Unpacked Content
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Analyzing and Interpreting Data; Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts
Patterns; Systems and System Models; Energy and Matter
Knowledge
Students know:
- Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a given place and time.
- Weather and climate are shaped by complex interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things.
- Energy is redistributed globally through ocean currents and also through atmospheric circulation.
- Sunlight heats Earth's surface, which in turn heats the atmosphere.
- Temperature patterns, together with the Earth's rotation and the configuration of continents and oceans, control the large-scale patterns of atmospheric circulation.
- Winds gain energy and water vapor content as they cross hot ocean regions, which can lead to tropical storms.
- Prediction Center maps provide weather forecasts and climate patterns based on analyses of observational data.
Skills
Students are able to:
- Analyze data in patterns to predict the outcome of an event.
- Analyze data models to predict outcome of an event.
Understanding
Students understand that:
- The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns.
- Weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings protect life and property.
- Weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings protect life and property.
Vocabulary
- weather
- air temperature
- humidity
- fronts
- air pressure
- storms
- precipitation
- wind direction
- wind speed
- air masses
- barometer
- thermometer
- anemometer
- wind vane
- rain gauge
- psychrometer
- front
- warm front
- cold front
- air mass
- highs
- lows
- isobar
- tornado
- lightning
- thunder
- hurricane
- climate zone
- temperate
- tropical
- polar
