|
Grade
Level:
|
6–8 |
|
Context:
|
Winter-Long
Investigation |
|
|
Cultural
Standards
|
B2:
Make effective use of the knowledge, skills and ways of knowing
from their own cultural traditions to learn about the larger world
in which they live
D1: Acquire in-depth cultural knowledge through active participation
and meaningful interaction with Elders
Skills
and Knowledge
-
Develop respect for Elders and others who have learned to read
the weather.
-
Recognize that weather cannot be controlled and must be respected.
-
Develop the habit of frequently observing the weather and noting
specific signs, changes and patterns that are important for their
area.
-
Use local weather knowledge and skills to make decisions about
how to prepare and dress for weather conditions and how to travel
and conduct activities safely.
|
|
Science
Standards
|
A4:
Understand observable natural events such as tides, weather,
seasons
and moon phases in terms of the structure and motion of the
earth.2
B1: Use the processes of science; these processes include observing,
classifying, measuring, interpreting data, inferring, communicating,
controlling variables, developing models and theories, hypothesizing,
predicting and experimenting
B2: Design and conduct scientific investigations using appropriate
instruments.
C3: Understand that society, culture, history and the environment
affect the development of scientific knowledge.
Skills and Knowledge
A. Understand that differential heating of air masses produces both
local breezes and global winds. (SA4)
B. Understand that global patterns of atmospheric movement influence
local weather. (SA4)
C. Understand that the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena
on the earth’s surface and that seasons result from variations
in the amount of the sun’s energy hitting the surface, due
to the tilt of the earth’s rotation on its axis and the length
of the day. (SA4)
D. Make qualitative and quantitative observations, interpret data
and use this information to explain everyday phenomena and make
predictions. (SB1)
E. Design and conduct an investigation of local weather using appropriate
tools and techniques. (SB2)
F. Describe how local history, culture and environment have affected
the development of scientific knowledge. (SC3)
|
|
Math
Standards
|
A2:
Collect, organize, analyze, interpret, represent, and formulate
questions about data and make reasonable and useful predictions
about the certainty, uncertainty or impossibility of an event.
Skills and Knowledge
A. Collect, analyze, and display data in a variety of visual displays.
(MA2)
B. Interpret and analyze information found in newspapers, magazines
and graphical displays. (MA2)
|
|
|
Unit
Overview
|
| |
The
simplest way to define weather is as the condition of the atmosphere
at a given time and place. And while this definition readily conjures
up a range of factors like rain, snowfall, wind speed and direction,
temperature and so forth, such a definition also reduces one of
nature’s most powerful forces to a series of measures which
most consumers of weather would recognize but fault as inadequate.
Ask a poet, a flood survivor, a meteorologist, a farmer, or a trapper
about the weather, and you’d get a lot more than individual
measures. Ask an Elder and you’d get a lifetime – a lifetime
of observations, of stories, of values, of connections between man,
the natural world and weather.
Traditionally, weather watching and forecasting relied on keen observation
of the natural world and an ability to remember and correlate observations
with weather patterns from the past. Today, such traditional forecasting
is still quite prominent all over Alaska and is a time-proven method
for gauging local weather conditions and judging safety of travel.
In many cases such traditional methods are augmented by access to
modern technologies and to broadcasts like Alaska Weather. But in
both traditional and contemporary weather realms, one basic process
is the same: forecasters gather as much information as possible
about present conditions, relate it to what they know about weather
patterns from the past and predict what is likely to happen.
Understanding and predicting weather from either traditional
or contemporary perspectives is a very complicated process,
involving
multiple variables, patterns and relationships, and taking
years of experience and study to master. This unit attempts
to set students
on the road to weather competency by: (1) grounding them
in the practice of locally significant weather observation;
(2) exploring
the physical phenomena that drive winds3 and; (3) connecting
local investigations to global weather studies.
|
|
Section
1: Observing Locally
|
| |
1.
