MI BIG
Atmosphere and Weather V.3

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• All students will investigate and describe what makes up weather and how it changes from day to day, from season to season and over long periods of time.

• All students will explain what causes different kinds of weather.

• All students will analyze the relationships between human activities and the atmosphere.

Overview

"The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on."
Carl Sandburg

Weather has played a critical role in society for thousands of years. As hunter/gatherers and farmers, societies have relied on the prediction of weather. Those who were able to observe weather patterns and make predictions based on those patterns were held in high regard. Today, for many people, the prediction of weather is more about convenience, and what kind of coat should I wear, than about life and death choices. The observation, investigation, description and analysis of weather is an important and interesting part of the elementary, middle and high school curriculum.

Essential Background Narratives

Investigate and describe what makes up weather.
Explain what causes different kinds of weather.
Analyze the relationships between human activities and the atmosphere.

Investigate and describe what makes up weather.

Beginning in the elementary years, observation of the weather is a common school event. In many classrooms, daily calendar activities include a description of the weather. Infrequently, air temperature, cloud cover, or severe weather is mentioned. For students to understand the importance of air to atmosphere and the weather, they must understand that air is a substance, it is matter, and it has mass and volume. This is a very difficult concept for young children because they cannot see air. Interestingly, middle grade students seem to have the most difficulty with this concept.
Patterns of the weather require that scientifically literate students understand air masses, front systems, and have general map reading skills. In the elementary grades, students should start to see the patterns of weather in different seasons. In this case, however, it is important to point out the colloquial use of different season terms. For instance, when the first snow flies, we typically say that winter has come whether it is December 21st or not. Paying attention to the differences between the weather and what we call each season is important. In general, we can predict that, in Michigan, it will snow in winter, less frequently in the spring and fall, and almost never in the summer. In the middle grades students can use weather maps and satellite weather images to see the patterns of weather.

Explain what causes different kinds of weather.

The causes of different weather are not a priority in the elementary grades. The foundation for the causes of different kinds of weather is laid as young learners are able to identify the states of water (see the Hydrosphere). Students may believe that when water evaporates it disappears all together rather than just changing form. They may also think that it just changes location and is still a liquid. Late elementary students may understand that evaporated water is still in the air. Ideas such as air pressure and temperature changes with altitude become important in explaining the causes of different kinds of weather. Different forms of precipitation, relative humidity, dew point, and fog require this type of knowledge. Some students may think that water vapor and steam are held or soaked up by the air. They may not understand that steam, like air, is a gas and mixes with the other gases in the air and that water vapor is a liquid held in the air. As temperature increases more water vapor enters the gas phase. Students also envision that humid air is "heavier" than dry air. In fact, humid air is actually less dense than dry air of the same temperature.

At the high school level, students will describe patterns of air movement in the atmosphere and how these patterns affect weather conditions. Pressure systems are particularly difficult to understand because air moves from high to low pressure.

Analyze the relationships between human activities and the atmosphere.

One important relationship between human activities and the atmosphere is pollution. The health effects of polluted air and the ways in which humans and society can reduce pollution are ideas that are considered in the middle and high school benchmarks. At the high school level, in particular, this includes a discussion of global warming and acid rain. Interestingly, one issue for the teaching of these topics is the exclusive connection between air pollution and human activities with lack of regard for other natural sources of air pollution, such as burning leaves, fireplaces, volcanoes and methane gas from cows.