Science 7 Lesson Plans Carter, Kelly, and McMillan Directions: Read each passage assigned and answer the follow-up questions. Do not write the questions. Follow the example provided. Only complete assigned passages. Example: Name: Wind over Water 1. Warm, sunny, and moderately windy Day 1: Wind over Water Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Day 2: Precipitation Observe the four types of precipitation diagram and describe how temperature affects each form of precipitation. Day 3: It’s a Twister Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Write a short paragraph of your experience describing a time when you were affected by a tornado. Include how did you prepare, what type of damage was done, and how did it make you feel. Day 4: A View from Above Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Watch the local weather channel and describe today’s weather. Include the following information 1. Date:

2. Time: 3. Current Feel Temperature: 4. Precipitation: 5. Cloud Coverage: 6. Wind Speed:

Day 5: Weather Map Symbols Using the weather map key draw and label each symbol. Create a new map symbol for the following weather. Cold front, warm front, stationary front, occluded front, High Pressure, Low Pressure, Tornado, and Thunderstorm Day 6: Warm Clothes Required Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Day 7: Blooms under Glass Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Day 8: Billowing Sails Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Day 9: The Problem of Pollution Read the passage and answer the 3 questions Day 10: Complete the Weather Study List Use your notes provided in class

WEATHER STUDY LIST

Define: Coriolis Effect Prevailing westerlies Front Tornado Air mass Meteorologist Isobars Isotherms Humidity Convection Current Anemometer Barometer Weather Jet Stream

List Four types of precipitation List, describe, and identify the four major types of clouds

1. Cirrus 2. Stratus 3. Cumulonimbus 4. Cumulus

Identify and describe the four factors that cause weather Five layers of the atmosphere (top to bottom and bottom to top)

Short Answers Low pressure systems form along _________ Where does weather take place in our atmosphere? Describe the weather in a Low (L) pressure system. Describe the weather in a High (P) pressure system. Violent storms usually form along a __________ front. Why does high pressure air usually have good weather?

Be able to identify the four types of fronts Be able to read a station model and weather maps

Draw the following map symbols – Fronts (4); thunderstorm; High and Low Pressure; hurricane, snow, hail, rain, clear skies, partly cloudy skies, and cloudy skies

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Warm Clothes Required

Regardless of the season, be sure to bring warm clothes on a hiking trip to western Colorado. Temperatures can drop suddenly. Even when temperatures are warm in the valley, they can be extremely cold in the mountains.

When climbers scale the mountains shown here, they often carry oxygen tanks with them. The air is both thin and cold at altitudes of 4,300 m (14,000 ft) and higher.

1 Compare snowcover on the mountain to snowcover by the lake.

2 Would you expect air to be colder at the altitude of clouds than it is on Earth’s surface? Discuss.

Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 1

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Focus on Content

Temperature v. Altitude

Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 1

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Blooms under Glass

Flowers can bloom inside a greenhouse all year long—even during a cold, snowy winter. A greenhouse traps energy from the Sun very effectively.

Energy from the Sun is made of more than just the light you can see. Some of it is infrared energy. This kind of energy warms your skin when you bask in the Sun. It warms the air in a greenhouse too.

1 Compare Earth’s surface and atmosphere to the inside of a greenhouse. How are they alike? How are they different?

2 What would happen to these plants if they were moved outside the greenhouse?

3 Why are temperatures on Earth’s surface important?

Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 2

25% of radiation isreflected by cloudsand particles.

Solar radiation 100%

50% of radiationreaches and isabsorbed by Earth’ssurface.

20% of radiation isabsorbed by particlesin the atmosphere.

5% of radiation is reflected back by land and sea surface.

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Focus on Content Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 2

Incoming Solar Radiation

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Billowing Sails

Hundreds of years ago, tall sailing ships carried goods and passengers across the oceans. Winds filled the billowing sails to power these ships on their journeys.

Ship captains knew that ocean winds blow in patterns. They plotted courses that took advantage of bands of strong winds.

1 What is wind? What can wind do?

2 What types of winds blow where you live? Do they form a pattern of any kind? Discuss.

3 A system is made of many parts that interact. Are winds part of a system? Explain.

Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 3

Polar easterlies

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Trade windsTrade winds

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Focus on Content Earth’s Atmosphere

Global Wind Belts

LESSON 3

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The Problem of Pollution

Warsaw is the capital of Poland. It is an old and beautiful city. Yet air pollution is a problem here, as it is in cities all over Earth.

Today, people everywhere are recognizing the problems that pollution causes, and they are trying new ways to solve them. You can be part of the solution, too.

1 What happens to smoke after it is released into the air?

2 How would Warsaw be different without the power plant and smokestack shown in the photo?

3 Describe some of the ways individuals and businesses can help to reduce air pollution.

Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 4

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Focus on Content Earth’s Atmosphere LESSON 4

Air Quality Trends

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Earth’s Atmosphere Lesson 1 Bellringer Comstock Images/AlamyWarm Clothes Required

The troposphere is the layer of Earth’s atmosphere that is closest to the surface. As the photo illustrates, air temperature tends to decrease with altitude in the troposphere. However, this trend does not apply throughout the atmosphere.