Traditional Forecaster
2. Weather Journal
3. Agreeing on Terms
4. Designing Local Investigations
5. Conducting and Analyzing Local Investigations
6. Community Memories
|
|
Section
2: Understanding Wind
|
| |
1.
Activity Series 1: Convection
2. Activity Series 2: Heat Absorption and Radiation
3. Activity Series 3: Topography
4. Activity Series 4: Heating the Earth
5. Activity Series 5: Global Winds
|
|
Section
3: Connecting Globally
|
| |
1.
GLOBE Overview
2. Community Memories II
Appendix A: Selawik Weather Information from Jonas Ramoth
Appendix B: Assessment
Appendix C: Weather Resource List
Appendix D: Interdisciplinary Integration
|
|
| SECTION
1: OBSERVING LOCALLY |
| |
Each
community in Alaska has its own weather pattern related partly to
the general circulation in the atmosphere, and partly to local disturbances
and variations. Long-term observers often know the nuances of local
weather with great intimacy and have a sense of which factors in
combination are predictive of which weather outcomes for their particular
area. They depend upon this knowledge to make decisions about such
things as how to dress, the safety of travel, and the best times
for subsistence activities. Such knowledge bearers believe that
it is critical for adolescents to learn weather observation and
forecasting skills so that they too will know how to be safe when
travelling independently on the land.
Consequently, in this section students work with local experts and
their teacher to design and conduct a weather study built initially
upon traditional weather knowledge. Such a study is aimed at developing
the habit of weather watching and the skills of: observing and describing
weather; noticing sequences of events; identifying locally significant
patterns and relationships; and applying this knowledge to their
daily lives. It is also aimed at developing appreciation and understanding
of the ways in which the local culture and environment have affected
the development of scientific knowledge about weather. This unit
is built upon the information generously shared by Jonas Ramoth,
an Iñupiat Elder from Selawik.
|
|
|
Activity
1: Traditional Forecaster
|
|
Summary
|
This
unit hinges on students spending field time repeatedly with a traditional
forecaster (TF) for the purposes of: exploring weather from the
perspective of that Elder/expert; learning to recognize specific
weather signs, changes and patterns that are important for the area;
and coming to understand how the local culture and environment have
affected the development of scientific weather knowledge. Such a
TF might be an Elder or a younger hunter, trapper or other cultural
expert with traditional knowledge to share. Observations about weather
or climate change over the years, advice about safety and travel,
or more subtle understandings, aesthetics, or values might also
be shared by the expert.
Such field time is intended to be at least monthly for every student
and the knowledge gained therein is: recorded by students in journals;
discussed regularly in class; and used as a basis for developing
local weather studies.
|
|
|
Activity
2: Weather Journals
|
|
Summary
|
Since
weather results from the ever-changing, dynamic, interplay of multiple
forces, attentive observation of weather signs throughout the day
is critical to accurate forecasts. The TF will undoubtedly encourage
students to develop the habit of checking weather first thing in the
morning and at night. To further promote such attentive observation,
students use personal weather journals throughout this unit to record
their daily weather observations. Journals are also used to record
thoughts and understandings about weather gleaned from the TF, class,
or community studies. |
|
|
Activity
3: Agreeing on Terms
|
|
Summary
|
In
order for students to design and carry out local studies of the
weather, their descriptions of weather elements need to be uniform,
consistent and agreed upon by all. In rural Alaska, consensus on
the meaning of words has been built through shared experience and
communication over time. The words or expressions used to describe
weather are specific to the area/culture and fit the range of local
weather conditions perfectly. In science, understanding and agreement
on terms is also critical and is often called “defining operationally.”
