Transcript Weather - Cloudfront.net

What is weather?
What is climate?
Fill out the before section of this comparison chart.
BEFORE
WEATHER
AFTER
CLIMATE
WEATHER
CLIMATE
1.
The happenings in the
atmosphere at a certain
time.
1.
2.
Weather
The meteorological
conditions, including
temperature, precipitation,
and wind, that
characteristically prevail in a
particular region.
A region of the Earth having
particular meteorological
conditions: Ex: “lives in a
cold climate.”
Climate
Climate is how the weather
 Weather is what it is
like outside right now.


For example, a cold front
came in this morning and
now I want to stay inside.

For example, Austin is usually
very hot in the summer, and
we have mild winters.

Weather can change in less
than a minute!

Climate change usually occurs
over many years.
usually is in a particular area.



Weather can affect every
aspect of life.
The movement of air in the
atmosphere greatly affect
temperatures, how much
precipitation we receive,
and whether our homes and
schools continue to stand
or not.
In Pictures:
 Horn of Africa in a record drought
and famine
Caledonia High School devastated by
a tornado
 The
happenings
in the
atmosphere at a
certain time.


With your partner, write your answer on a
whiteboard to the following questions.
Use your notes/science journal as a resource.

In general, pressure differences are caused by
uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by the Sun.
Low
Pressure
High
Pressure

Remember that because of the shape and tilt of Earth,
we do not all get the same amount of the Sun’s energy.
Also, the Earth’s surface is made
of both land and water. Because
the land and water are made of
so many different materials with
different properties, different
areas absorb the Sun’s radiation
differently.


Warm air, which is less dense than cold
air, rises. Then cool air moves in and
replaces the rising warm air.

This movement of air is what makes the
wind blow. It is called a convection
current.
This
This
High
Pressure
Low
Pressure
However, global wind
patterns look more like this:
Why?

The Coriolis Effect explains
the patterns we see in the
global winds (and ocean currents).
Earth’s air and water have
inertia. Because of this
inertia as the Earth rotates,
the air in the Northern
hemisphere curves to the
right and the air in the
Southern hemisphere curves
to the left.

Also, the Atmosphere is 3-D!
Air does not just move N, S, E, and W along the surface,
it also moves upward and downward in the
atmosphere!

In your journal, revise your warm-up. Are climate and
weather the same thing? Complete the AFTER section
of your chart.
BEFORE
WEATHER

AFTER
CLIMATE
WEATHER
CLIMATE
Next, write a paragraph about the knowledge you
gained today. Be specific. What did you learn?