Weather front model activity ucar center for science. Plan your 60minute lesson in science or weather forecasting with helpful tips from leigh roehm. Weather showing fronts with sandwich bags activity. This item is now part of the weather pack see below. Type of front how it forms weather it brings cold front forms when a cold air mass pushes under a warm air mass, forcing the warm air to rise. Tell students that they are going to observe a demonstration that shows what happens when two air masses collide. Water, which behaves very similarly to air, is used in this demonstration. Remind students that a front is the boundary between two air masses. Instead, they form a front, usually hundreds of miles long. Shaded bands on the map indicate areas that have about the same temperature.
Students discuss the characteristics of storms, including the relationship of weather fronts and storms. This activity is to help students become familiar with the relationships between air pressure, temperatures, and weather fronts, and to enable students to make predictions on the effects of fronts on the precipitation and temperatures of a location. Jan 17, 2020 weather fronts are a part of our everyday weather, and you can easily understand what they are with this visual demo. A thunderstorm is a weather disturbance that contains lightning and thunder. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about fronts. To identify a front on a weather map, you will look for. Name date types of weather fronts student resource. Weather forecasting helps us to make more informed daily decisions, and may even help keep us out of danger. Great center, individual or teacher directed lesson for students to learn about. There is a possibility that a warm front could also be placed between seattle and the oregon coast based upon the difference in weather between these two locations. Often these huge air masses cover ten thousand or more square miles. In the first part of the activity, each group of students places two different colors of hot and cold water into a divided tank. Weather is the state of the atmosphere at any given time and place with respect. Weather maps and air pressure lesson plan kesler science.
Stationary fronts may bring many days of clouds and precipitation. Some might know these are cold fronts and warm fronts. Have them share the kinds of things that weather maps and forecasts show and tell viewers. Students learn that convection is the transfer of heat in a fluid such as air and water, by its movement or flow. Weather fronts are a part of our everyday weather, and you can easily understand what they are with this visual demo. A cold front is a fast moving air mass that pushes the warmer air out of the way. The humidity and temperature decreases and a higher pressure system builds. Drawing conclusions location of fronts the location of the fronts should be similar. Human activity can also impact the weather, through agriculture, industry and even everyday use of cars and electricity. This exercise will allow the students determine the location of cold fronts and warm fronts on a map plotted with temperature observations. Air masses and fronts worksheet earth and environmental. Violent storms and heavy rain, followed by cold and fair weather stationary front forms when.
Analyze and interpret data to compare and contrast the composition of earths atmospheric layers including the ozone layer and greenhouse gases. It usually comes with rain, but can also bring violent weather such as thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes. Cold front warm front high pressure low pressure clouds rain thunderstorms hurricane weather map meteorologist. Name date fronts on a weather map, page 1 activity sheet.
Weather maps help create accurate weather predictions so that we can plan our daytoday activities. Obtain, evaluate and communicate information about how the sun, land, and water affect climate and weather. Weather fronts show the beginnings of different air masses high and dry, high and wet, low and dry and low and wet air masses. What weather would you expect a city to have if it is a. These have many isobars lines that separate areas of high pressure anticyclones and low pressure cyclones. Fronts are contact zones between two different air masses, and you can think of the air masses as the advancing armies, just with different. Areas of precipitation and cloud cover are indicated as well. Weather showing fronts with sandwich bags activity students will use sandwich bags, ping pong balls and colored paper to create air masses. Cold warm stationary occluded page 1 is information and diagrams with what type questions. Mar 10, 2014 introduction forecasting the weather can be a tricky problem.
Activity 7 weather maps and fronts level 1 objective. Students will be able to identify how global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather using weather maps that show high and low pressures and fronts. Using everyday materials, they develop models of basic lightning detection systems similar to a benjamin franklin design and analyze their models to determine their effectiveness as community storm warning systems. An air mass is a large body of air with relatively uniform temperature and humidity characteristics. Through a series of steps, the student will learn to analyze weather maps using temperature as a variable. The speed at which weather changes is addressed when they study the movement of cold fronts versus warm fronts. Analyze and interpret data to compare and contrast the composition of earths atmospheric layers including the. Air pressure and fronts lunar and planetary institute. Weather fronts introduction and investigation note. The maps show the position of pressure systems and fronts in the united states every 12 hours, beginning at 12. Meteorologists gather data from many weather stations, plot the data to draw lines for air masses and pressure systems, and then analyze the map to make the forecast. It is shown for the auditory and visual learners as the next activity is reading and sorting through text. Next, i show students the video about weather fronts.
