Atmospheric Cycles

 

The student will investigate the relationships among atmospheric conditions, weather, and climate.

 

A

SC

Distinguish between weather and climate.

A

SC

Predict weather conditions based on an analysis of atmospheric data.

A

SC

Identify how various geographic features affect weather and climate.

A

SC

Identify the basic features of the water cycle.

 

Day 1
 

What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?

http://www.mobot.org/education/02programsresources/mappingenvironment/mynaturalcommunity/weathervsclimate.htm

 

Weather - conditions in an area for a short period of time… today, this week, or this month - Weather is what's happening right now or is likely to happen tomorrow or in the very near future.

Climate - conditions conditions over a long period of time...over many years

So…The conditions this September would describe the weather…the conditions in September averaged out over the past 30 or 50 years would tell you about the climate of the area.

What is Weather?  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/whatisweather/aboutweather/flash_menu.shtml

Make Climographs Comparing 5 Tennessee Cities - Emphasis that this is climate data.

Average Year Round Temperatures for Chattanooga

Average temperature graph for Chattanooga, Tennessee

 

 
Month Low High
Jan 29.9°F 48.8°F
Feb 32.6°F 54.1°F
Mar 40.0°F 62.8°F
Apr 47.0°F 72.1°F
May 56.2°F 79.1°F
Jun 64.6°F 86.2°F
Jul 69.4°F 89.8°F
Aug 68.3°F 88.7°F
Sept 61.7°F 82.5°F
Oct 48.5°F 72.3°F
Nov 39.5°F 61.1°F
Dec 32.7°F 52.0°F

Average Monthly Rainfall for Chattanooga

Average annual rainfall graph for Chattanooga, Tennessee

Month Precipitation
Jan 5.40in.
Feb 4.85in.
Mar 6.19in.
Apr 4.23in.
May 4.28in.
Jun 3.99in.
Jul 4.73in.
Aug 3.59in.
Sept 4.31in.
Oct 3.26in.
Nov 4.88in.
Dec 4.81in.

Average Year Round Temperatures for Memphis

Average temperature graph for Memphis, Tennessee

 

 

 

 

 

 
Month Low High
Jan 31.3°F 48.6°F
Feb 35.5°F 54.4°F
Mar 43.7°F 63.3°F
Apr 51.9°F 72.4°F
May 60.8°F 80.4°F
Jun 68.8°F 88.5°F
Jul 72.9°F 92.1°F
Aug 71.2°F 91.2°F
Sept 64.3°F 85.3°F
Oct 52.5°F 75.1°F
Nov 42.6°F 62.1°F
Dec 34.5°F 52.2°F

 

Average Monthly Rainfall for Memphis

Average annual rainfall graph for Memphis, Tennessee

Month Precipitation
Jan 4.24in.
Feb 4.31in.
Mar 5.58in.
Apr 5.79in.
May 5.15in.
Jun 4.30in.
Jul 4.22in.
Aug 3.00in.
Sept 3.31in.
Oct 3.31in.
Nov 5.76in.
Dec 5.68in.
Average Year Round Temperatures for Knoxville

Average temperature graph for Knoxville, Tennessee

 

 

 

 

 

 
Month Low High
Jan 28.9°F 46.3°F
Feb 31.8°F 51.7°F
Mar 39.1°F 60.3°F
Apr 46.6°F 69.0°F
May 55.6°F 76.3°F
Jun 63.9°F 83.6°F
Jul 68.5°F 86.9°F
Aug 67.3°F 86.4°F
Sept 60.8°F 80.7°F
Oct 47.7°F 69.9°F
Nov 38.9°F 59.0°F
Dec 31.9°F 49.8°F

Average Monthly Rainfall for Knoxville

Average annual rainfall graph for Knoxville, Tennessee

Month Precipitation
Jan 4.57in.
Feb 4.01in.
Mar 5.17in.
Apr 3.99in.
May 4.68in.
Jun 4.04in.
Jul 4.71in.
Aug 2.89in.
Sept 3.04in.
Oct 2.65in.
Nov 3.98in.
Dec 4.49in.

 

Average Year Round Temperatures for Nashville

Average temperature graph for Nashville, Tennessee

 

 

 

 

 
Month Low High
Jan 27.9°F 45.6°F
Feb 31.2°F 51.4°F
Mar 39.4°F 60.7°F
Apr 47.1°F 69.8°F
May 56.7°F 77.5°F
Jun 65.0°F 85.1°F
Jul 69.5°F 88.7°F
Aug 68.0°F 87.8°F
Sept 61.0°F 81.5°F
Oct 48.6°F 71.1°F
Nov 39.5°F 59.0°F
Dec 31.5°F 49.4°F

Average Monthly Rainfall for Nashville

Average annual rainfall graph for Nashville, Tennessee

Month Precipitation
Jan 3.97in.
Feb 3.69in.
Mar 4.87in.
Apr 3.93in.
May 5.07in.
Jun 4.08in.
Jul 3.77in.
Aug 3.28in.
Sept 3.59in.
Oct 2.87in.
Nov 4.45in.
Dec 4.54in.

Info from http://www.rssweather.com/climate/Tennessee/

Mountain City Climate Data http://www.city-data.com/city/Mountain-City-Tennessee.html

Record today's weather using The Education Center, Inc. - The Mailbox. Pre/K April/May 1995 pages 20-22 & Thermometer page 54.

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Day 2 Predicting Weather - Reading Weather Maps

Animation Depicting Warm and Cold Fronts http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2002/es2002page01.cfm?chapter_no=20

http://www.ussartf.org/predicting_weather.htm

Weather Map Worksheets

Cloud Forecasting http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/forecast/figger_cloud.html

Wind Forecasting http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/forecast/figger_wind.html

Senses Forecasting http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/forecast/figger_sense.html

 

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Day 3 Water Cycle

Internet Animations
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/water_cycle/rivers/pg_02_flash.shtml
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/
http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=Science%20Lab

Water Cycle Worksheets

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Day 4  Geographic Features that Effect Weather

Earth Systems http://www.eduweb.com/portfolio/earthsystems/index.html

Graphic Organizer (Booklet)