In this activity students observe and describe the wind, analyze
their descriptions for clarity, and compare them both with Jonas’
descriptions and with the Beaufort Wind Scale. Students then decide
which terms are most appropriate for their study (define operationally)
and create a Selawik Wind Scale for use in future observations.
|
|
|
Activity
4: Designing Local Studies
|
|
Summary
|
In
this lesson students think about and identify significant aspects
of local weather patterns by reflecting on their own observations
and their time with the Traditional Forecaster (TF) and deciding which
information is most important to collect. They then decide how to
collect and record information consistently, and design local weather
studies accordingly. Depending upon their information and priorities,
these studies may be replicas of the qualitative descriptions which
characterize traditional forecasting, or they may include some contemporary
measures such as wind speed or temperature as well. Such an approach
is consistent with weather forecasting in villages today in which
old-timers may both scan the morning horizon from their rooftops and
listen to/incorporate forecasts from programs like Alaska Weather.4 |
|
Materials
|
•
chart paper or blackboard
•
student journals
•
class log
|
|
Procedure
|
|
Apply
|
1.
Students will have already spent time with the TF, and will have recorded
and discussed their own, unstructured, daily weather observations
in journals. |
|
Gear-up
|
2.
Ask students to review their journals and then brainstorm as a class,
a list of weather signs that are most significant for their community
as gleaned both from the TF and their own observations. Record lists
on chart paper and post. (Embedded Assessment: Current Knowledge).
3. Discuss the list as a class, selecting the most significant weather
signs to watch for on a daily basis. For Selawik in the winter,
the list might look something like this: (See Handbook pages 20–21
for more detail.)
- evidence
of wind speed and direction and changes in wind from last
observation
- relative
temperature and changes in temperature
- cloud
cover and change in cloud cover
- animal
behavior and signs; human behavior
- atmospheric
phenomena like sun or moon dog
|
|
Explore
|
4.
Tell students that they are about to work in teams to design a local
weather study. They will first create and try out their team study,
and then the team studies will be pooled into a cohesive class study.
Provide students with a copy of the Designing Local Studies rubric
(page A-16) and discuss/clarify expectations. Let them know that
their work will be self-assessed and teacher-assessed using this
guide and that the TF will also review their work.
Designing
Local Studies
Student
Scoring Guide
5
|
|
Developing
|
Proficient
|
Exemplary
|
|
Connecting
Links
local cultural knowledge, experiences, and observations to
creation of a weather investigation.
|
•
I did not make clear connections between cultural knowledge
and my investigation
•
I did not analyze the adequacy of my present cultural knowledge
|
•
I identified, explained or illustrated related knowledge,
experiences and observations and used them as a basis for
my study.
•
I analyzed the adequacy of my present cultural knowledge
|
•
I clearly explained and made explicit connections to cultural
knowledge, experiences and observations and used them as a
basis for my study.
•
I analyzed the adequacy of my present knowledge and made a
plan for gaining necessary information.
|
|
Designing
Develops
a plan to guide the investigation
|
•
The plan I wrote was confusing or didn’t address the
topic identified.
•
My plan inconsistently reflected the importance of clear language,
careful observation and measurement.
•
I made inappropriate or no decisions concerning quantitative
and qualitative methods, use of estimation or units.
•
I did not make or respond to suggestions for improvement in
my design.
|
•
The plan I designed made sense and could be followed by others
without further explanation.
•
My plan showed the importance of clear language, careful observation
and measurement.
•
My decisions about qualitative and quantitative methods, estimation
and use of units were mostly appropriate.
•
I reconsidered my design by describing problems and making
improvements.
|
•
I wrote a very comprehensive plan that directly outlined all
aspects of my investigation.
•
My plan showed the importance of clear language and integrated
the most appropriate techniques for observation and measurement.
•
I made appropriate decisions about qualitative and quantitative
methods and use of units.
•
I repeatedly reconsidered your investigation design by describing
problems and making improvements.
|
5.
Ask students to self-select the team they want to work with (e.g.
wind, temperature, clouds/atmosphere, animal/human behavior). Let
them know that each of them will continue to spend time with the
Traditional Forecaster in order to gain the skills and knowledge
needed to make good observations, and that the procedures they design
now can be modified later as more knowledge is gained.
|
|
Explore
|
6.
Ask teams to discuss weather observations, knowledge and experiences
that might be pertinent to their study. Encourage review of past journal
entries and the class log. Students should record this information
individually in the “connecting” section of their journal.