Examine the maps and think about what is occurring. Slow, steady rain, followed by hot and humid weather cold front. Lesson weather forecasting online activity betterlesson. In the box below, define the word meterologist and explain what they do with weather maps. How to simulate weather fronts with ingredients in your. Through realworld examples presented in a multimedia format that kids enjoy, these activities help students understand weather and climate, including seasons, clouds and precipitation, severe storms, oceans, tides, and. In this weather activity, students define an air mass and describe the different types of weather fronts. Weather forecasting below, match the map with the appropriate profession. In this activity, students will learn about weather fronts. That means that the maps will change with the day, and even with the hour. Through realworld examples presented in a multimedia format that kids enjoy, these activities help students understand weather and climate, including seasons, clouds and precipitation, severe storms, oceans, tides, and the earths atmosphere. Weather fronts by cindy grigg 1 air masses are very large pockets of air.
They will then arrange and move the bags to show the 4 main types of air masses. Severe storms might turn into thunderstorms, tornadoes or even hurricanes. The chart describes the four main types of fronts and the weather changes each type brings. Below is a short synopsis of the key points students should take away from each section. Weather front model activity in this activity, students will observe that a change in the temperature of air will determine its place in the atmosphere. The video is a sort of introduction to the topic, discussing what a front is and what kinds exist. Students compare and contrast high pressure and low pressure systems. No air mass stays still for more than a few days at a time. Fill in the blanks by placing the terms from the word bank in the correct alphabetical order. Divide your students into groups of three and assign a city to each group. Modern weather forecasting involves a combination of computer models, observation, and a knowledge of trends and patterns. Weather fronts act just like the front line of an army. Storms can include strong winds, thunder and lightning, and precipitation. The approach of a cold front is marked by increased wind activity in warm sector and the appearance of cirrus clouds, followed by lower, denser altocumulous and altostratus.
Students analyze weather maps as they develop their own understanding of the relationships between air pressure and clouds, factors that influence climate, weather fonts and the jet stream. Our heaviest snow and most severe ice storms occur when the winds are out of the east and northeast as moist air from the gulf is lifted and pulled around the low. Well, storms often occur along weather fronts, or the boundaries of air masses. Weather front model activity ucar center for science education. This activity simulates weather fronts and oceanography thermoclines, making it a useful tool for the study of these phenomena. Some of the worksheets displayed are name p eri od air masses and fronts air masses using wow weather patterns answer key air masses and fronts guided reading work fronts work air masses and fronts 1 science 1206 unit 2 weather dynamics air mass fourth grade weather. Ask the class whether they ever watch the weather reports on television. Explain to them that they are going to demonstrate the weather fronts in different cities today. Note activity to learn about the 4 types of weather fronts. The website is a compilation of links to articles about weather and climate as well as links to live weather maps.
This complete lesson plan is ready to print and teach. Weather maps and isobars absolutely prove a nonspinning earth. Weather fronts introduction and investigation by geo. Weather forecast weather symbols are just as important as the other symbols and signs we see in our daytoday lives. Formation, characteristics and classification of fronts. How to simulate weather fronts with ingredients in your kitchen. Weather can also alter the earth, including erosion of rocks and soil into tiny particles that can change the chemistry of the earths surface. With this weather fronts set, students create a lifttheflap manipulative and learn about cold fronts, warm fronts and what happens when these air masses meet. Air masses form over large land or water surfaces and take on the temperature and moisture characteristics of these surfaces where they remain stationary for days, or even weeks. Students will use symbol knowledge learned from previous lessons to read and understand warm and cold fronts on a weather map. This is one activity from the weather maps and air pressure station lab.
In order to collect data, the teacher should provide local weather maps as suggested in step 6 and task students with gathering evidence of how fronts, as the leading edge of air masses, result in changing weather conditions in their. Students create a model of a weather front in a visual manner, where two masses of air with different temperatures meet. The science of meteorology uses lines of equal air pressure isobars to show high and low p. Over time, mountains can be formed or torn down completely, due to weathering. Using blue water cool air and red water warm air, you will see the ways in which frontal boundaries areas where warm and cold air meet, but mix very little are formed between two different air masses. This activity will assist students in interpreting weather maps on which fronts are identified. Types of weather fronts when large masses of warm air and cold air meet, they do not mix. Ask the class if any of the students know what the red and blue linessymbols represent. Access the us fronts map at the activity website and display it to the class. The weather along such a front depends on vertical structure of the uplifted air mass, but is generally associated with a narrow band of cloudiness and precipitation. Activity 5 fronts national science education standards. Strong winds and heavy rain, thunderstorms warm front. Or, show students a typical weather map with fronts drawn on it.