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Welcome to Day 2

GLOBE Weather

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Case Study: 2013 Colorado Storm

Did the Colorado storm happen in the afternoon?
What parts of our model might explain the Colorado storm?

Return to the Anchoring Phenomenon again. Ask students: “Did the Colorado storm happen in the afternoon?” Students might remember that the video revealed that the storm lasted several days. Ask students what parts of their models might explain the event and what they think could be different. Since the Colorado event lasted much longer than the typical isolated storm, something else might be going on in that type of storm. Use this to initiate further investigations into different kinds of storms that students will explore in Learning Sequence 2.

“Our model helps us explain some kinds of storms, but the storm in Colorado lasted a lot longer. The Colorado storm might be a different kind of storm, so we need to do some more investigating to figure it out.”

�Emphasize the power and limitation of models. Have students talk about the kinds of storms that their models explain well, but also the types of storms that do not fit their models. Explain to students that models are tools to help us explain things happening in the world but that they are not always perfect and cannot capture everything. This is especially true for models of complex systems like weather, which is why weather is predicted probabilistically.

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What other types of storms cause precipitation?

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A Front Headed Your Way

What other types of storms cause precipitation?

LEARNING SEQUENCE 2

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Science Talk

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Facts about Fronts

Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts
Fronts are both horizontal and vertical
Cold air is more dense than warm air

Cold fronts → cold air pushes warm air up
Warm fronts → warm air rises over cold air

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Air pressure and fronts

Air generally moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure.

Differences in air pressure can cause fronts to move.

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Cold front time-lapse video

Step 1: Make observations about the cold front.

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Weather Forecast for a Cold Front

Make a claim: What day did the cold front move through the area? Use evidence to support your idea.

Step 3: Interpret a weather forecast for a cold front.

Work with your group to interpret what is happening before, during, and after the front.

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Step 3: Describe the wind speed before, during, and after a cold front.

Circle on the graph when the cold front passed through South Riding, VA.

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WHAT I SEE & WHAT IT MEANS

What I See:

What It Means:

Graph of temperature data from Freedom HS in Virginia
Data is from Oct. 16-25, 2016
Temp. goes up and down everyday

Title of graph

Type of data on x, y axis

Pattern in the data

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Gathering more information

Step 4: Investigate air masses and fronts.

Read the article about air masses and fronts.

Stop and think as you encounter questions in the text.

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Storms and Precipitation along a Front

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Activities Exploration: Lessons 7-9

Try out each of the activities wearing your “student hat” first

Refer to your Teacher Guide to begin thinking about how you would facilitate with students

Work together, discuss with each other!

Teacher coaches will practice using prompts and Talk Moves

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Break (10 min)

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Small Group Model

Step 3: Develop a model for explaining precipitation during the front.

Your model needs to explain:

The location of the cold air mass.
The location of the warm air mass.
The direction that each air mass is moving.
Where you’d expect clouds to form.

Write a caption for your model.

Turn to Lesson 9: Step 3 of the Student Activity Sheet

Small group Consensus Model. Explain to students that we need to model how precipitation is happening along the front. Direct students to the list of items to include in their model in Lesson 9: Step 3 of their student activity sheets. Allow students time to discuss this list in groups to brainstorm their ideas. When they are ready, they can diagram and label their models on their activity sheets as a group. They should discuss how best to represent their ideas in the model. (Note: The model has the air before the front on the right side and the air after the front on the left side. This follows the convention of most cold front models; however, it may be counterintuitive to students because the Freedom High School data for the air before the front was on the left side of the graph and the air after the front was on the right side of the graph. Take time to orient students to the transition between the graphed data and the modeling convention.)

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Model Idea Tracker

What ideas do we agree should be added to the Model Idea Tracker?

What ideas should we now add to our Model Idea tracker?

Clouds form throughout the day on a stormy day
The Sun warms the ground, which then warms the air
Air near the surface is warmer than air where clouds form
Water evaporates from the surface and condenses into clouds in the atmosphere
A source of humidity/moisture is needed to have a stormy day
Warm air rises and cool air sinks
Warm air holds more water than cool air
Warm air can take in more water vapor than cool air
Rising temperature and rising humidity are good conditions for a storm to form
Air masses can be different temperatures (warm, cold).
Air masses can have different amounts of moisture (a lot or a little).
When a cold air mass meets a warm air mass, the cold air will push the warm air up in the atmosphere.
If the warm air mass has a lot of moisture, the air cools when it gets pushed upward, condenses, and may precipitate.

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Develop a class Consensus Model

Create a Consensus Model for Precipitation Along a Cold Front.