They should also decide if both individually and collectively (as
a team) they have enough knowledge/information to design a weather
study. If not, they should make a plan for filling in needed skills/knowledge
or revising plan. |
|
Generalize
|
7.
As teams work, rotate around to each group facilitating discussion,
helping students to sort out their current understandings and to organize
their thinking. Emphasize the importance of individual expression
of ideas, and point out that listening to the ideas of others might
help better explain their own ideas. If the TF is available for this
discussion time, he or she could be most helpful in this role as well.
(Embedded assessment: prior knowledge and group skills.) |
|
Explore
|
8.
Next, ask student teams to put their heads together to design a
plan to collect relevant weather information. (In science such a
plan is called a protocol and involves designation of very specific
procedures.) This design process should be recorded in their journal
under “designing”.
•
Encourage students to perform a trial run of the procedure so that
steps can be organized in a workable manner.
•
Emphasize the use of detail to communicate clear directions.
•
Ask students to include precise definitions of terms (e.g. the term
“calm” means that smoke rises vertically); and steps or
rules that will be followed throughout the procedure (e.g. wind
direction is to be gauged daily at noon).
•
Prompt student analysis with questions such as:
- Will your design yield enough information for analysis?
- Does your design include information needed for connections to
other weather signs? (E.g. Both wind speed and direction are critical
measures. Collecting only one or the other would be inadequate for
prediction of upcoming weather change.)
- How accurate and workable are your measurements/estimates and
use of tools?
|
|
Generalize
|
9.
Ask the team reporter to share the team’s procedure/protocol
with the class as a whole. Prompt student audience critique using
by asking questions such as the following (posted on a chart for
clear reference):
•
Are the terms clearly defined?
•
Are the steps/procedures of the task clear?
•
Does it tell specifically what data is to be collected? When? Where?
By whom? Etc?
•
Does the plan reflect what has been learned from the TF?
•
Does the plan include attention to information needed by other studies
in order to make clear connections?
|
|
Explore
|
10.
After all teams have shared and been critiqued, have them work in
their teams to revise.
11. Have teams conduct observations as designed for 1 week.
12. After 1 week of observation, have teams meet to assess how well
their observations/recordings are going. Provide structured discussion
questions as above. Teams revise for clarity.
|
|
Generalize
|
13.
After the revision work, use a cooperative learning structure such
as jig-sawing during which students become fully acquainted with
the details of each of the other weather watching protocols.
14. Have a class discussion in which you help negotiate an overall
weather observation schedule and data recording procedure for the
all observations considering such issues as:
•
Can/should observation times for all protocols be the same?
•
Are there any duplications in data collected?
•
Can individual data sheets be consolidated into one for purposes
of entry into the log? (see sample)
•
How should incidental information be handled? (Incidental information
is any other data that could contribute to understanding such as
faulty equipment, extreme weather conditions not anticipated, described
or quantified in protocol, etc.)
|
|
Apply
|
15.
Conduct weather observations |
|
Assessment
|
•
Embedded Assessment as indicated in lesson text
•
Traditional Forecaster reviews designs and provides feedback.
•
Teacher and student completion of Scoring Guides and conference
|
|
|
Activity
5: Conducting and Analyzing Local Studies
|
|
Summary
|
Students
carry out the collective weather study: recording , organizing and
discussing data daily. Once sufficient data have been collected, students
look for patterns and relationships in data, link these with what
they knew and with traditional knowledge, and ask questions related
to the investigations. By so doing, student knowledge of local weather
patterns as well as their analysis, inference and prediction skills
are improved over time. |
|
| Activity
6: Community Memories I |
|
Summary
|
This
lesson is a combination of a community weather night and mini science
fair, hosted by the students for the purposes of: sharing what they
have learned to date about local weather; and learning more from the
community as a whole by listening to weather stories. In this way,
it’s both a celebration of what students have learned so far
and an invitation for the community to join in the fun. It should
take place once the students feel well-grounded with their local studies
and have sufficient information to share. Diverse representations
of understanding are encouraged. |
|
|
| |
| SECTION
2: UNDERSTANDING WIND |
| |
It
is assumed that as students spend time observing the weather, they
will come up with questions about the weather which interest them
greatly (see Handbook page 20–21.) While some of these questions
will undoubtedly relate to developing proficiency with forecasting
and to dealing with weather-related issues of travel and safety,
other questions will probably relate to developing a more sophisticated
understanding of what causes the wind. These questions can be investigated
in at least two constructive ways: inquiry and/or guided discovery.
