weather blog

Choose, Climate or Weather

__climate________ 1. Usually it is sunny in Florida.

___weather_______ 2. This can change from day to day.

__climate________ 3. This can remain about the same over a number of years.

___weather_______ 4. Conditions outside on a daily basis.

__climate________ 5. The typical or usual conditions for an area.

___weather_______ 6. Yesterday it was sunny but today we have storms.

___climate_______ 7. Every year, we have mild winters and it rarely snows.

___climate_______ 8. It is normal for New York to have a lot of snow each year.

___climate_______ 9. Florida is a popular vacation spot because of consistent sunny days and warm temperatures.

___weather_______ 10. Our state is on tornado watch today.

STUDENTS MAY THINK…	INSTEAD OF THINKING…
The seasons cause the weather to change.                    the weather changes every day. the weather changes based on the atmosphere conditions I believe. the seasons are affected by the rotation of the earth around the sun and its rotation in its axis. where the earth is in location near the sun is what determines the season.
Clouds form because cold air doesn’t hold as much water as warm air.	clouds form through  air condensing on pieces of dust flying through the air.  although it is true that cool air does not hold as much water vapor as warm air.
Clouds are made of water vapor. clouds are made of water vapor and dust
Clouds always predict rain. You can see the cloud formations getting larger when precipitation is going to happen. however it is not always rain. sometimes its rain sometimes it is snow and sometimes it is something in between.
Raindrops look like tear drops. rain drops actually have a sort of dome-like shape comparable to the top half of a hamburger bun.
Rain falls when clouds become too heavy. rain happens due to a collision of air temperatures. the condensation of water droplets does eventually get big enough to precipitate down.
Rain falls because we need it. Rain falls because it is part of the water cycle.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice. It can strike in the same place twice it is simply unlikely. striking in a certain place does not mean that it wont ever return there again.
Thunder occurs when two clouds collide. thunder is caused by lightning traveling through clouds
Air and oxygen are the same things. oxygen is just a portion of what makes up air 21% to be precise.
Humidity is moisture in the air. humidity is: a quantity representing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere or a gas.
Humid air is heavy or denser than dry air. not true because humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air.  water vapor is lighter than air.
Hot air weighs less than cold air. the air weighs the same, but the colder the air the closer the molecules are to each other so they appear heavier but they are not.
The atmosphere is made up solely of air. nitrogen makes up 78%, oxygen 21%, 1% mostly argon. also the  earth's atmosphere contains traces of dust particles, pollen, plant grains and other solid particles.
Clouds block the wind and slow it down.?? false the clouds move with the wind??
Cold temperatures produce fast winds.  The faster the wind speed, the more readily the surface cools. The effect of wind chill is to increase the rate of heat loss and reduce any warmer objects to the ambient temperature more quickly.
Snow and ice make it cold. snow and ice happen when it is already cold.
Cold days are caused by the clouds covering the sun. the amount of heat that reaches the earth is affected by the cloud cover.  at night time its the opposite, the clouds trap the warmth on the earth.
STUDENTS MAY THINK…
Global Climate Change and the greenhouse effect are the same thing.	Greenhouse gases occur naturally in the Earth's atmosphere, but are also being added by human activities. This happens primarily through the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, which releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
The greenhouse effect is bad and will eventually cause all living things to die.	The greenhouse effect, although it sounds scary, is perfectly natural and normal. It is simply the name given to the process whereby certain naturally occurring gases in the Earth’s atmosphere retain some of the thermal radiation that reaches Earth from the sun.
Ozone is bad (or that it is good). the ozone layer is a deep layer in the stratosphere, encircling the Earth, that has large amounts of ozone in it. The layer shields the entire Earth from much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun.
The ozone hole is a hole in the sky. --see above--

pizza like the earth?

A piece of pizza can be used in order to model the layers of the earth! At first you may think no way- but just like the earth, a pizza slice has many layers. Each layer pf the pizza represents a part of the earth

with my particular slice of pizza- cheese- it is difficult to make the comparison because there are not enough layers to the pizza to represent each layer of the earth so I am going to be figurative and imagine a extra cheese with peppers, pepperoni, chicken and garlic salt.- my favorite :)

the inner core = pizza crust
outer core= first layer of pizza sauce
the lower mantle = the first layer of cheese
upper mantle= extra cheese of a different type
the asthenosphere= the pepperoni
lithosphere=the peppers
continental crust= chicken
oceanic crust= Parmesan/ garlic salt





any way you look at the layers its a delicious model!! all the pieces go together in order to create one big beautiful thing! pizza or the earth!

peanut butter boundary lines

we created an example of what different plate tectonics may look like. we used graham crackers and peanut butter in order to show plate action.

Plate actions—can come together, go apart, or slide past each other

Boundaries—convergent, divergent, transform fault

Where the mountains are tell us what direction the continent is moving ie: rocky mountains on west mean we are moving west, south American Andes on east means they are moving east, Himalayan in India show movement as well

              Continental interaction

Graham cracker activity: showing how the mountains show movement through pushing them down into peanut butter.

1)      Transform fault

a.      

2)      Divergent boundary

a.       Frosting doll-up and put in center of wax paper—put the two pieces of cracker back together and slide down then pushed out

b.     

 

3)      Convergent

a.       Like the rug bunching up when shoved against the wall. 

image found at http://interactivesciencenotebook.weebly.com/convergent-boundary.html

with this lab we were able to physically form the ranges. 

peanut butter boundary lines

we created an example of what different plate tectonics may look like. we used graham crackers and peanut butter in order to show plate action.

Plate actions—can come together, go apart, or slide past each other

Boundaries—convergent, divergent, transform fault

Where the mountains are tell us what direction the continent is moving ie: rocky mountains on west mean we are moving west, south American Andes on east means they are moving east, Himalayan in India show movement as well

              Continental interaction

Graham cracker activity: showing how the mountains show movement through pushing them down into peanut butter.

1)      Transform fault

a.      

2)      Divergent boundary

a.       Frosting doll-up and put in center of wax paper—put the two pieces of cracker back together and slide down then pushed out

b.     

 

3)      Convergent

a.       Like the rug bunching up when shoved against the wall. 

image found at http://interactivesciencenotebook.weebly.com/convergent-boundary.html

with this lab we were able to physically form the ranges. 

if I had $100 water edition

If I had $100  to distribute to the water in the world I have to figure out where to put the money to represent accordingly. I think that I would put about $80 to all the oceans in the world. I would put $5 into the smaller salt-water bodies. for glaciers and icecaps I would give $10. For lakes/rivers/ and streams I would give $2.50. for groundwater I would give $2. for atmosphere I would give 50 cents.

Real answers: I way overestimated the amount of freshwater we have available on earth. Only 3% of earths water is fresh. 97% is ocean water. for the 3% the break apart is 69% glacier, 30% groundwater, and less than 1% in lakes rivers and streams.

$96.50 oceans
$1.74 icecaps
$1.69 groundwater
$0.022 permafrost
$0.007 fresh water lakes
$0.006 salt water lakes and seas
$0.001 soil moisture
$0.001 atmosphere

Project wet

what is it: an educational mission that is focused on the importance of water awareness. They publish materials on water that is appropriate for a variety of age groups. the project is a collection of activities for hands on learning. It is a collection of resources for teachers to use.

Water Education for Teachers

Intro to rocks day : models represent something real

We have been give a rice Krispie treat, a piece of peanut brittle and a butterfinger to look at. Each one of these candies can be a model when looking at the rock cycle.

identifying a rock. the first step is to put it into one of the three major rock groups, igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic. Each group of rock has its own information chart to look at in more detail. You look at the rock and compare it to an information chart in order to identify characteristics of the rock. Something that would help with identification is if you add pictures in order to have a comparison to visually look at.

So the butterfinger represents a igneous rock because it has different textures inside of it. it also varies in color depending on what part of the candy you are looking at.

the peanut brittle represents a sedimentary rock. I say this because it has bits of pieces formed together to make one larger piece. The peanuts show the different bits.

the rice krispie shows a metamorphic rock. It is sort of layered and it was formed through heat, and pressure then cooling together.

Rock field trip

Marquette is filled with all sorts of beautiful rocks. I have always loved driving through town and seeing the beautiful rock formations. This week we went on a field trip to go an explore these rocks, and we talked about the history behind them. We went to three locations: Near the welcome center, tourist park, and finally presque isle.

At the rock wall across from the welcome center we climbed up to see a rock formation that proves there was ocean life as it is covered in fossils of cynael bacteria algae. We can do relative dating based on this evidence to tell how old the rock is approximately.
In the rocks were evidence of inclusion from the different colored rocks that were blended together

the second location we stopped was at tourist parks. at this location we saw evidence of glacier activity. there were different levels of rocks, and gouges through the rocks to prove the glacier activity. There were different color rocks showing at least two levels of rocks visible showing a different age to those rocks based on the law of superposition . The explanation I liked the most from this stop was the rocks acting a bit like a lava lamp- rocks moving up and solidifying after they cool down. We cant tell the exact age from these rocks because they are not igneous rocks, but again we can do approximate dating.

the third spot we stopped at was presque isle and we saw the sandstone on the beach one of the oldest rocks around here. unfortunately we didn't get to see the blackrocks this time around but they are also a great example of ages of rocks, based on how they ended up in their location. When looking at this location it was easy to spot when there was a different type of rock present because the sandstone was everywhere. However, there were still some samples of younger rocks such as the green stone, as well as some layering seen in the cliff-face.

creating our own fossils

working with fossils is something every kid likes to do. A fossil is a piece of physical evidence of history preserved through time. In class someday my students may want the chance to do some exploring on our own, so today we talked about a fun, cheap way for our students to do this.