Air pressure also decreases with altitude. When people visit the mountains, the low air pressure causes their lungs to take in less oxygen with every breath. People can become temporarily winded and short of energy. Over time, the body compensates for this difference.

Answers to Questions1 The mountains are covered in snow, but snow is

absent on much of the land near the lake, and the lake is not frozen. Colder temperatures at higher altitudes explain this difference.

2 Yes. Near Earth’s surface, air temperature drops with increasing altitude. Air is quite cold at the altitude of clouds, which is why water vapor condenses there.

Lesson 1 Focus on Content Temperature v. Altitude

Students might argue that the outer layers of the atmosphere are closer to the Sun than the inner layers, and that this is why temperature varies among the layers. Explain that this reasoning is not correct. The Sun is approximately 150 million kilometers away from Earth, and the thickness of the atmosphere is extremely small in comparison. Temperature differences among the layers are due in part to differences in air pressure and gas concentrations.

Lesson 2 Bellringer John A. Rizzo/Getty ImagesBlooms under Glass

Discuss other situations in which thermal energy is trapped. For example, a car with its windows closed can act just like a greenhouse. The surfaces and air inside a car can become extremely hot on a warm, sunny day.

Answers to Questions1 Like the inside of a greenhouse, Earth has plants

growing below a blanket of air that traps heat from the Sun. Unlike a greenhouse, Earth’s atmosphere lacks a glass wall that keeps warm air inside it.

2 The plants would be subject to the weather of the region. If the air temperature dropped too low, the plants might die.

3 Life on Earth depends on a specific range of temperatures. If this range of temperatures were to change, then life would change as well. Changing temperatures also affect glaciers and ice caps. Melted ice raises ocean levels.

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Lesson 2 Focus on Content Doug Menuez/Getty ImagesIncoming Solar Radiation

The amount of solar radiation reflected from Earth’s surface varies from place to place, and even from season to season. Fresh snow reflects about 95 percent of the solar radiation that strikes it, while black asphalt parking lots reflect less than 5 percent of this energy.

Scientists use the term heat islands to describe urban areas. Because buildings and pavement absorb heat, they become hotter than nearby rural lands.

Lesson 3 Bellringer Royalty-Free/CORBISBillowing Sails

Discuss how an ocean journey on a sailing ship could last for months, and that even the best quarters were cramped and lacked modern plumbing and other conveniences. Discuss how discouraging it must have felt to be stuck in the Doldrums, a region near the equator where winds blow weakly, if at all.

Answers to Questions1 Wind is moving air. Wind can power sailboats,

lift a kite, and spin wind turbines, which are used to generate electricity. Strong winds can topple trees.

2 Answers will vary with location. Most places receive a variety of winds, including calm winds, strong winds, and winds that are part of severe storms. Wind patterns often are named, such as nor’easters and Santa Ana winds, or they can be part of severe storms, such as hurricanes and tornados.

3 Yes. Winds blow across Earth’s surface, and winds in one region affect winds elsewhere. Earth’s atmosphere forms a system that surrounds and affects the entire planet.

Lesson 3 Focus on Content Global Wind Belts

Students might notice that the diagram does not explain the wide variety of winds observed on land. The diagram shows global trends in the winds, and these trends apply mostly to winds over the ocean. Landforms are much more varied than the surface of the ocean, and the variation affects the winds that blow over the land.

Lesson 4 Bellringer Andrew Ward/Life File/Getty ImagesThe Problem of Pollution

Modern machines and factories became common in the Industrial Revolution, a period in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Coal provided the energy that made the Industrial Revolution possible. Discuss how people’s lives changed during the Industrial Revolution, both

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for the better and for the worse. For example, coal mines employed many people, but the work was dirty and dangerous, and breathing in coal dust caused lung disease. In London and other cities, soot from burning coal formed a thick haze in the air.

Answers to Questions1 The wind carries smoke and spreads it over a

wide area. Eventually the smoke particles settle to the surface, or they fall to the surface with precipitation.

2 Warsaw would be cleaner and brighter without the power plant, and breathing cleaner air might help people be healthier. Yet the power plant provides electricity that the city needs.

3 Possible answers include walking and riding bicycles instead of using automobiles; conserving electricity, much of which comes from coal-burning power plants; and enacting policies that reduce air pollution. Businesses follow state or federal guidelines which require them to dispose of toxic materials properly and reduce toxic emissions.

Lesson 4 Focus on Content Air Quality Trends

Ask student volunteers to explain the meaning of the four lines on this graph. For each line, the graph plots percent change from 1970 to 2006. Vehicle miles traveled, energy consumption, and population all changed by a positive percentage, meaning their values increased. Air pollution changed by a negative percentage, meaning it declined.