If an inquiry approach were taken, students would identify their
own question with regard to wind/weather and pursue it intensely
through a combination of research and experimentation of their own
design. If a guided discovery approach were taken, the teacher would
set up a series of activities designed to enable students to develop
an understanding of the driving forces behind wind.
To help enable either approach, the following series of lessons
(in a guided discovery format) is provided on the core concepts
of convection, absorption, and radiation, as related to the creation
of both local and global winds. These lessons assume some understanding
of the nature and behavior of matter and molecules in the solid,
liquid and gaseous states. They also assume some familiarity with
the concept of density.
|
|
|
Activity
1: Convection
“If
you open the door of a warm house on a cold day, there’s the
wind.”
—Jonas
Ramoth
|
|
Background
|
Convection
currents stirring the atmosphere produce winds. Convection
is a
cyclic process in which heat energy is transferred in fluids
(liquids or gases). If a fluid is heated (a), it expands,
becomes less dense
and rises (b). When this warm liquid reaches the surface,
it spreads out and begins to cool (c). As the fluid gets
farther from the heat
source, it cools down, and the cooler fluid sinks (d). Thus
a convection current or cell is completed when the cooler,
sinking fluid flows
inward (e) towards the heat source to replace the upward-moving,
hotter fluid (a). This cycle is what drives both local
and global
winds as well as volcanic eruptions, the swirling patterns
in miso soup, ocean currents, home heat circulation patterns
and mountain
building.6
|
|
|
Activity
1a
|
|
Materials
|
Pencils,
tape, tissue paper, scissors, string, hole punch |
|
Procedure
|
|
Gear-up
|
1.
Read the opening quote from Jonas Ramoth: If you open the door of
a warm house on a cold day, there’s the wind. Ask them what
they think Jonas means by this. Ask them to imagine this situation
and to diagram and describe in their journals the movement of air
when the door is opened. Students will have had lots of experience
with this phenomena and will probably say things like “hot
air rises” and “cold rushes in”, but use questions
like the following to probe their understanding of air movement
particularly with regard to the convection cycle.
•
Can you feel air movement or just a temperature change?
•
Does air move into or out of the house or both?
•
If cold air is moving into the house, what is happening to the warm
air ?
•
If the air is moving, are hot and cold air moving in the same way
at the same place?
Discuss these ideas as a class, recording predictions and explanations.
(EA: prior knowledge of convection)
2. Provide students with a copy of the Learning Cycle Model
Scoring Guide7 and let them know that their learning
will be assessed using
this checklist. Students will use the form as a self-evaluation
and you will use it as a checklist as students work through
the
explorations and as you review their journal entries.
|
|
Explore/
Generalize
|
3.
Have students construct wind detectors by using string to attach
a 1 x 3 inch strip of tissue paper to a pencil as shown. (You’ll
want to test design ahead of time to make sure it is weighted sufficiently
to swing with wind.)
4. Ask them to go to an outside door on a cold winter day8, open
the door just a few inches (from inside) and hold the detector near
the floor. Observe and record which way the tissue/wind moves.
5. Now hold the detector in the middle of the door and then near
the top. Observe and record movement of wind detector.
6. Ask which way the air is moving at each of these locations. Does
the air movement seem to be as strong at each level? What are your
ideas about this? How do these observations compare with your original
ideas?
7. How do you think air would move if you opened the door of a hot
oven in a warm room? Test and find out.
8. Discuss how these observations compare with their original ideas.
Have them revise journal diagrams if they want.