In a group we decided on different ratios of sand, plaster and water to mix in order to create our own fossils. I made a fossil with sand, plaster, shells, and food coloring. I used a ratio of 40% sand and 60% plaster. I put in 45 ml of sand, and 65 ml of plaster mixed it with 70 ml of water then colored it blue for fun with food coloring.
Every kid wants the chance to dig around in the dirt and discover something awesome. I really hope that this mixture works when we compare them to other possible plaster mixtures in a few days when they have dried.


the breaking down of our fossils
what is the best fossil recipe?

when breaking apart my fossil, I found that when creating my fossils I need to make sure that my fossils sinks down a bit more from the top. It was still down enough that I had to dig it out. I think my recipe worked out really well. it was not to loose, but also not to hard to chip away at.
I started by peeling off the cup, then I took a Flathead screwdriver and started digging. It came off both in large chunks, and as a little bit of powder. I liked having the color in my mix to add just a little bit more excitement to it. I was surprised how it ended up looking when all dry, although you could easily spot the tip of the shell on the top
In my group the one who had the most sand in her mixture fell apart to quickly for it to be fun. the recipe does make a difference

The value of the stars

If you had $100 and you had to spread it out among the sun and the planets and everything else in the solar system how much would be dedicated throughout?

If I had $100 to distribute throughout the solar system it is hard to say what I would distribute where. if it is a question of how valuable each thing is to me, then the sun would receive at least $45 because it is the center and it provides warmth and light to earth. Earth I would give $35, being a human being who relies on the planet to survive. the remaining $20 would be distributed evenly between the other planets and the stars visible within our system.

If it is a question of the overall value in the solar system or the size I am unsure how much I would give to each item.

Based on the size of the solar system I would put the sun at $70 the the rest divided approximately equal



EDIT!!! the true answer is that the sun is 99.85% of the solar system I was way off

Astronomers

Henriatta Swan Levitt: who is she?

Modern Astronomer-Dates: 1868-1921

What was a big contribution she made?

-in 1912 she published her work on the fact that stars vary in their luminosity intrinsically. 

-period-luminosity relationship became important for measuring stars distance

-major contribution to the cepheid variable period-luminosity relationship

-she created the Harvard Standard- a method of measurement photographically 

-her research led to others discovering that there are other galaxies outside of our own ( Edwin Hubble)

Fun Facts

-attended Oberlin College and Radcliffe College

-she was deaf

-worked at Harvard

-she discovered over 2,400 stars

Sources: http://www.sheisanastronomer.org/index.php/history/henrietta-leavitt

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baleav.html

A private Universe

**I am unclear what the assignment is here, and I will adjust accordingly upon clarification**

What are the reasons for the seasons?

The earth is stationed on an axis. that means that it is tilted on its side. As the earth makes it journey around the sun each year where the earth is situated determines how much sunlight reaches the earths surface. How much light it gets determines what season it is. That explains temperature change as well as the length of daylight from season to season. When the earth is tilted towards the sun it is summer, when it is winter the earth is tilted away. The hemispheres make a difference as well. generally those areas located closer to the equator do not get as much of a dramatic change because the equator stays in relatively the same distance from the sun no matter the axis tilt.

How are phases of the moon created?

The phase of the moon is affected by the moons position around the earth. the light on the moon is a reflection from the sun. That's why at different times more of the moon is visible than other times. It takes about a month for the moon to orbit around the earth.

