Chapter 5
Weather
Rain, snow, sleet, clouds … our planet has lots of different kinds of weather. Scientists who study atmosphere and weather are called meteorologists. You can be a meteorologist, too, with your very own rain gauge and weather vane.
TRY THIS
RAIN , RAIN GO AWAY …
Rainy days can be a bummer — it's not much fun to get wet and cold. You could stay inside and do some of these science experiments. Or you can turn the rainy day into an experiment!
QUESTION
How do you measure rainfall?
WHAT YOU NEED
Large jar
Ruler
Marker
WHAT TO DO
WHAT'S HAPPENING
You just made your very own rain gauge. Meteorologists use rain gauges to measure rainfall in an area to better understand that area's climate. Meteorologists ask questions like, “Is this area receiving more rain than usual? Less rain?” In areas that aren't receiving enough rain, sometimes a drought alert is set. A drought is a period without any rain or insufficient rain. In areas with a lot of rain, sometimes flooding is a problem if there aren't enough drains to send the water into sewers. Later you'll see how you can use extra rainwater and conserve your use of freshwater.
We know rain comes from clouds, which are large masses of water droplets. What kinds of clouds are there in the sky? Look up into the sky. Do you see thin clouds that look like hairs? You're seeing cirrus clouds. Are the clouds puffy and piled up? Then you're seeing cumulus clouds. Cumulus clouds can occur high in the sky or closer to the ground. High cumulus clouds are small, about the size of your thumb if you hold your arm straight out. Low cumulus clouds are closer to the size of your fist. Some clouds have very unique shapes. Lenticular clouds look like a disc floating in the air. You can see them sometimes on mountaintops. Clouds can also tell you what the weather is going to be. Cumulonimbus clouds indicate bad weather.
WORD to KNOW
climate: the average pattern of weather in a certain area.
YOUR NOTES
Use the following chart to measure rainfall over a week. See how your number increases or decreases from one day to the next. Try this at different times of the year, as well.
Monday 
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Making Music
A seismologist is a scientist who studies earthquakes. What do you think a seismologist's favorite kind of music is? To find the answer, color in all the shapes that contain the letters Q, U, A, K, E.
TRY THIS
HOMEMADE RAINBOW
With clouds and rain, and a little sun, comes a rainbow! But the following experiment will show you that you don't have to wait for a gray day to see this colorful wonder!
QUESTION
How do you make a rainbow?
WHAT YOU NEED
Flat pan
Small mirror
Sunny day
White wall
WHAT TO DO
Cool Quotes
The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
— Eden Phillpotts
FUN FACT
Thunderstorm Countdown!
Next time there's a thunderstorm, watch for a flash of lightning. Then count slowly until you hear the thunder boom again — one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand … and so on. Divide the number you get by five. That's how many miles away the storm is.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Sunlight is made up of rays. Those rays shine onto the mirror in the pan. But half of the mirror is underwater. The water breaks up the light rays into a prism of individual colors that make up sunlight. Those colorful rays appear on the wall as a rainbow. When you see a rainbow in the sky, sunlight is passing through raindrops at an angle that allows you to see the colors in light.
WORD to KNOW
rainbow: an arc that shows off the colors present in sunlight as it passes through water drops.
What does the Sun put in her hair in the morning?
A rain-bow!
FUN FACT
Moonbows
Some rainbows occur after the sun has set! A full moon shines bright light through a rainfall or a waterfall. This causes a dim moonbow to appear in the sky. You can see moonbows in many places, including Hawaii and Victoria Falls in Africa.
The prism of colors includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. You can see rainbows in mist from a waterfall, dewdrops on a web, and an oily puddle on the street. Anyplace where light rays hit water at just the right angle, you can see that prism. The best thing to do on a day when it's raining and it's sunny is to stand with your back to the sunlight. Then look up into the sky. Chances are, if you're patient, you'll find a rainbow. You might even find two. Double bows are not uncommon. The arc is cut by the horizon, but if you're up in a plane, you just might see the whole circle!
