Description:
Earth’s weather and climates have influenced and continues to influence daily human events as well as human history. We are inundated daily with accounts of weather, both good and bad. Our daily activities depend, a great deal, on the weather. Weather phenomenon, such as hurricanes, floods and tornadoes have caused loss of life and damage of property. Loss of food crops has resulted from drought or extremes of temperature. We cannot fly a plane, have soldiers jump out of planes, or, for that matter, fight a war without consulting meteorologists to see what the weather is supposed to be on any given day. The Persian Gulf War and the Iraqi Freedom War were all planned according to the weather. The weather helped bring Allied victory on the Russian front during World War II. This class is designed to introduce you to the basic factors of weather/meteorology and to engage your natural curiosity in it. I hope you will find this course interesting as well as challenging.
This class was designed around the Internet like our daily activities are designed around the weather. Simple meteorological observations are interwoven with online based assignments, mapping activities, data gathering and graphing activities, and writing assignments to introduce students to the many facets of weather.
We will address questions such as:
What is global warming?
What might be causing it?
How does location affect temperature and precipitation?
What causes thunderstorms?
Why do most weather systems move from west to east in the United States?
Why do some not move that way?
What can we do to prepare for potential weather disasters?
Why are there more people killed by lightning in Florida than in any other place in the United States?
Which weather sayings are true and which are nonsense?
Do the cows really lay down when it is going to rain?
Where is "Tornado Alley"? Why is it there?
Why does it feel hotter when the temperature is 93 degrees with high humidity levels than it does when it's 93 degrees and low humidity?
How real was the movie "Twister"?
Or for that matter, how real was the weather forecast for today?
Join us to find out the answers to these and many other questions related to weather.
*This course may be appropriate for Gifted and Talented middle school students that meet all course prerequisites.* |