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Things We Learned About Weather...
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Temperature:
We made a model of a thermometer. At different temperatures we drew pictures of what a person should wear. For instance, at 90ºF or 32ºC a person should wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt. A person might go swimming outside when it is this temperature. At 60ºF or 16ºC a person should wear a light jacket or sweater, jeans, and sneakers. At 32ºF or 0ºC a person should wear a coat, ear muffs, hat, boots, and heavy sweatpants to fight off the cold.
We made our own thermometer. We filled a glass juice container all the way to the top. We punched a hole into the cap. We placed a straw through the hole in the cap and sealed it with plumber's putty both on top and the underside of cap. We placed the cap back on the container. The water raised up the straw slightly. We marked the level on the straw. We took the jar outside on a cool day. After about 24 hours we observed the jar and water level. The water level dropped about an inch. We decided that this happened because HEAT IS ENERGY! The more heat there is in the water the more the molecules of water bump into each other causing the water level to rise. When it is colder there is less energy and the water level drops.
To make your own thermometer click here.
Air Pressure
Air pressure is the powerful force of air pushing down on the surface of the Earth. Because air is all around us so is air pressure. Around sea level there is more air pushing on you than on Mt. Everest. Therefore, the air pressure is higher near the sea and less on the top of a mountain. The main influence on air pressure is temperature. Different parts of air are at different temperatures because the sun doesn't heat all places at the same time. If more heat is given to the air it has more energy for its molecules. More energy will make them move farther apart. When that happens air pressure will decrease. When it is colder the air molecules are closer together and the pressure will increase. I
In class we made our own barometer. A barometer is a tool that measures air pressure. Our barometer was made with a plastic jar filled half-way with water. We taped a straw and ruler on the inside of the jar. We sucked a little water up the straw and sealed it with a little gum. We marked the level of water in the straw with a marker. We noticed the water level changed. When air pressure increased our water level went up. When the air pressure decreased the water level went down.
To make your own barometer click here.
Dew Point
The dew point temperature indicates the amount of moisture in the air. The higher the dew point temperature the more moisture is in the air. So the dew point of a humid day would be higher than a dry day. Dew point temperature is defined as the temperature which the air would have to cool for the water vapor in the air to condense and form water drops.
We made a dew point indicator with a jar of water, a thermometer, and ice. We took the temperature of the jar of room temperature water. Then we added the ice one cube at a time until there was condensation (water droplets) on the outside. We took the temperature of the water at that point. We made a mark with our finger in the water droplets. Then we added warmer water until the droplets disappeared on the outside. We took the temperature of the water at that point. We calculated the dew point as the midpoint between the condensation point and the last temperature reading.
If you would like to make your own dew point indicator click here.
Water Cycle
Water can go to different places and in many different ways. Water in the ocean evaporates because of the sun's energy. The water is then a gas in the air. When the air cooled the water vapor turned into water drops. When the water drops combined and got to heavy they dropped as precipitation. When the water gets to the ground it is transported in a variety of ways back to the ocean.
The Heads in the Clouds Club met from September 2002 until May 2003. We met twice a week after school for one hour and 15 minutes. We studied anything and everything dealing with weather. The members of the club included Cordell Lee, Joanaliz Nieves, Jazmyn Vega, Edwin Talavera, Alicie Rivera, Shiane Hemsley, Iesha Hardy, Abdelis Vega, and Brian Camacho. Mr. Smith was our leader.
We had three contests during our year. We had to guess the first day we would have an inch of snow. That date was Dec. 5, 2002. We also guessed when the first 1 foot of snow fell, and that date was February 9th. Our last contest was guessing the first day the temperature would rise above 85ºF. That has not happened yet.