Weather

Weather and Climate Change 

Extreme weather

Measuring weather.

Wind

Beaufort Wind Scale

Beaufort Force	Wind Speed (KPH)	Spins	Indicators	Terms Used in NWS Forecasts
0	0-2	0	Calm; smoke rises vertically.	Calm
1	2-5	10	Shown by direction of wind smoke drift, but not by wind vanes.	Light
2	6-12	40	Wind felt on face, leaves rustle; ordinary vanes moved by wind.	Light
3	13-20	80	Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; wind extends light flag.	Gentle
4	21-29	130	Raises dust and loose paper; small branches are moved.	Moderate
5	30-39	190	Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters.	Fresh
6	40-50	250	Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telephone wires; umbrellas used with difficulty.	Strong
7	51-61	320	Whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt walking against the wind.	Strong
8	62-74	390	Breaks twigs off trees; generally impedes progress.	Gale
9	75-87	470	Slight structural damage.	Gale
10	88-101	550	Seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage occurs.	Whole gale
11	102-116	640	Very rarely experienced inland; accompanied by widespread damage.	Whole gale
12	117 or more	730+	Very rarely experienced; accompanied by widespread damage.	Hurricane

Wind speed - Making an anemometer.

MATERIALS       

1. 4 straws

2. 4 Styrofoam cups

3. A pin

4. A pencil

5. Tape

STEPS

1. Tape 2 straws together then do that again.

2. The pin the straws into the pin.

3. Next put the pin into the rubber of the pencil.

4. After put to hole on each side of the Styrofoam cups.

5. Then put the straws into the holes of the cups.

6. The blow the cups and see it spin.

Once you have made an anemometer we are going to record the wind speed.

Group size: 3

You will need:

Anemometer (above) 

Roles:

• Timekeeper Chloe
• Counter Chloe
• Recorder Makaea
• Anemometer Manager Shontae
• Wind generator Shontae

1. Mount the anemometer in a place that has full access to the wind from all directions.
2. When the time keeper says "Go", the counter in each group will count how many times the marked cup passes them in one minute and write it down.
3. If possible, repeat the above step four (4) times and record the average number of spins on the chart.

FINDINGS

• Record how many times it spins using the table below.

You will need to create the wind yourself by blowing. Get 4 different wind speeds by blowing.

You will need to time them and count the number of spins.

	Time Interval	Number of Spins
1.	10	6
2.	10	8
3.	10	5
4.	10	3

• Can you make a statement connecting the number of spins of your anemometer and the speed of the wind? 

CONCLUSION:

My conclusion is that our anemometer was not as good as real anemometers. Also that the wind today was very calm and not ruff. Our anemometer did not work very well.

Poem

In drama this week we had to write a poem. We took inspiration from Rosa Parks.

Slide show

Group: Makaea, Kyla, Shontae, Talia

You are who you are

Who else would you want to be

Sometimes others are just mean.

Don’t be who someone else wants you to.

The could be nice but they choose not to.

Know your family is caring and loving of you.

Sometimes you say these words make you feel like drowning.

You are so understanding and I’m not lying.

Now no need for crying, be who you a person with a heart of a lion.

Class Poem Video

Recycling

Aim: To learn practical ways of recycling so that we can make our world a better place.

The Zero Waste Climate Solution movie

How can we prevent climate change though recycling these products?

Plastics: Re-using your plastic means less are thrown away.
Cycling or walking: Not using your car that burns Carbon Dioxide.
Paper: Re-using paper means that less trees get cut down.
Steel: Re-using steel mean that less is burnt and coals are used.

Video questions:

What is Zero Waste?
One of the quickest and cheapest ways a community can immediately reduce climate impact.

What can we do on the planet?

1.   Reduce
2.   Reuse
3.   Redesign
4.   Repair

What do we need to recycle?

paper, plastic, newspaper, cups, cans and tools.

What does recycling do?

Recycling uses less resources.

How much of our rubbish is food scraps?

%42

What does soil do to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

Pull it down, so that it doesn't go into the air.

What do we need to do?

1. Make P_________s. 
2. Have Zero _waste_

What is a carbon footprint?

How many resources we use that release Carbon dioxide.

How can you make your Carbon Footprint smaller?

Use less resources that release Carbon Dioxide.