Learning
Cycle Model Scoring Guide
|
Exploration
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
•
Initiates activities with no forethought or avoids activity
completely
•
ignores needs and contributions of peers
|
•
interacts with phenomena as instructed
•
works politely with peers, but sticks to personal agenda
|
•
asks clarifying questions
•
uses a variety of methods to interact with the subject
•
works cooperatively with peers and gains insights from their
activities
|
| •
no organized attention or skills applied to task at hand |
•
measurements, observations, and classifications are recorded,
but with little attention to detail |
•
makes careful observations, measurements, and classifications
•
records measurements, observations, and inferences
|
| •
shows minimal intellectual interaction with materials being
manipulated |
•
fluid interactions with phenomena, but they sometimes are off
target with intended activities |
•
identifies and seeks to expand personal understanding of the
concept or phenomena |
|
Generalize
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
•
shows little participation in discussions
•
demonstrates non-supportive behavior for others' input
|
•
engaged in discussion as a participant
•
does not initiate many questions
|
•
asks thoughtful questions
•
shows respect for other ideas
|
|
•
does not distinguish between observations and inferences
•
looks upon guesses as fact
|
•
has basic understanding of the differences between observation
and inference.
•
understands that a hypothesis is a kind of scientific guess
|
•
distinguishes between observations and inferences
•
identifies relevant observations and interpretations
•
looks upon guesses as hypotheses to be tested
|
| •
jumps to conclusions that are not based upon recent manipulations
of the phenomena |
•
considers data before making conclusions |
•
avoids jumping to conclusions
•
identifies alternative explanations for phenomena
|
|
Apply
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
| •
does not recognize applicability of knowledge gained from both
successes and failures of experimental process |
•
creative application ideas, but they do not address personal
or societal needs |
•
offers to apply new knowledge to positive benefit of society |
| •
does not refer to principles and concepts discovered in earlier
generalizations |
•
applications loosely associated with principles of concept |
•
refers to principles which were discovered in the generalize
stage in spite of new context |
| •
does not offer applications of new knowledge regardless of context |
•
applications offered, but does not transcend original context
|
•
transfers application of concept to new context |
|
|
| Activity
1b |
|
Materials
|
Per
group: large, wide-mouthed jar, water, baby food jar, aluminum foil,
food coloring, rubber bands, string, sharp pencil |
|
Explore/
Generalize
|
9.
Have students fill a large (gallon), wide-mouthed jar two-thirds
full with cold water. Next, put three drops of food coloring in
a baby-food jar. Fill the baby-food jar to the top with hot water.
Cover it with aluminum foil and secure the foil tightly with rubber
bands. Tie a string around the baby-food jar and lower it into the
bottom of the large jar. Predict what you think will happen when
you punch a hole in the foil and record prediction in journal.
10. Wait until the water is still and then punch one hole in the
foil with a long pencil. Watch and record what happens. (Nothing
happens because the cold water is heavier than the warm water and
pressing down upon the hot water, but there is no “escape hole”
allowing the warm water to be pushed out by cold.)
11. Ask students why nothing happens with just one hole. Ask for
solutions and then have them punch a second hole, observe and record.
12. Ask what they observed when the second hole was punched? Did
the colored fluid rise from only one, or both of the holes? What
are your ideas about this? How long will it keep rising? After a
long time, what will the fluid in the large jar be like? What are
your ideas about why this is so? (The colored hot water will rise
from one hole in a fairly straight line. As it rises, it will cool
and begin to both sink and diffuse into the cold water as water
temperatures equilibrate. Depending upon water temperatures, a complete
convection cell may or may not be visible with the red/hot water.)
13. Ask students to compare this activity to the door activities.
What do they now think the air movement in a warm room on a cold
day might look like?
|
|
| Activity
1c 9 |
|
Getting
Ready
|
The
last two activities demonstrated what happens when fluids of unequal
temperature meet. This activity demonstrates how warm and cold surfaces
affect air. To do this, an observation box and smoke-filled air piston
must be created as follows: |
|
Materials
|
Observation
Box: 1 per Student Team
1 cardboard box (about 30 cm x 30 cm x 50cm) per team
clear plastic food wrap
plastic tape
straws
Smoke Piston
1 large air piston
1 plastic straw
heavy cotton string, 12 cm long
matches
scissors
baby food jar of tap water
|
|
Procedure
|
1.