Patterns

Sometimes its nice to give our minds a challenge. We can start to recognize patterns. Seeing patterns can sometimes lead to new discoveries as it has historically. Sometimes looking for patterns is just a fun challenge, or an enlightening experience to someone else's emotional reaction to events. In class we had a pattern of numbers to look at and it took me a long time trying to figure out what I was missing. the numbers went in succession. each row explained the row prior to it. 1- one one.next there are 2 ones so its 2 1 next 1 two and two 1's etc.  in conclusion this pattern would continue on explaining the amount of numbers on the previous row. 111211211111221312211 

Tuesday, August 30, 2016 First day of Earth Science: blog quiz corrections/ thought out answers

We see because light brightens things. true: however the process of sight is far more complicated than that.  false what we are actually seeing is the reflection of the light.  The Moon goes around the earth in a single day. false it takes almost a month for the moon to get around the earth. 28 days to be exact The amount of daylight increases each day of summer. the amount time we have daylight does increase until we hit the summer solstice in which the days start to get shorter again.  half of the earth is always lit up People cannot see planets with the naked eye. this is false: for example we can see Mars from earth, and other planets we need assistance  People can see the Great Wall of China with the naked eye from space. I have heard that this is a true fact. I think this would be a very exciting event if you were out there to look down at our home.  false according to the astronauts you cannot Astrology (the position of the planets and constellations) gives us insight to people mannerisms. this is false, but sometimes due to a psychological thought that these positions effect your personality it may give an insight into peoples mannerisms because of a self-fulfilling prophecy The Sun will never burn out. this is false, the sun is a star and eventually all stars die, however it may be a very long time in the future.  The Universe is a static. I  do not know what this means static means it does not move- so this is false  because the universe does move If a crystal can scratch glass it is a definitely a diamond. this is false. there are multiple rocks and minerals out there that you can test what type of mineral they are by whether or not they can scratch glass. it means its harder than glass Diamonds are expensive because the extreme rarity of them. diamonds are not extremely rare, in fact they are rather popular, however retailers have placed a high value on them.  Soil must have always been in its present form. soil has changed over time, you can see this based on the levels that are present from varying time periods on earth.

Earth’s gravitational attraction is drastically reduced on mountain tops.  false. this depends on he level the mountain tops are at.  Continents are constant and do not move. the land may shift depending on tectonic plates, but overall they stay within the same region. The Earth is between 6-20 thousand years old. this is a highly debated topic, and I am unsure the exact date of planet earth the earth is about 5,000 years old Dinosaurs and cavemen lived at the same time. false Rain comes from clouds sweating. I would not call it "sweating" but yes, the clouds collect a certain amount of moisture in the atmosphere until they get to heavy relative humidity Frontal rain is caused by "cooling by contact" between fronts. I do not know weather patterns. air masses do not mix, they run into one another- one would go up- the other would go down.  All rivers flow "down" from north to south false rivers flow from high elevation to low elevation Ground water typically occurs from basin, lakes, and fast-flowing streams. true. no groundwater is sort of a sponge like action- not just a pit of water.  Salt added to water does not change the weight of the water. no the H2O does not change,  but it would change how much it weighs on a scale.

First day of Earth Science: blog quiz

We see because light brightens things. true: however the process of sight is far more complicated than that.  The Moon goes around the earth in a single day. false it takes almost a month for the moon to get around the earth.  The amount of daylight increases each day of summer. the amount time we have daylight does increase until we hit the summer solstice in which the days start to get shorter again.  People cannot see planets with the naked eye. this is false: for example we can see Mars from earth, and other planets we need assistance  People can see the Great Wall of China with the naked eye from space. I have heard that this is a true fact. I think this would be a very exciting event if you were out there to look down at our home.  Astrology (the position of the planets and constellations) gives us insight to people mannerisms. this is false, but sometimes due to a psychological thought that these positions effect your personality it may give an insight into peoples mannerisms because of a self-fulfilling prophecy The Sun will never burn out. this is false, the sun is a star and eventually all stars die, however it may be a very long time in the future.  The Universe is a static. I  do not know what this means If a crystal can scratch glass it is a definitely a diamond. this is false. there are multiple rocks and minerals out there that you can test what type of mineral they are by whether or not they can scratch glass.  Diamonds are expensive because the extreme rarity of them. diamonds are not extremely rare, in fact they are rather popular, however retailers have placed a high value on them.  Soil must have always been in its present form. soil has changed over time, you can see this based on the levels that are present from varying time periods on earth.

Earth’s gravitational attraction is drastically reduced on mountain tops.  false. this depends on he level the mountain tops are at.  Continents are constant and do not move. the land may shift depending on tectonic plates, but overall they stay within the same region. The Earth is between 6-20 thousand years old. this is a highly debated topic, and I am unsure the exact date of planet earth Dinosaurs and cavemen lived at the same time. false Rain comes from clouds sweating. I would not call it "sweating" but yes, the clouds collect a certain amount of moisture in the atmosphere until they get to heavy Frontal rain is caused by "cooling by contact" between fronts. I do not know weather patterns.  All rivers flow "down" from north to south false Ground water typically occurs from basin, lakes, and fast-flowing streams. true Salt added to water does not change the weight of the water. no the H2O does not change,  but it would change how much it weighs on a scale.