[SOLVED] Weather Lab

Weather Lab

In this laboratory, we at looking at the weather and climate in your area.
For this lab, you will need: the two thermometers from your kit. You will also need a timer (I would use my phone); a napkin, Kleenex, or paper towel; and access to water.

Safety Rules:
Wear goggles when using glass such as your thermometer and pouring.
Keep electronics away from the water.
Clean up your area when finished.

Georgia Standards of Excellence:
S6E4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how the sun, land, and water
affect climate and weather.
Plan and carry out an investigation to demonstrate how energy from the sun transfers heat to
air, land and water at different rates.
Analyze and interpret weather data to explain the effects of moisture evaporating from the ocean on weather patterns and weather events such as hurricanes.
S4E4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to predict weather events and infer
weather patterns using weather charts/maps and collected weather data.
⦁ Construct an explanation of how weather instruments (thermometer, rain gauge, barometer, wind vane, and anemometer) are used in gathering weather data and making forecasts.

Part 1: Investigation Question: How does the humidity and temperature compare between indoors and outdoors?

⦁ What is relative humidity and how it is measured? See this website: https://extension.illinois.edu/treehouse/clouds.cfm?Slide=1 to learn what relative humidity and dew point and describe them in your own words. Click through the slides in the website to learn about these terms.

⦁ Pick two places (one inside and one outside) that are easy for you to access. Make a prediction that answers the investigation question.

Procedure:
⦁ Make a wet and dry bulb hygrometer to measure relative humidity.
⦁ Check that your two thermometers measure the same temperature. If one is slightly off, you should be able to slightly move the glass bulb up and down a little to have them equal.
⦁ Cut out a piece of paper towel, Kleenex, or napkin the size needed to cover the bulb of one of the thermometers.
⦁ Wet the paper towel, Kleenex, or napkin and cover the bulb.
⦁ Leave both thermometers out for 10 minutes in the location where you want to measure.
⦁ Record the temperature of the dry thermometer and wet thermometer at your first location in Celsius.
⦁ Wet the paper towel again and move your thermometers to location two. Leave them there for 10 minutes.
⦁ Record the temperature of the dry thermometer and wet thermometer at your second location in Celsius.
⦁ Use this chart to determine the relative humidity at both locations. This video describes how to use this chart. Start the video at 1:55 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC7EMtRCqBM

⦁ How does the humidity and temperature compare between indoors and outdoors?

⦁ Did your results surprise you? Why or why not?

⦁ Why does it make sense that there is higher humidity in one place than the other?

 

⦁ If there is 100% relative humidity, then precipitation happens. Does your reading suggest that it will rain soon? Why or why not? Why does 100% relative humidity mean precipitation?

Part 2: Weather Maps Gizmo

Gizmo Warm-up
Data on weather conditions is gathered from weather stations all over the world. This information is combined with satellite and radar images to create weather maps that show current conditions. With the Weather Maps Gizmo, you will use this information to interpret a variety of common weather patterns.

A weather station symbol, shown at right, summarizes the weather conditions at a location.

⦁ The amount of cloud cover is shown by filling in the circle. A black circle indicates completely overcast conditions, while a white circle indicates a clear sky.

What percentage of cloud cover is indicated on the symbol above? ____________________

⦁ Look at the “tail” that is sticking out from the circle. The tail points to where the wind is coming from. If the tail points north, a north wind is moving from north to south.

What direction is the wind coming from on the symbol above? ________________________

⦁ The “feathers” that stick out from the tail indicate the wind speed in knots. (1 knot = 1.151 miles per hour.) A short feather represents 5 knots (5.75 mph), a long feather represents
10 knots (11.51 mph), and a triangular feather stands for 50 knots (57.54 mph). Add the feathers to find the wind speed.

What is the wind speed shown on the symbol above? ______________________________
Activity A:

High-pressure systems Get the Gizmo ready:
⦁ Click New until you see a high-pressure system, represented by the symbol H.
⦁ Turn on Show Mobile Station B data.
⦁ Turn on Show land.

Weather Lab Weather Lab Weather Lab V