Remove one side of the box; then cut a window in two sides as shown.
but leave about 1/3 of the top intact. Tape plastic food wrap over
the windows so that they are airtight. In one end of the box, cut
a small hole just large enough to insert a plastic straw.
2. Cut the straw into 4–5cm lengths. Cut the string into lengths
of about 4cm. Double one of the pieces of string twice or more until
it will fit snugly in the end of a piece of the plastic straw. Leave
about 1/2 cm of the doubled string sticking out of the straw. Repeat
the procedure for the other pieces.
3. Slip a section of the prepared straw onto the air piston. Light
the string, being careful not to melt the straw. Collect smoke in
the cylinder by slowly drawing out the plunger. Remove the straw
and lay it aside where it won’t burn anything. You may need
more smoke later. Insert figure six with step 3 narrative.
|
|
Explore
|
4.
Working in student teams, place a pan of cold water, ice water,
ice cubes or snow inside the observation box. Be sure the straw
is in place through the end of the box. The end of the straw should
not be over the pan of water.
5. Insert a smoke-filled air piston into the straw of the observation
box. Gently force smoke through the straw into the box so that it
moves very slowly over the cold water. Observe and record what happens
to the smoke.
6.
Repeat using a pan of hot water. Observe and record what happens.
|
|
Generalize
|
7.
Ask student to report what they observed with the smoke and cold
water. (See diagrams below.) Ask them to use arrows to diagram the
movement of air in the box. What are their ideas about this? How
about for hot water?
8. Ask how these observations and ideas compare with their earlier
ideas about the open door.
|
|
Apply
|
9.
Ask students what their ideas now are about air movement when a
door is opened on a cold day? Ask them to review their original
journal predictions and revise the diagram/explanation using evidence
from explorations as support for their ideas.
10. Take students outside on a calm day when smoke is visible from
smoke stacks. Ask them to diagram and explain smoke movement and
air temperatures at different levels using evidence from these explorations
in support of their ideas. (See sample diagram)
11. Ask students to imagine a hot summer day in Selawik where the
air temperature is much warmer than the water temperature of Selawik
Lake. Ask them to diagram air movement and explain it using evidence
from these explorations.
12. Ask what might wind patterns be like in the late fall just before
freeze-up of Selawik Lake when the water temperatures are warmer
than air temperatures, particularly at night? Do your predictions
match your experience? Check with the TF to see if your predictions
match his or her experience.
|
|
Assessment
|
Embedded
assessment using LCM Scoring Guide
Student self-assessment using LCM Scoring Guide
Review and response to student journal entries
|
|
|
Activity
2: Heat Radiation and Absorption10
“When
you see what looks like fog rising from the lakes and ponds,
their heat temperature is balancing with the air’s.”11
|
|
Summary
|
Some
parts of the earth’s surface absorb, store and re-radiate (or
emit) heat more readily than others and this uneven heating of the
air near the earth’s surface sets convection currents and winds
in motion. In this activity students measure and analyze the ability
of different materials to absorb and emit heat, and then connect this
understanding to their ideas about convection and the creation of
local and global winds. |
|
|
Activity
3: Topography
“The
west wind is a poor artist but the east wind does beautiful work.”
