ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENON AND AIR TEMPERATURE          by Denise Peterson

 INQUIRY BASED LEARNING:  WHAT CAUSES THE WIND?                         GRADES:  6-12
 
 INVESTIGATIONS:   A.  Heat Convection                 NATIONAL SCIENCE STANDARDS:
                                     B.  Breeze-like Convection       CONTENT STANDARDS:
                                     C.  Convection in Air                          A.  Scientific Inquiry
                                     D.  Expanding Air                               B.  Physical Science 

                                     E.  Air Pressure
                                     F. Wind Vane / Anemometer 
UNIT OBJECTIVE:  The students will be able to conclude through hands-on activities that temperature and pressure gradients cause wind (atmospheric air in motion).
 
ASSESSMENT:  Students can develop portfolios or collections of their work demonstrating their classroom-based performance. This collection may contain a student's best pieces, works-in-progress (e.g. stages of an essay), as well as the student's evaluation of these pieces.  Portfolios emphasize the student's role in constructing understanding, support cooperative learning, and are effective.

BACKGROUND ON THE WIND:
Wind is the motion of atmospheric air measured relative to the rotating Earth.  It is the sun's energy that supplies the forces to move air.  This air circulation, or the wind, is caused by thermal (heat) and pressure contrasts over the globe.  There are secondary circulations caused by land and oceans, and tertiary circulations caused by local topography.  The sun's heat raises the air (low pressure area) and the winds flow (from high pressure areas) to replace it.  It is in response to the unequal rates of radiational heating and cooling within the Earth-atmosphere system that we have weather (air temperature, wind, cloudiness, and precipitation).
 
GLOBAL WARMING:
Winds are caused by the temporal variations in air temperature and air pressure.  Many leading scientists have been researching (field data and computer models) variations in atmospheric phenomenon, especially those related to natural and anthropogenic (human) factors.  Volcanic dust and industrial emissions of CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons could cause
an enhanced greenhouse effect increasing global warming.
 
 INQUIRY SCIENCE:
When students are doing inquiry based science, an observer will see that:
Children view themselves as scientists in the process of learning.
Children plan and carry out investigations.
Children communicate using a variety of methods.
Children propose explanations and solutions, and build a store of concepts.
Children raise questions.
Children use observation.
Children critique their science practices.        (Adapted from Vermont Elem. Science Project, 1997)
 
 REFERENCES:
    DataStreme Project, American Meteorological Society, 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA,
1996, http://storm.atms.purdue.edu/~dstreme/index.txt.html
    Reader's Digest:  How the Weather Works, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London,
1995, pages 57, 59.
    Hands-On Meteorology:  Stories, Theories, and Simple Experiments, Zbigniew Sorbjan,
American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA 1996, pages 90, 262.
    Cloud Demonstrations, Dr. Steve Carson, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, 1998
sc@gfdl.gov

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation webmaster@woodrow.org
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