Your Notes
Draw a picture of your rainbow.
Rain in a Jar
With just a few simple ingredients, you can make a rainstorm in a jar! You will need a large clear jar with a metal lid, several ice cubes, and some very hot water. Follow the directions to color in the puzzle grid and see how to put your rain jar together. Have an adult help with the very hot water, please!
SCIENCE LAB: WEATHER VANE
Weather vanes come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they have roosters, sometimes other animals, or even people. Some are fancy and ornamental. Others are simply designed. But almost all have arrows and compass directions. And they are all blown about by high winds and gentle breezes.
QUESTION
How do you know which way the wind is blowing?
WHAT YOU NEED
Cardboard (You could use an old milk carton)
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Pin
Dime or a nickel
Tape
Sewing thread (about a foot long)
Windy day
WHAT TO DO
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Weather vanes are used to see where the wind is coming from. This helps meteorologists understand weather patterns. The tip of the arrow points in the direction the wind is blowing. Wind direction is the opposite of where the arrow is pointing. The flat end of the arrow will move even in a light breeze.
Weather vanes are often found on top of houses and high up on buildings. That way they can blow about and not hit anything like tree branches or power lines. Also, the wind is more likely to blow in one direction up high. Closer to the ground, the wind can change direction constantly.
A windsock is another kind of weather vane. You can see windsocks at airports. They are used to indicate wind direction and approximate wind speed. Airports worry about these things because of the risk of a gasoline leak. Windsocks are often illuminated so that readings can be taken at night.
YOUR NOTES
Try making arrows out of thin paper and thick cardboard. Do they work better in light breezes or heavy winds?
Decorate your weather vane and attach it somewhere outside. Take a look at it each day to see which direction the winds are blowing.
Active Earth
Earth is an active planet that is constantly reshaping itself. Huge mountains of ice are melting from changes in the climate. Unique animals live in deep-sea vents, braving acidic water, high pressure, and more. Winds swirl and blast across farmlands, flattening crops and blowing through towns. Through the following experiments, we can better understand these natural events.
Sweet Lightning
Make tiny sparks of lightning and have a sweet treat at the same time! Use the numbered words to fill in the blanks and learn how.
TRY THIS
ICEBERG!
An iceberg is a chunk of frozen freshwater that has broken off of a larger glacier or ice shelf and is floating out in open water. Icebergs may not look very big above the surface of the water, but they can extend deep underwater. This is what makes them dangerous to boats. It may be difficult to see the floating part of the iceberg, and so the boat can run into the lower section and crash.
QUESTION
If all the oceans' icebergs melt, would the seas flood and drown the land?
WHAT YOU NEED
Drinking glass
6 to 8 ice cubes
Warm water
WHAT TO DO
WORD to KNOW
iceberg: large, floating chunk of freshwater ice that broke off of a larger glacier.
FUN FACT
Pop! Fizz!
When an iceberg melts, air bubbles are trapped in the snow layers. When the bubbles pop, the iceberg makes a fizzing sound.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Did you think the water would overflow the glass? Were you surprised when it didn't? The melting ice cubes don't take up more space in the glass, they simply move the water aside. They have the same mass as they did when they were cubes. So the level of the water will not change.
Icebergs in the ocean act the same way. As icebergs melt, they take up the same space in the water, so they will not cause the seas to overflow. Glaciers on land, however, will significantly raise water levels in the world's seas if they all melt.
Icebergs come in different shapes. A dome is an iceberg whose top is rounded. An iceberg called a pinnacle has spires on top. If you see an iceberg with a steep cliff and a slope, it's called a wedge.
What is a tornado's favorite dance?
The twist!
YOUR NOTES
Look up the tallest iceberg in the world. Then measure your height. How many of you does it take to make up the tallest iceberg?
