Transcript Presentation - Windows to the Universe

Cloudy Day
Hands-on and Online Classroom Adventures
Bridging Basic Weather Science to Literacy, Arts,
and ELL
WWW.WINDOWS.UCAR.EDU
Becca Hatheway
and Lisa Gardiner
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Workshop plan…
Classroom Activity: Cloud in a Bottle
Overview of Cloud Science and
How Clouds Affect the Weather
Classroom Activities:
• Cloud Types and Identification
• Our Poetic Planet
• Clouds in Art
Online resources from Windows to
the Universe
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Four activities that make connections between
the science of clouds, art and literacy:
Students explore…
Classroom Activity
…the conditions needed for clouds to
form.
Cloud in a Bottle
…the different types of clouds.
Cloud Viewer
…clouds in the sky and write poetry
about nature, including clouds and
weather.
Our Poetic Planet
…how Western artists have represented
clouds in landscape paintings.
Clouds in Art
Available at Windows to the Universe (www.windows.ucar.edu),
a University Corporation for Atmospheric Research educational project.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud in a Bottle
In this activity, students learn how clouds form by
making a cloud in a bottle. There must be three
main ingredients present in order for clouds to form:
• Moisture – there must be sufficient water vapor in
the air to build a cloud
• Cooling air – the air temperature must decrease
enough for water vapor to condense
• Condensation nuclei – tiny particles such as dust
provide surfaces on which water molecules can
gather and condense into water droplets
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud in a Bottle, Version 1
Use a bottle cap retro-fitted with a tire valve
and air freshener
1. Add a small amount of water to the bottle.
2. Spray the air freshener into the bottle. Swirl the water
around so the air freshener mixes in.
3. Pump up the bottle to a fixed pressure (30 pso/2
bars). The air in the bottle will warm as you do this.
4. Let the bottle cool to room temperature.
5. Let the air out of the valve using the sucker stick and
observe.
6. What happened?
7. You can do this with a second bottle that doesn’t
have air freshener in it, and compare the two.
Cloud in a Bottle, Version 2
Use a Fizz-keeper and matches to create a cloud
1. Record the initial temperature of the bottle.
2. Pump the Fizz Keeper 20 times. Record the temperature.
Pump the Fizz keeper 20 more times. Record the
temperature. Repeat this two more times so you have
recorded the temperature after 60 and 80 pumps.
3. Unscrew the Fizz Keeper and record the temperature of
the bottle.
4. Now pour a small amount of water into the bottle. Light a
match and drop it into the bottle. Quickly screw the Fizz
Keeper on the bottle and repeat steps 1-3 above.
5. What happened after you unscrewed the Fizz Keeper the
final time?
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Discussion: How Do Clouds Form?
There are four main ways clouds form:
•
Surface Heating
•
Mountains and Terrain
•
Air masses being forced to rise
•
Weather fronts (cold or warm)
All of these processes involve the
cooling of air and the presence of
condensation nuclei. Eventually,
enough water vapor will condense
upon condensation nuclei to form a
cloud. The water droplets may fall
down to Earth in the form of rain or
snow.
Cloud Formation Due to Surface Heating
• The sun heats the Earth, which heats
the air
• The warm air is lighter and less
dense and begins to rise
• When it rises, it expands because of
the lower pressures that exist at
higher levels in the atmosphere
• When air expands because of a drop
in pressure it also cools
• The cooling air can’t hold all the water
vapor, so it begins to condense into
water droplets
• Eventually, enough moisture
condenses out of the air parcel to
form a cloud
• Cumulonumbus, cumulus, and
stratocumulus clouds form this way
Cloud Formation Due to Mountains
• Some clouds form when air encounters a mountain
range or other types of terrain
• The air rises over the mountain and cools, and forms
a cloud
• Cumulonimbus and cumulus clouds form this way
Clouds Formed by Air Being Forced to Rise
•
•
•
•
•
Some clouds form when air at the
surface is forced to rise. This happens
from three different processes
In a low pressure system, wind moves
into the center from all directions (from
high to low pressure). When it meets at
the center there is no where to go but
up.
