Atmosphere Adventures Outline
Part I
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The Ocean of Air that we know as our atmosphere
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What makes up the atmosphere
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Where the weather occurs (troposphere)
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Radiation (ultraviolet, white light, infra-red)
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Good & bad ozone
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The four “ingredients” of weather
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How the sun creates and affects the ingredients and energy in our atmosphere
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Ingredient #1: Temperature, the thermometer (and all of the other “ometers”)
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A field trip to the beach (imaginary)
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Ingredient #2: Wind
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Attics and mountains
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The cooling of the atmosphere with height
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Air pumps and bike tires
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Why and how the wind blows (the anemometer)
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Why air flows from High to Low pressure
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The Coriolus effect
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Lake and sea breezes – mountain and valley breezes
Part II
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Ingredient #3: Moisture
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Condensation, evaporation, sublimation & deposition
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Bathroom mirrors and glasses of iced tea
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Perspiration and transpiration
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Orographic lifting (lake effect and rainshadows)
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Relative humidity and dew point (the hydrometer)
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Clouds and cloud types
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Precipitation types
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Ingredient #4: Air Pressure
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AweNold’s “pumping” air exercise
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How much air weighs and how can we feel it (straws & balloons & strings, oh my!)
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Measuring the weight of the air (barometer)
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Making your own barometer (materials provided)
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How air pressure affects the weather
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Happy weather (high pressure) and Lousy weather (low pressure)
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Circulation of wind around pressure systems
Part III
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How to read a weather map
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What are “fronts” and what do they do
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Why are there seasons
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Special weather phenomena (hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards etc.)
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What is Doppler radar
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What are “El Nino” and “La Nina”
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What is the jet stream
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How weather forecasts are made