ATMOSPHERE IN ACTION

Hey everyone,

It has been another busy and exciting couple of weeks in science as we continue moving deeper into our Weather and Climate unit. Students have been doing a great job asking questions, making observations, and connecting what we learn in class to the weather we experience every day (and their Weather Observations). There have been a lot of hands-on learning, demonstrations, and discussions that have helped bring these atmospheric concepts to life.

Where We Were

Over the past two weeks, we have been exploring the atmosphere, cloud formation, humidity, and precipitation. Students investigated the layers of the atmosphere during our Atmosphere CER Lab, where students plotted atmospheric data and constructed a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning table about atmospheric structure and function.

We also completed a Relative Humidity mini-lab in which students used sling psychrometers to measure wet- and dry-bulb temperatures to determine humidity levels. This gave students a hands-on look at how meteorologists collect real weather data. Along the way, we have also done several demonstrations to visualize cloud formation, relative humidity, and precipitation.

Below: Video of some students doing our cloud in a bottle demo, and other photos from the past two weeks.

Where We Are

Today, students had a quiz that covered the concepts we have been exploring, including the atmosphere, humidity, clouds, and precipitation. This will help check their understanding before we move into the next major topics of the unit.

Starting next week, we will begin exploring air pressure and density, along with how they influence global and local winds. Students can expect more demonstrations and station rotations that will allow them to experiment with these concepts and see how differences in pressure and density drive movement in the atmosphere.

Where We Are Going

After that, we will transition into learning about air masses and weather fronts, which naturally leads us into our upcoming severe weather topics. To wrap up that part of the unit, students will be working on a severe weather parody song project, which should be a creative and fun way for them to show what they have learned.

If you have any questions or want to connect further, feel free to reach out at curtis_catwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our classroom adventures on Instagram at @classwithcatwood where I share updates and snapshots of what we are learning.

Stay Gold,

Mr. Catwood