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Wind over Water

What do you get when you add a mast with a sail to a surfboard? You get a windsurf board! Windsurfers harness the power of wind to skim their boards across the water.

Windsurfers pay attention to many weather factors, not just the wind. They might choose to stay off the water during cold or rainy weather or when a storm is on its way.

1 Describe at least three weather factors that you observe in the photo.

2 How would a storm make windsurfing dangerous?

3 What is the weather like where you are? What sports would be appropriate today?

Weather LESSON 1

Clouddroplets

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Types of Precipitation

Weather LESSON 1

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It’s a Twister!

A tornado is a storm with violent, swirling winds. Tornadoes can uproot trees, blow out windows, and even lift cars and houses.

Tornadoes are most common during the late summer on open plains, especially in the central United States. They have, however, occurred during all seasons and in all 50 states.

1 What factors affect the amount of damage caused by a tornado?

2 What other types of severe storms are you aware of?

3 How should people in a car respond when a tornado is approaching?

Weather LESSON 2

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Air Masses

Weather LESSON 2

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A View from Above

Long ago, people could only imagine what Earth’s weather looked like from space. Today, cameras on satellites are constantly taking pictures of Earth’s atmosphere.

This photo shows the swirling clouds of a hurricane. With the help of satellites, computers, and weather stations, scientists can accurately predict the weather and chart the course of severe storms.

1 Why is weather forecasting important?

2 Why are satellite photos of hurricanes useful?

3 Why is it necessary to use many different tools to study the weather?

Weather LESSON 3

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Weather Map

Weather LESSON 3

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Teacher GuideWeatherLesson 1 BellringerPhotodisc/PunchstockWind over Water

Before the era of modern science, people used myths to explain changes in the weather. Ancient Greeks believed that the god Zeus made rain and that lightning was his weapon.

Remind students that the weather cannot be described with a single adjective. Weather is characterized by many factors, including air temperature, precipitation, wind speed, and humidity. Different adjectives apply to each of these factors.

Answers to Questions1 The weather appears to be warm, sunny, and

moderately windy (the wind is filling the sail, but the water appears calm).

2 A storm could bring strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning. A windsurfer could be knocked off the surfboard. Lightning could strike the mast.

3 Answers will vary. Students might suggest football, baseball, swimming, etc.

Lesson 1 Focus on Content Types of Precipitation

Ask students to compare and contrast the four forms of precipitation shown here. All begin as water droplets or ice crystals that gather in clouds and then fall to the surface. They differ due to differences in temperature and, in the case of hail, in wind conditions.

Hail is an unusual form of precipitation because it involves ice particles both rising and falling through the air. The stronger the upward-blowing wind, the longer the hailstones stay in the air and the larger they become. In 1996, hail the size of softballs fell in Lake Wales, Florida. This was the largest hail ever recorded in the state.

Lesson 2 Bellringer Royalty-Free/CORBISIt’s a Twister!

The funnel cloud of a tornado can form in a variety of shapes and sizes. The photo shows a narrow funnel with a distinct boundary. Others are wider and less distinct.

Students might wonder how this photograph was taken. Explain that “storm chasers” are professionals who drive into the heart of a storm to study and to photograph it. Their job is very dangerous, and their safety depends on excellent judgment.

Answers to Questions1 Answers include the location where the tornado

strikes, the severity and duration of the storm, and how well people are prepared for the tornado.

2 Answers include hurricanes, thunderstorms, and blizzards.

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3 In this situation, experts advise seeking shelter immediately in a low place, such as the ditch of the highway if there is no rain. Do not try to outrun an approaching tornado.

Lesson 2 Focus on Content Air Masses

For each air mass, have students identify its characteristic temperature and moisture content. Then work with the class to design four icons to represent hot temperatures, cold temperatures, wet air, and dry air. Add the icons to the transparency to illustrate the type of weather that air masses bring.

Lesson 3 Bellringer Stockbyte/PunchStockA View from Above

Have students locate the eye of the hurricane in the photo. It is the button-like circle of clouds in the middle of the storm. Explain that the weather is quite calm inside the eye of the storm, in contrast to the extreme winds and rainfall outside it.

Answers to Questions1 Weather affects all sorts of human activities,

including agriculture, transportation, and recreation. Forecasting also helps people prepare for and survive a severe storm.

2 Satellite photos can show the entire storm and the swirling pattern of the clouds. They help scientists measure the size and strength of a hurricane and predict its path.

3 Weather depends on many factors, including air temperature, air pressure, humidity, and precipitation. Different tools measure each of these factors. Computers and other technology help forecasters analyze data and make models of weather systems.

Lesson 3 Focus on Content Weather Map

Challenge students to suggest ways that the weather shown on the map could change. Remind students that many factors affect the weather. As forecasters attempt to predict weather conditions for specific dates farther into the future, their forecasts become less accurate.

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