TRY THIS
TWIRLING TORNADO
In the United States, tornadoes seem to mostly occur in the spring down south and in the summer up north. While tornadoes can hit at any time of day, they seem to usually start in the late afternoon and evening. The winds typically move from southwest to northeast.
QUESTION
How do tornadoes move?
FUN FACT
Tornado Alley
While tornadoes happen all over the world, most twisters touch down in the midwestern United States. Three out of four tornadoes in the world occur in the central states, earning this area the nickname Tornado Alley.
WHAT YOU NEED
2 clear and clean 2-liter plastic soda bottles
Water
Washer
Duct tape
WHAT TO DO
FUN FACT
The Rumbling Earth
Although big earthquakes can be dangerous, most earthquakes are small and barely felt by people.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
When you swirled the bottles you created a spinning flow of water, called a vortex, which imitated a tornado. Tornadoes are funnel-shaped winds that twist and blow at speeds of 200 to 300 miles an hour over mostly flat land. Twisters usually only last a few minutes, but they can cause a lot of damage.
Our Earth is surrounded by a layer of air, called the atmosphere, that is constantly changing. Our weather takes place in the troposphere, an area of the atmosphere that is closest to the Earth. So what's happening when a tornado forms? Winds suddenly change direction, moving faster and higher, spinning through the atmosphere. A thunderstorm builds in the sky, and rising air from the ground pushes the spinning winds up toward the storm. Eventually the air turns into a vertical funnel, carrying with it dust, debris, hail, and punishing winds.
YOUR NOTES
Twister alert! If there's a threat of a twister in your area, there will be an emergency broadcast on the TV or on the radio giving you information about what to do. A Tornado Watch means that there could be tornadoes in your area. Watch for any storms. A Tornado Warning indicates that the weather service has spotted a tornado. Thunderstorm Warnings are issued when severe thunderstorms are coming. Make sure you know where to go and what to do in case of a bad storm
You Got the Whole World in Your Hand
Here is a simple description of the Earth's layers:
CRUST — The outer layer is thin. It can be easily cracked and moved.
MANTLE — The middle layer is thick and firm but slippery.
CORE — The very center of the Earth is a small, hot sphere.
Can you think of an object that fits this description and is small enough to fit in your hand?
If you need a hint, look at the paragraph below in a mirror.
SCIENCE LAB: DEEP-SEA VOLCANO
Did you know volcanoes can occur underwater? Did you know there are mountain chains underwater, too? The mid-ocean ridge is the longest mountain chain on Earth — it is 40,000 miles long! And it has hydrothermal vents that spew extremely hot water up into the cold ocean. These vents are located more than 12,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. The water from these vents is full of minerals and bacteria that, at a temperature of 750°F, combine to create an extreme environment in which certain organisms thrive.
QUESTION
What causes underwater volcanoes?
WHAT YOU NEED
Adult
Small plastic bottle with a narrow opening
Kitchen tongs
Large plastic jar with a wide opening
Hot and cold water
Food coloring
WHAT TO DO
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Hot water is less dense and lighter than cold water. So in this experiment, when the hot water in the bottle hit the cold water in the jar, the hot water rushed up to the surface, creating a small volcano.
Our planet is made up of a hot molten core, a thick mantle that surrounds the core, and a thin crust of rock plates that covers the mantle. The plates form our continents and oceans. Heat and pressure from the core boil up and cause the plates to move and shift, leading to earthquakes and volcanoes. Molten rock from the core meets frigid seawater, cooling to form mountain ranges such as the mid-ocean ridge.
Cracks in the mountains allow cold seawater to flood down to the core, where it is heated to extreme temperatures. Because hot water is less dense than cold water, as we saw in the previous experiment, the now-boiling seawater bubbles back up through these hydrothermal vents and we have an undersea eruption. Some of these vents are several stories tall!
Who could possibly live near these sweltering, acidic vents? Many of the species that live in this climate are brand new to scientists, who have only recently started exploring this area of the ocean. There are bacteria, shrimplike creatures, tubeworms, mussels, clams, and many others.
