Clouds
Formation of Clouds Flow Chart: Create a flow chart describing the formation of clouds,
correctly ordering the statements below
• Air eventually becomes saturated • Millions of droplets of liquid water collect to
form a cloud• Warm air rises and cools.• Water vapor condenses on smoke, dust, salt
and other small particles suspended in the air
• Water vapor is added to the air (evaporation)
How Does a Cloud Form?
1. Warm air rises and cools
2. Water vapor is added to the air
(evaporation)
3. Air eventually becomes saturated
4. Water vapor condenses on
smoke, dust, salt and other small
particles suspended in the
air
5. Millions of droplets of liquid water collect to
form a cloud
Cloud Cornell NotesKey Terms Notes
Summary:
Clouds
• A cloud is a collection of millions of tiny water
droplets or ice crystals
Different Types of Clouds
• There are three main categories of clouds:- Cumulus clouds- Stratus clouds- Cirrus clouds
Cumulus Clouds
• Puffy, white clouds with flat bottoms
• Generally mean fair weather
Cumulonimbus
• When cumulus clouds get bigger they produce dark, puff cumulonimbus clouds which indicate thunderstorms
Stratus Clouds
• Form in layers• Cover large areas of
the sky and can block out the sun
• Caused by a gentle lifting of a large body of air
Nimbostratus & Fog
• Nimbostratus clouds: are dark and usually produce continuous rain
• Fog: When stratus clouds form near the ground, it is called fog
Cirrus Clouds
• Thin, feathery, white clouds found at high altitudes
• Form when the wind is strong
• Can indicate bad weather if they thicken
Practice
• Versatiles: High Sign of Weather
Storms Cornell NotesKey Terms Notes
Summary:
THUNDERSTORMS
Brainpop: Thunderstorm
Thunderstorms
• Thunderstorms are caused by the vertical movement of warm air
• Thunderstorms develop in three stages:
CUMULUS STAGE
1. Cumulus stage- warm air moves upward which produces moist winds
MATURE STAGE
2. Mature stage- a cumulonimbus cloud releases heavy precipitation (rain, sleet, or snow)
DISSIPATING STAGE
• Dissipating stage- air begins to move downward which causes the thunderstorm to end
Thunderstorms
In the United States the western half of the country has the least amount of thunderstorm activity because warm, moist tropical air is not common in this area.
THUNDER and LIGHTENING
•Air builds up + and – electrical charges; current flows between opposite charges and lightening is produced.•Rapid heating of air around a lightning bolt creates Thunder
TORNADOES
Brainpop: Tornado
Tornadoes
Tornados: Violent whirling wind that stretch from the cloud to the ground
Most occur in North America
Formation of Tornadoes
Warm air masses from Gulf of Mexico move north and meet cold, dense air and form thunderstorms
Strong upward movement of air cause a vertical cylinder of rotating air, also called a mesocyclone to form.
Hurricanes
• http://gpb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.watcyc.hurricane/hurricanes-new-tools-for-predicting/
• http://gpb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nves.sci.earth.hurricane/water-vapor-fuels-hurricanes/
Check for Understanding: order these pictures 1-4
Hurricane Flow Map
Hurricane Flow Map
Checks for Understanding
Interactive online quiz http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/238/preview/
Share---what happened to this town?
Tropical Cyclone
Cyclone, Hurricane, Typhoon… oh my
Same type of storm, just form and occur in different oceans!Hurricane = Atlantic ocean, Eastern pacific including
Hawaiian islandsTyphoon = Western pacificCyclone = Southern pacific and Indian ocean
Check for understanding: What do we call our storm?
What Is a Hurricane?• A Hurricane is a large, swirling, low
pressure system that forms over tropical oceans.
• Has wind speeds of at least 74 mph• In other countries they are also known
as typhoons and cyclones
http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/hurricanes/
What states they hit:http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/prepare/
HURRICANES
• The wall that is created from the air rising is called an eye wall.
• The eye is the center of the hurricane. In the eye there are no winds or
precipitation. Only calm spot in the storm.