Be sure to include the ideas from the Model Idea Tracker in your model.

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Lesson 9: Step 6: Focus on the big picture using our cold front model.

Choose a day: Each member of your group will choose one day of data to map.

Color and label your map:

Color locations where the temperature is greater than 30℃ RED.
Color locations where the temperature is equal to, or less than, 30℃ BLUE.
Draw slanted rain lines near the location if it had precipitation.
Add the red and blue colors to the key.

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Step 6 continued: Focus on the big picture using our cold front model.

Compare Maps:

Line up all four maps in order, September 8-September 11.

Follow directions to add the front and air masses to your maps.

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Air movement in high & low pressure

Connect air pressure to rising and sinking air. Direct students’ attention to Lesson 10: Step 1 of their student activity sheets.

Read the page
Point out that students are first introduced to the symbols for high and low pressure used on weather maps.
Discuss the image that shows how air moves in areas of high and low pressure:

How the density of the sinking air in an area of high pressure is different than the density of the rising air in a low-pressure area?
How does the vertical up and down movement of air pressure connect with the horizontal toward and away movement? (focus on the arrows moving toward the area of low pressure and the arrows moving away from the area of high pressure)

Make a hands-on connection to air movement in high and low pressure. Each person makes a balloon filled with a golf-ball-sized amount of lentils.

Tell students that the beans inside the balloon represent molecules of air. They are to place their balloon on a piece of paper and trace a circle around the edges of their balloon. Have one student push down on the balloon, simulating high pressure. The other student should trace a new circle around the edges of the “pressurized” balloon. Next simulate low pressure by releasing the balloon. Compare the size of the two circles. Students can take turns simulating high pressure on the balloon and low pressure by releasing the balloon.

Students should take turns explaining to each other what happens to air under high pressure and low pressure, using the following prompts:

What happens to air when there is high pressure? Where does it go?
The circles you drew show how air moved at the ground level.
Why was the circle bigger for the air under high pressure?

�

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Air movement in high & low pressure

Turn and talk:

The circles you drew show how air moved at the ground level. Why was the circle bigger for the air under high pressure?

Make a hands-on connection to air movement in high and low pressure. Each person makes a balloon filled with a golf-ball-sized amount of lentils.

Tell students that the beans inside the balloon represent molecules of air. They are to place their balloon on a piece of paper and trace a circle around the edges of their balloon. Have one student push down on the balloon, simulating high pressure. The other student should trace a new circle around the edges of the “pressurized” balloon. Next simulate low pressure by releasing the balloon. Compare the size of the two circles. Students can take turns simulating high pressure on the balloon and low pressure by releasing the balloon.

Students should take turns explaining to each other what happens to air under high pressure and low pressure, using the following prompts:

What happens to air when there is high pressure? Where does it go?
The circles you drew show how air moved at the ground level. Why was the circle bigger for the air under high pressure?

�

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Front on the Move

barometric pressure (mb)

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Step 3: Analyze pressure data in one location.

How did the pressure change over time (before, during, and after the cold front)?

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Case Study: 2013 Colorado Storm

Compare the Colorado storm with what we know about isolated storms and cold fronts.

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How is the Colorado Storm different from other storms we have learned about?

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DRIVING QUESTION BOARD

What questions can we now answer?

Do we want to add any new questions?

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Model Idea Tracker

What ideas do we agree should be added to the Model Idea Tracker?

What ideas should we now add to our Model Idea tracker?

Clouds form throughout the day on a stormy day
The Sun warms the ground, which then warms the air
Air near the surface is warmer than air where clouds form
Water evaporates from the surface and condenses into clouds in the atmosphere
A source of humidity/moisture is needed to have a stormy day
Warm air rises and cool air sinks
Warm air holds more water than cool air
Warm air can take in more water vapor than cool air
Rising temperature and rising humidity are good conditions for a storm to form
Air masses can be different temperatures (warm, cold).
Air masses can have different amounts of moisture (a lot or a little).
When a cold air mass meets a warm air mass, the cold air will push the warm air up in the atmosphere.
If the warm air mass has a lot of moisture, the air cools when it gets pushed upward, condenses, and may precipitate.
Air moves from high to low pressure
Areas of high pressure are usually behind the cold front, while areas of low pressure are around the front at the northern end.

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Sensemaking

How are you connecting with the content?

Did any new ideas come up for you? How could these activities fit in to what you already do and extend them?

What are you wondering about now?

Where do students get stuck?
What misconceptions do they (we) hold?
What challenges come up for you?

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Lunch Break- be back at 1:00pm

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Looking back

Specific local conditions allow for the formation of short-lived, afternoon storms (isolated storms)

The interaction of differing air masses can cause storm systems that last for several days over a large area (storm fronts)

Unique conditions, such as those in the Colorado storm, can result in unpredictable storm systems.

What else is missing in our study of storms?

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How do storms move around the world?

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Worldwide Weather

Why do storms move in predictable patterns around the world?

LEARNING SEQUENCE 3

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Storm movement time-lapse video

Step 1: How do storms move across North America?

Watch a video of storm movement across North America from March to April 2017.

Find one part of the video that captures your eye.
Capture what you saw in a drawing.
Explain how or why these patterns form.
Wonder: what new ideas or questions do you have?

Lesson 12: Step 1 of the Student Activity Sheet

NORTH AMERICA STORM MOVEMENT TIME-LAPSE VIDEO

Use FIND-CAPTURE-EXPLAIN-WONDER routine to think about the patterns of storms moving across N America

Draw in Lesson 12: Step 1 SAS

Time-lapse video of storm movement across North America from March to April 2017:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3H2k8lONU&feature=youtu.be

In this video, the white areas are places with more water vapor (moisture) in the air, which indicates where precipitation is happening. The date appears in the upper left. Students are seeing the curvature of Earth in this video because the satellite is so far away, so due east is in the upper right and due west is in the upper left.

Two cold fronts pass though this video:

The best option is March 6–8
A second option is March 29–31

�If students would like to see if the same pattern is visible at another time of year, have them watch the time-lapse video from January to February: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntC070Sh9t0&feature=youtu.be

�Discuss observations as a class. Draw out ideas around the west to east pattern across North America. Patterns students might notice are as follows:

Air with water vapor in it generally travels west to east across North America.
Air with water vapor in it travels in squiggly, curling, and/or spinning lines.
Certain areas have repeated patterns in cloud cover (e.g., the West Coast gets a lot of water vapor from the Pacific Ocean, and some areas, like Mexico, have a “pulsing pattern” in water vapor).

�

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NASA Global Rainfall & Snowfall (April-Sept 2014)

https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/videos/gpms-first-global-rainfall-and-snowfall-map

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What could be causing patterns of global storm movement?

Step 5: Form an initial explanation. Answer the questions:

What do you already know about what causes rain?

What do you already know about what causes air to move?

How could the same processes affect the whole world?

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Science Talk

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Step 1: Observe patterns in annual average temperature.

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Why is it hotter at the equator than other places on Earth?

STEP 2: Observe Energy Angles

Work in groups of three to investigate what happens to light when it shines on graph paper at different angles.

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Why is it hotter at the equator than other places on Earth?

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Step 4: Analyze temperature and latitude

�

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Demonstration: Global Convection Cells

Step 3: Record observations of the water movement.

Draw how the water moves through the tank.

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Activities Exploration: Lessons 13 & 14

Try out each of the activities wearing your “student hat” first

Refer to your Teacher Guide to begin thinking about how you would facilitate with students

Work together, discuss with each other!

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Break (10 min)

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Global Air Circulation Diagram

Step 5: Create a model to describe air pressure and clouds at different latitudes.

Lesson 14: Step 5 of the Student Activity Sheet

Introduce the Global Air Circulation Diagram in Lesson 14: Step 5. Orient students to this diagram and point out that it shows how air moves around the whole world, not just in the tropics.

Have students create a model of air pressure and humidity. Annotating the illustration in Lesson 14: Step 5, students should create a model locating the areas of low and high atmospheric pressure and the locations that are likely to be cloudy because air is rising. Use the arrows indicating air movement as clues.

Lead a class discussion about the diagram. Focus students on convection near the equator and encourage students to draw on their understanding of convection from Learning Sequence 1 and high and low pressure from Learning Sequence 2 to explain air movement in tropical convection. The one important thing for students to notice in the midlatitudes at this point is that convection moves in the opposite direction. This will be revisited in Lesson 15.

Use the prompts below to guide your discussion:

Where is air rising from Earth’s surface into the atmosphere and why?
Worldwide, where is air sinking from the atmosphere to Earth’s surface and why?
How is air moving across Earth’s surface and why?
Where do you think there are areas of high and low pressure and why?

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Consensus Model: Air Movement in the Tropics

Create a model that will answer the question:

How and why does air move in the tropics?

Identify ideas from the Model Idea Tracker that will help us answer the question.�
Consider how the model for global air circulation you created in Step 5 helps answer the question.

Revisit the Learning Sequence 3 phenomenon and question: Why do storms move in predictable patterns around the world? Remind students that the class is investigating air movement patterns because precipitation is moisture in the air. Remind students that we’re focusing only on air movement in the tropics for now.

Review the question that the Consensus Model will help us answer:

How and why does air move in the tropics?

�Take stock of ideas from the Model Idea Tracker that will help answer this question. Have students nominate ideas from the Model Idea Tracker that they think will be helpful for answering this question. All of the ideas from Learning Sequence 3 will be helpful as well as some ideas from Learning Sequences 1 and 2 about warm air rising, cool air sinking, and air moving from high to low pressure.

Develop a class Consensus Model. Have small groups consider ideas from the models they created in Lesson 14: Step 4 and Step 5 and the ideas from the Model Idea Tracker. Have each group present which ideas they propose including in the Consensus Model. As small groups present, have students discuss if they agree or disagree with the ideas in each group’s model. Come to consensus about what should be in the model and document a Consensus Model in a public space that reflects agreed upon ideas.

KEY MODEL IDEAS THAT SHOULD BE REPRESENTED IN THE CONSENSUS MODEL:

As warm air rises at the equator, it creates an area of low pressure.
Sunlight (solar radiation) is more concentrated at the equator because incoming sunlight shines directly on the equator, concentrating it in a smaller area.
Sunlight (solar radiation) is more spread out toward the poles because incoming sunlight hits the surface at an angle, spreading the light out over a larger area.
The amount of concentrated solar radiation influences air temperatures; more concentrated solar radiation causes warmer air temperatures and more spread out solar radiation causes cooler air temperatures.
There are more areas where warm air is rising near the equator and more areas where cool air is sinking at 30°N and 30°S.
Cooler air moves along the surface of the Earth toward the area of low pressure to replace the rising warm air.
Horizontal movement of air along the surface of the Earth is wind, which causes storms to move.

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NASA Global Rainfall & Snowfall (April-Sept 2014)

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A Curveball

When air and storms move, why do they curve?

The Coriolis effect...

Because the Earth is spinning, air does not travel in a straight line!

White arrows→ How storms move with a non-spinning Earth

Black arrows→ How storms move with a spinning Earth

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A Curveball

Because of the Coriolis effect…

Storms move counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere

Storms move clockwise in the southern hemisphere

Prevailing winds in three areas of convection N and S of the equator

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Model Idea Tracker

What ideas do we agree should be added to the Model Idea Tracker?

What ideas should we now add to our Model Idea tracker?

Clouds form throughout the day on a stormy day
The Sun warms the ground, which then warms the air
Air near the surface is warmer than air where clouds form
Water evaporates from the surface and condenses into clouds in the atmosphere
A source of humidity/moisture is needed to have a stormy day
Warm air rises and cool air sinks
Warm air holds more water than cool air
Warm air can take in more water vapor than cool air
Rising temperature and rising humidity are good conditions for a storm to form
Air masses can be different temperatures (warm, cold).
Air masses can have different amounts of moisture (a lot or a little).
When a cold air mass meets a warm air mass, the cold air will push the warm air up in the atmosphere.
If the warm air mass has a lot of moisture, the air cools when it gets pushed upward, condenses, and may precipitate.
Air moves from high to low pressure
Areas of high pressure are usually behind the cold front, while areas of low pressure are around the front at the northern end.
In the tropics, air moves across Earth’s surface towards the equator due to convection.
In the tropics, air moves across Earth’s surface east to west due to the Earth’s rotation.
In the midlatitudes, air moves across Earth’s surface toward the poles due to convection.
In the midlatitudes, air moves across Earth’s surface west to east due to the Earth’s rotation.

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DRIVING QUESTION BOARD

Unit Driving Question:

What causes different kinds of storms?

This is where the students post their questions and where students return to answer their questions throughout the unit.

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Storms in the Philippines and where you live

Step 3: Record an explanation.

Draw an arrow to indicate storm direction in the Philippines.

Draw a different symbol to show where you live.

Draw an arrow to indicate storm direction where you live.

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Conclusion

Where is it likely that storms come from where we live?

Why is being able to anticipate where storms come from important for communities?

How can we use our understanding of weather to prepare for storms?

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Sensemaking

How are you connecting with the content?

Did any new ideas come up for you? How could these activities fit in to what you already do and extend them?

What are you wondering about now?

Where do students get stuck?
What misconceptions do they (we) hold?
What challenges come up for you?

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SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Write down:

a question that you still have about weather or the curriculum

what your biggest take-away is from today

a question for Angie!