—Jonas
Ramoth
|
|
Summary
|
Selawik
is located in a valley , at the base of the Kobuk River to the east
and facing Selawik Lake and Kotzebue Sound to the west. The Kobuk
valley acts as a funnel for prevailing east winds which create long,
straight, consistent drifts of snow about 10–12 inches wide in
flat country. West winds, however, do not prevail and are not funneled
by mountains, but rather, cover largely open tundra interrupted by
minor hillocks or trees. This situation results in erratic wind patterns
and characteristic rough, uneven snowdrifts. In this series of activities,
students measure and graph snowdrifts around a building and explore
the creation of eddies in water as a way of understanding the effect
of topography on local wind patterns. |
|
|
Activity
4: Heating the Earth
|
|
Summary
|
In
this series of activities, students explore how the angle of sunlight
affects the Earth’s temperature and seasons and then apply this
understanding to their local situation. |
|
| Activity
Series 5, Global Winds |
|
Summary
|
In
this activity, students extend their understanding of convection to
consider global winds and the effect of the earth’s rotation
on the creation of patterns of prevailing wind direction. |
|
| SECTION
3: CONNECTING GLOBALLY |
| |
Once
students have become grounded in observing and understanding local
weather patterns in terms of cultural and scientific knowledge, and
once they begin to realize through these studies that what happens
locally is connected to what happens globally, the stage is well set
for expanding learning activities to focus on those global connections
and their implications for life and behavior at home. Such connections
are especially important in Alaska and other high latitude areas where
global warming is expected to be of a greater magnitude. |
|
GLOBE
Investigations
|
The
GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit
the Environment)
is a hands-on science and education program that unites students,
teachers and scientists from around the world in study
and research
about the dynamics of the Earth’s environment particularly
as related to global climate change. In this program, students
take
careful measurements of the environment at their school and
share the data with scientists and with GLOBE students in
other countries
through the Internet.12 Because one of the goals of GLOBE
is to provide educational activities for students and uniform
data for
scientists, the GLOBE Learning Activities and Protocols clearly
lay out the precise student measurement procedures and data
quality
techniques. Calibration of equipment, control of variables,
and standardization of measurement are critical aspects of
the activities.
As such, they provide many opportunities for students to
observe, measure, collect, record and analyze data and thus
address key science
standards. They also present a clear example of how Western
science is done and, by comparison, illuminate the similarities
and differences
between Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western science.
It is for these reasons that extending local weather observations
to
include the Atmosphere and Seasons Investigations of GLOBE
is suggested.
A listing of relevant GLOBE protocols and learning activities for
these two investigations follows. All of these can be fully accessed
at the GLOBE website: http://www.globe.gov.
|
|
Atmosphere
Investigation
Protocols:
•
Cloud Type
•
Cloud Cover
•
Rainfall
•
Solid Precipitation
•
Precipitation pH
•
Maximum, Minimum and Current Temperatures
|
Learning
Activities
•
Observing, Describing & Identifying Clouds
•
Estimating Cloud Cover: A Simulation
•
Studying the Instrument Shelter
•
Building a Thermometer
•
Land, Water and Air
•
Cloud Watch
|
|
|
Seasons
Investigation
Integrates
protocols from other investigations
|
Learning
Activities
•
What Can We Learn About Our Seasons?
•
What are Some Factors That Affect Seasonal Patterns?
•
How Do Regional Temperature Patterns Vary Among Different
Regions of the World?
•
What Can We Learn by Sharing Local Seasonal Markers
with Other Schools Around the World?
|
|
|
|
Community
Memories II
|
|
Summary
|
This
lesson is a sequel to Community Memories I evening, differing from
it only by the addition of the GLOBE studies as well as any new work
on local studies. Again, the purposes would be to display and discuss
student work, get input from community members and gather new information
from the stories and experiences shared by others. It should take
place once the students feel well-grounded with their GLOBE studies
and have sufficient information to share. |
|
References
|
Gould,
A. (1988) Convection—A Current Event . Berkeley: Lawrence Hall
of Science, University of California, Berkeley
Hewitt, P. (1997) Conceptual Physics—Teacher’s Edition.
California: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (1972) Winds and Weather—Probing
the Natural World/3. Florida: Florida State University
Martz, C. (1999) KuC 1999 graduation address in Sharing Our Pathways.
4(4) 4–5
Murphy, N. (1992) Learning cycle model and science analytical trait
assessment tool in The Great Northern Science Book . Alaska Science
Consortium. Spring 1992
|