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/natural_disasters/hurricanes/framesource_flash.html
When do hurricane’s happen?
Critical Thinking: What season do you think is Hurricane season in the US?
(hint: think about warm waters or make a life-connection and think about when you have heard about them on the news!)
• The Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
• Most hurricanes occur from around the middle of August through the middle of October
Can anything stop these powerful storms?
• Critical Thinking: Hurricanes depend on the tropical warm water and the evaporation in order to keep shape… so what do you think could stop them?
As hurricanes travel over colder water or over land they lose their evaporation which causes them to weaken.
Just shy of hurricane:
• Tropical DepressionAn organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds* of 38 mph or less
• Tropical StormAn organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 39-73 mph
Hurricane Categories:
• Category One Hurricane (Sustained winds 74-95 mph, 64-82 kt, or 119-153 km/hr)-- Very dangerous winds will produce some damage
• Category Two Hurricane (Sustained winds 96-110 mph, 83-95 kt, or 154-177 km/hr)--Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage
• Category Three Hurricane (Sustained winds 111-130 mph, 96-113 kt, or 178-209 km/hr)-- Devastating damage will occur
• Category Four Hurricane (Sustained winds 131-155 mph, 114-135 kt, or 210-249 km/hr)--Catastrophic damage will occur
• Category Five Hurricane (Sustained winds greater than 155 mph, greater than 135 kt, or greater than 249 km/hr).-- Catastrophic damage will occur
Damage Caused by Hurricanes
Hurricane winds can knock down trees and telephone poles
However, the most damage during a hurricane comes from flooding due to heavy rain and storm surges
A storm surge is a wall of water that builds up over the ocean and can be up to 20 feet before it crashes onto the shore
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/prepare/
Hurricane Names
Hurricane Katrina—New Orleans
Let’s see what it looks like!Why was Hurricane Katrina so devastating compared to other hurricanes?http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/environment-natural-disasters/hurricanes/katrina/
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/238/preview/
^^Video The Storm that Drowned the City—show first (2 minutes preview whole movie, first 8 minutes on predicting and tracking and formation of storm, 27 minutes starts storm hitting footage, 41 minutes starts damage footage from day after)
Practice
• Hurricane Worksheet: Use the Hurricane readings to answer the Hurricane worksheet (front and back)– Finish reading questions tomorrow
• Work on Meteorology Review Worksheet when finished– Page 1 & 2: Due Monday– Page 3 & 4: Due Tuesday– Test: Wednesday
What do you know about…
• Precipitation?– How does it form?– What types are there?
• Things other than water falling from the sky?
• Evaporation- can anything other than water evaporate?
• Jot down your current ideas
Fish Are Falling On My Head!
• Have you ever heard of fish falling from the sky? Well, check this out!
It’s raining fish….
• Residents of a small outback Australian town have been left speechless after fish began falling from the sky. Hundreds of spangled perch bombarded the 650 residents of Lajamanu, shocking local Christine Balmer, who was walking home when the strange 'weather' started. She said: 'These fish fell in their hundreds and hundreds all over the place. The locals were running around everywhere picking them up.
‘The fish were all alive when they hit the ground so they would have been alive when they were up there flying around the sky.' When I told my family, who live in another part of Australia, about the fish falling from the sky, they thought I'd lost the plot.' But no, I haven't lost my marbles. All I can say is that I'm thankful that it didn't rain crocodiles!
Other Cases
1) Fish Jumps Out of Water and Flies (Japan) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7410421.stm
2) Fish Falling from Sky (California and India) http://scienceline.org/2006/09/physics-cosier-rainingfish/
3) Fish Falls from Sky (Shropshire, UK)http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2005/03/22/raining_fish_knighton_feature.shtml
4) Everyday Mysteries: Can it rain frogs, fish and other objects?http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/rainingfrogs.html
Each group will read a different article about a similar case and write some notes about what happened, similarities to the other case, and probability that the cases are related.
What did you find out?
• After your groups has investigated your case, create a report poster to share your findings with the rest of the class.
ARTICLE TITLE
What Happened: When and Where:
Event Details: Similarities to Our Case: