmosphere  has  5  layers.    Troposphere: (1) air planes fly (2) Air /oxygen (3) Weather is formed Stratosphere: (1) weather balloons (2) ozone layer protects us from the sun Mesosphere: (1) very cold (2) meteors burn up Thermosphere: (1) Space Station (2) Northern Lights Exosphere: (1) goes into space (2) satellites  

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Why is the earth getting warmer? What happens when the earth gets warmer?

A little warming makes the earth dangerous for people, animals and plants. What do human do to make the earth warmer?

(1) burn fossil fuels (gasoline, coal, oil) (2) cut down trees (3) build too many buildings on grasslands

 

droughts (not enough water)

heat waves (very hot) more typhoons and hurricanes

people and animals die What can people do?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Use less water.

Use less electricity. Turn off the lights.

Ride a bike. Ride the

bus. Walk.

Plant trees.

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