YOUR NOTES
Do the experiment again and try mixing food coloring to see what happens.
Draw your deep-sea volcano here.
FUN FACT
Go Diving!
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef on Earth and the biggest living construction made up of tiny organisms. The reef is about 1,600 miles long.
Why did the ocean wave?
It wanted to say hello.
Protecting the Earth
Our planet is an amazing place, filled with living seas, towering mountains, and incredible wildlife. But we need to take better care of our world. Every day, we do things that harm the environment. We burn too much coal and oil, which produces harmful gases. These gases rise up into our atmosphere and cause global problems. We scrape away too much rock from our mountains to harvest minerals. We cut down too many trees in our already dwindling forests. We send out fleets of fishing boats that comb the seas for more and more fish.
These are big problems that we can all try and change through the decisions we make every day. These decisions can help improve things for the future. Try the following experiments to learn what is happening to the Earth and what you can do to help.
TRY THIS
A GREENHOUSE IN A BOX
Life on Earth is possible because of energy from the sun. The sun radiates, or gives off its energy in the form of heat and light that travel in waves, like the ones you made with a ribbon earlier in the book. The sun's energy is very hot and very bright. But all objects radiate some amount of heat and light. A radiator, for instance, warms up a cold room and a light bulb illuminates a dark room.
Greenhouse gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone, exist to absorb the Sun's radiation, sending heat both up into space and down onto the Earth's surface, protecting the Earth. But what happens when the gases can't send that heat out into space and it gets trapped?
FUN FACT
Stinky Cows
Cows do more than moo as they stand in the fields and chew their cud. They burp and fart a gas called methane. This gas is one of the many greenhouse gases that are damaging the Earth's atmosphere. In one day the average cow will let loose dozens of gallons of gas. Pee-yoo!
WORD to KNOW
greenhouse: a glass-enclosed building used to grow plants.
QUESTION
What is the greenhouse effect?
WHAT YOU NEED
Shoebox with lid removed
Small bag of soil
2 thermometers
Clear plastic wrap
Stopwatch
Pen
WHAT TO DO
Cool Quotes
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
— Native American proverb
WHAT'S HAPPENING
You have made a greenhouse. A greenhouse is a glass building used to grow plants. Sunlight shines through the glass, warms the building, and gives plants the light they need to grow. Sunlight contains heat, and it raises the temperature inside the greenhouse. The plastic wrap on your box acts like the glass on a greenhouse, holding in sunlight and raising the temperature inside the box.
Our atmosphere contains some of the heat from the sun to keep Earth's temperature livable. But now the atmosphere is full of dangerous levels of the greenhouse gases, and they are trapping too much sunlight and heat rather than letting them escape into space. As the Earth's temperature rises, polar ice caps melt, our weather undergoes significant changes, and our environment suffers.
YOUR NOTES
|
Temperature |
Initial Reading |
Second Reading |
Third Reading |
Fourth Reading |
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Inside |
||||
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Outside |
The Answer Is “Endless Number of Times!”
What is the question?
To find out, use a light-colored marker to connect the letters.
Follow these directions:
— Begin in the square below the word “START.”
— Follow the arrows.
— If a square has no arrow, keep going in the same direction until you find the next arrow.
Extra Fun:
Read the unused letters in order from left to right and top to bottom to find a fun recycling fact!
TRY THIS
OUR ATMOSPHERE IN A JAR
Here is a similar kind of experiment to A Greenhouse in a Box but with a slightly different approach.
QUESTION
What is happening to our atmosphere as the temperature of our planet rises?
WHAT YOU NEED
Small glass jar with lid
1 teaspoon water
Sunny spot outdoors
WHAT TO DO
WHAT'S HAPPENING
As the temperature of the jar warmed up from the sun's heat, the water evaporated into the air of the jar. But the vapor could not escape the jar, so it turned back into condensation in the form of droplets of water clinging to the sides of the jar. The lid on the jar acts like the plastic wrap in the last experiment, creating a greenhouse environment.