Goals

Turn off the light when leaving a room.

Un-plug things that aren't on. 

Use less plastic.

AT WHAT RATES DO DIFFERENT ITEMS DECOMPOSE?

MY INVESTIGATION.

Choose 5 items from the list and investigate them.

You need to answer three questions.

Name: Paper

1. How long do they take to decompose? - 2-4 weeks
2. What resource / fossil fuel are they made from? - Trees
3. How is this resource recycled? - after ink is gone from the paper it is then put into different products.
4. How does this object contribute to climate change? - Recycling paper reduces the greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

Name: Leaves

1. How long do they take to decompose? - 1-3 months
2. What resource / fossil fuel are they made from? - plants
3. How is this resource recycled? - by being left alone.
4. How does this object contribute to climate change? - depends on the temperature.

Name: Orange Peels

1. How long do they take to decompose? - 3-6 months
2. What resource / fossil fuel are they made from? - Oranges
3. How is this resource recycled? - Use for ingredients in a dish. 
4. How does this object contribute to climate change? - When trances porting the fruit the truck use is letting out Carbon dioxide.

Name: Plastic Bags

1. How long do they take to decompose? 10 - 20 years
2. What resource / fossil fuel are they made from? - Oil, coal and polyethylene.
3. How is this resource recycled? - Burnt down and used to make new plastic bags.
4. How does this object contribute to climate change? - The resource like coal are used to make plastic bags release carbon dioxide.

Name: Aluminium Can

1. How long do they take to decompose? - 200 - 400 years
2. What resource / fossil fuel are they made from? Aluminium, electricity and coal.
3. How is this resource recycled? Made into new aluminium products.
4. How does this object contribute to climate change?  The trucks used to transport these aluminium cans release carbon dioxide.

Climate Change

TODAY YOU WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS THAT CLIMATE CHANGE HAS ON THE WATER CYCLE.

1.Using your SOLO hexagons poster write a paragraph about the different aspects of climate change.

2.Write about the following Climate Change concepts:

You can do these bullet powerpoint, embedding a movie , on your blog, on a doc or any other form of presentation. It is up to you.

ACIDIFICATION: HOW DOES CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACIDIFICATION OF OUR OCEANS? 

The heat and fossil fuels contribute to the acidification of the water.

The fossil fuels that rise into the sky get absorbed by the clouds.

Then when it rains the acid in the clouds go into the water. Which then creates the acid water.

Then there is heat, heat is caused by carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide then heats up the earth and the acid goes into the clouds.

Which then goes into the water. The ocean absorbs %30 of carbon dioxide. 

 

Picture:

Diagram of how it affects the water cycle.

DEFORESTATION: HOW DOES DEFORESTATION AFFECT CLIMATE CHANGE?

Deforestation affects climate change a lot, as trees are a big part of the water cycle. Humans breathe in Oxygen and breathe out Carbon dioxide, trees do the opposite.

Trees absorb Carbon Dioxide and let out Oxygen.

When trees are cut Carbon Dioxide can’t be absorbed which results in Carbon Dioxide floating around the earth. With the Carbon dioxide floating around the earth heating up.

Picture:

Diagram of how it affects the water cycle.

ICE CAP MELT: HOW DOES ICE CAP MELT AFFECT CLIMATE CHANGE?

Ice caps help regulate the sea level and global temperatures.
But ice caps also increase the water levels and decreases the salt content in the ocean.
Ice caps are made of fresh water so adding more fresh water to the ocean without adding salt will make the ocean uneasy.

Picture:

Diagram of how it affects the water cycle:

WATER VAPOUR: HOW DOES CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTE TO WATER VAPOUR AND EVAPORATION?

Water vapour absorbs greenhouse gas.
As the water vapour absorbs the greenhouse gas it stays in the air.
It does absorb longwave radiation and radiates it back to the surface making the earth hotter. 

Picture:

Diagram of how it affects the water cycle.

Solo taxonomy

Solo taxonomy

1. Prestructural
-no organisation.
-unconnected ideas.

2. Unistructural
-one idea..
-shows connected thoughts.

3. Multistructural
-2 or 3 ideas.
-some connectedness.

4. Relational
-make links to other concepts.

5. Abstract
-Bringing your ideas into other concepts.

Water Cycle 2

Draw a labelled diagram of the Water Cycle

Water cycle words:

1. Precipitation
2. Hurricanes
3. Storms
4. Evaporation
5. Carbon Dioxide
6. Water
7. Oceans
8. Water vapour
9. Freshwater
10. Flooding

SOLO Hexagons Activity

Water cycle words: Definition

1. Precipitation :When clouds get heavy the water falls as rain, sleet, hail, or snow.
2. Hurricanes : a storm with a violent wind, in particular a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean.
3. Storms : a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.
4. Evaporation : the process of turning from liquid into vapour.
5. Carbon Dioxide : a colourless, odourless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 per cent) and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis.
6. Water : a colourless, transparent, odourless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms.
7. Oceans : a very large expanse of sea, in particular each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically.
8. Water vapour : Water vapor is water in its gaseous state-instead of liquid or solid (ice). Water vapor is totally invisible.
9. Freshwater :of or found in freshwater; not of the sea.
10. Flooding : the covering or submerging of normally dry land with a large amount of water.

It starts with Oceans and Freshwater. Then on the right there is Evaporation which is connected to the ocean and freshwater because the water evaporates. Then connected to evaporation is water vapour and condensation. They are connected because evaporation cause condensation and water vapour. Then Precipitation is connected to condensation. 

On the other side of ocean and freshwater is flooding caused by oceans and freshwater. Floods then make storms and Hurricanes because of the water levels. Which are all caused by carbon dioxide.

Water Cycle

AIM: TO LOOK AT THE WATER CYCLE AND HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS AFFECTING IT.

Definition:

The water cycle is a process that when water is being evaporated by the sun. It then gets into the clouds and then when the cloud gets to heavy the water insides fall down. This is a never ending cycle.

Scientific words:

• Evaporation. When water is heated by radiant energy it turns into water vapor.
• Transpiration. Evaporation from plants.
• Condensation. When water vapor cools, molecules join together and form clouds.
• Precipitation. When clouds get heavy the waters falls as rain, sleet, hail, or snow.
• Acidification: the action or process of making or becoming acidic.

We will be conducting an experiment that looks at the different ways that climate change is affecting the water cycle.

THE WATER CYCLE EXPERIMENT

Bag 1: Normal Water cycle

Bag 2: Water cycle with CO2 added: like Oceans in climate change

Bag 3: Water cycle with ice added: like Antarctica in climate change

Bag 1: Normal Water cycle

Material:

1.  Plastic bag
2.  Vivid Marker
3.  1 cup of water
4.   2 drops of food colouring

Steps:

1.  On your plastic bag draw out the layout.
2. After that write write that represent the process of water.
3.  Then pour 1 cup of water.
4. After the water is poured put in 2 drops of blue food colouring.
5. Then display them in a place that the sun will shine on.

Bag 2: Water cycle with CO2 added: like Oceans in climate change

Material:

1.  Litmus paper
2. 1 cup Soda Water
3. Plastic Bag
4. Vivid marker
5. 2 drops of food colouring

Steps:

1.  Fold a little bit of litmus paper and fold it inside the plastic bag.
2. On your plastic bag draw out the layout.
3. After that write write that represent the process of water.
4.  Then pour 1 cup of soda water.
5. After the soda water is poured put in 2 drops of blue food colouring.
6. Then display them in a place that 

Two Images:

Bag 1:

Findings:

	The Water Cycle: Bag 1	CO2 Water Cycle: Bag 2 Acid	Desert Water Cycle Bag 3
Does it cycle?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Amount of Water	2	2	2
Acidity	1	2	1

Other Comments:

Bag 1

1. Bag 1 had cycled normally.
2. The water in bag 1 formed in small drops
3.Water cycle in Bag 1 had no acidity.
Bag 2
1. Bag 2 had a normal water cycle.
2. The water formed small drops like bag 1.
3. Bag 2 had more acidity than bag 1.
Bag 3
1. Cycled normally.
2. Had the same small drops of the other bags.
3. Had less acidity that bag 2 and the same as bag 1.

Conclusion:
Bag 1,2 and 3 all had the same amount of small drops formed. All of them also cycle normally. Bag 1 and 3 had less acidity that bag 2.