Air is forced to rise when it is traveling
over land that slopes upward. The air
cools as it rises, and eventually clouds
will form.
Weather fronts produce clouds by
causing air to rise when the lighter
warm air flows over the heavier cool air
All cloud types are formed by these
processes, especially altocumulus,
altostratus, cirrocumulus,
stratocumulus, and stratus
Cloud Formation Due to Weather Fronts
•
•
•
•
•
Weather fronts occur when two large
masses of air collide at the Earth’s
surface – these can cause clouds to
form
Warm fronts produce clouds when warm
air replaces cold air by sliding over it
Warm fronts produce many types of
clouds: altocumulus, altostratus,
cirrocumulus, cirrostratus, cirrus,
cumulonimbus, nimbostratus,
stratocumulus, and stratus
Cold fronts occur when heavy cold air
displaces lighter warm air, pushing it
upward
Cold fronts produce cumulus,
cumulonimbus, nimbostratus,
stratocumulus, and stratus clouds
Cloud Types
Clouds can be
divided into
groups mainly
based on the
height of the
cloud’s base
above the
Earth’s surface
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud #1
This is an image of cirrus clouds. These clouds are thin,
wispy, and feathery.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud #2
This is an image of cumulus clouds. They are puffy white or light gray
clouds that look like floating cotton balls, have sharp outlines, and
have a flat base.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud #3
This is an image of stratocumulus clouds. These clouds
are low, lumpy, and gray.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud #4
This is an image of altocumulus clouds. These clouds can
be in groups or rows.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Cloud #5
This is an image of cumulonimbus clouds. These clouds are large,
have an anvil-shaped top, and are associated with thunderstorms.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Clouds in Art
Clouds in Art Interactive
Students explore how
Western artists have
represented clouds in
landscape paintings
while honing their cloud
identification skills and
making their own cloud
paintings.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Our Poetic Planet
Students make
observations of
clouds and weather
and write poetry
about nature about
what they observed.
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Our Poetic Planet
Poetry about clouds, weather, and other aspects of the
Earth can be very descriptive. Poetry is a form of
expression that allows students to write about their
observations about the natural world.
• Share published poems with students
• Discuss different types of poetry
• Create a word wall with your class to give them
descriptive words to use in their poems (good strategy
for learning readers and English language learners)
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Examples of Poetry about
Weather and Clouds
FOG
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
- Carl Sandburg
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Examples of Poetry about
Weather and Clouds
With rushing winds and gloomy skies
The dark and stubborn Winter dies:
Far-off, unseen Spring faintly cries,
Bidding her earliest child arise;
March!
- Bayard Taylor
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Examples of Poetry about
Weather and Clouds
sun: the sun is like a gentle golden pony rising in the morning,
wind: the wind is like a happy kitten rustling the branches,
rain: the rain is like a cup spilling over the valley,
rainbow: the rainbow is like a towel wiping up the spill,
mountains: the mountains are sleeping dragons in a long
chain.
By Sophie, 2nd grader, Roanoke, VA
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Examples of Poetry about
Weather and Clouds
Snowflakes fall gently
Fluttering to the ground
Winter is still here.
By Elaine, 5th grader, Boulder, CO
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Poetry submissions on
Windows to the Universe
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
http://www.windows.ucar.edu
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html
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Are you looking for an online
Professional Development Opportunity?
Climate Discovery, a series of online professional development
courses for middle and high school educators
Summer Semester – June 19 to August 9, 2009
CD 501 – Introduction to Climate Change
CD 502 – Earth System Science: A Climate Change Perspective
CD 503 – Understanding Climate Change Today
For registration information visit
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UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
Windows to the Universe staff are presenting one
more workshop during NSTA in New Orleans:
Sunday, March 22, 11 AM – 12 PM
WALLS (Water, Air, Land, Life, and Space)! – Morial Convention
Center, room 226
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu
WWW.WINDOWS.UCAR.EDU
For more information,
visit Windows to the Universe
or email Becca at [email protected]
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach, Boulder, CO, www.eo.ucar.edu