WORD to KNOW
atmosphere: a layer of air surrounding the planet.
FUN FACT
Earth Day!
April 22 is Earth Day — a special day when we think about how we can take better care of our wonderful planet. But every day can be Earth Day!
YOUR NOTES
What happens when you open the lid and let the jar sit for a bit?
Cool Quotes
Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.
— Motto of the Baltimore Grotto
TRY THIS
MAKE YOUR HOME GREEN
Now that we've seen the effects of global warming and the greenhouse problem, how can we go about changing the way we live our lives at home and in our communities to reduce our effect on the environment?
QUESTION
How green is your home?
WHAT YOU NEED
Your family
Pencil
WHAT TO DO
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Caring for our planet begins at home. By looking around your house and changing simple things in your life, you can do your part to help conserve precious resources. Earth is a big planet with many, many people depending on the same water, food, fuel, and air. We must think like a global community and make wise decisions based on how everyone on the planet might be affected.
YOUR NOTES
Kitchen/Bathroom
FUN FACT
Plant a Tree!
Trees are essential to our survival on Earth. By planting an acre of trees, we can remove more than two tons of carbon dioxide from the air.
Living Room/Dining Room
FUN FACT
The Re-Cycle
So what happens when you recy-cle? The first step lies with people like you who sort recyclable items into the correct bins — paper, glass, metal — so that they can be collected by the city. Next, the city does another sort and cleans the objects, getting them ready for sale to manufacturers who will use them in their products. The last step lies once again with you to buy products that are made from recycled products to keep the recycling cycle going.
Your Room
Outside the House
Everyday Life
SCIENCE LAB: READY TO RECYCLE
Have you looked in your garbage can recently? Phew! It's probably pretty stinky. But there may be things in there that don't need to be thrown out and could actually be recycled. Are you ready to do some icky detective work?
QUESTION
How much of our garbage could actually be recycled?
WHAT YOU NEED
Adult
Tarp
Recent trash bag
Extra trash bags
Rubber gloves
Pen
WHAT TO DO
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Household garbage often contains many items that can actually be recycled. Some people think that they don't need to sort through their garbage. They think the city will take care of it for them. But instead, all the items just go into landfills. It is important for every person to take charge and do his or her part to reduce the amount of waste we produce.
In fact, there may be some things in your recycle pile that were already made of recycled paper. Cereal boxes, notebook paper, and other things made of cardboard are often constructed using recycled materials and fibers. So you are continuing the recycling process!
Make sure you wash your hands and the items you're going to recycle when you're done.
YOUR NOTES
|
Garbage |
Metal |
Plastic |
Paper/Cardboard |
Glass |
|
Trash |
||||
|
Recycling |
WORD to KNOW
landfill: a way of taking care of a large amount of waste by burying it in the ground.
Change of Habit
This experiment will take a long time to do, but when you are finished, your family might have a new, energy-saving habit!
Complete this puzzle to get directions for the experiment. Look at the fraction below each blank. Pick the shape that shows that fraction using these rules: the white part of each shape is empty; the shaded part of each shape is full. Write the letter of that shape on the line.
One Last Thing …
Now that you've tried these experiments, you may have found that some of them didn't work just right for you the first time. Sometimes you have to adjust a step, sometimes you have to make sure you're measuring correctly, and then sometimes things just don't work the way you want them to.
It's important not to give up. Many famous scientists have tried experiments that they were sure would work. They were disappointed when they didn't get any results. But they tried again and again, changing one thing or another, always thinking about how to improve their methods and ideas
Be patient, be persistent, and most importantly, have a good time. Always ask questions about everything. Look for things that other people pass by. Slow down and observe. Be a scientist and go explore the world!
Cool Quotes
This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.
— Thomas Carlyle
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