Science of Weather - Student Workbook

Science of Weather is a flexible earth science module supported in part by the National Science Foundation. It was designed for the middle and high school classroom, but can be adapted for lower grades and for professional development. It can be used as a stand-alone curriculum or as a complement to existing weather, climate, and environmental science modules. It consists of a set of hands-on experiments, math applications, reading assignments, SAT tests, and review guides, scaffolded through individual worksheets. Students explore:

• the nature of gases, air, and the atmosphere;
• heat and conduction, heat capacity, thermal expansion;
• temperature, thermometers, and temperature scales;
• map contouring and weather map analysis;
• air masses, fronts, and midlatitude cyclones;
• visible light and infrared radiation, satellite images;
• the greenhouse effect and global warming;
• the ozone hole;
• pressure, buoyancy, and convection;
• convective clouds and thunderstorms;
• wind and land/sea breeze;
• barometers, pressure units, and pressure maps;
• cyclones and anticyclones;
• the Indian monsoon;
• water vapor and phase changes;
• evaporation and relative humidity;
• condensation and dew point temperature;
• cloud formation, fog, clouds, and rain;
• hurricanes;
• tornadoes.

Students also explore the history of meteorology, and history of science in general, as well as logical reasoning and critical thinking, science writing, summarizing and synthesizing, peer review and constructive criticism, with an emphasis on global and systemic thinking.