Adventist Adventurer Awards and Answers/Weather (HH)

Weather (HH)
Helping Hand

Describe the following: wind, clouds, fog, rain, sunshine, and atmosphere.

Wind: Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Since the earth’s surface is made of various land and water formations, it absorbs the sun’s radiation unevenly. Two factors are necessary to specify wind: speed and direction.

Clouds: A cloud is a large collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals. The droplets are so small and light that they can float in the air.

Fog: There are many different types of fog, but fog is mostly formed when southerly winds bring warm, moist air into a region, possibly ending a cold outbreak. As the warm, moist air flows over much colder soil or snow, dense fog often forms. Warm, moist air is cooled from below as it flows over a colder surface. If the air is near saturation, moisture will condense out of the cooled air and form fog. With light winds, the fog near the ground can become thick and reduce visibilities to zero.

Rain: Water droplets form from warm air. As the warm air rises in the sky it cools. Water vapor (invisible water in the air) always exists in our air. Warm air holds quite a bit of water. For example, in the summer it is usually very humid. When enough of these droplets collect together, we see them as clouds. If the clouds are big enough and have enough water droplets, the droplets bang together and form even bigger drops. When the drops get heavy, they fall because of gravity, and you see and feel rain.

Sunshine:

Atmosphere: The atmosphere covers the Earth. It is a thin layer of mixed gases which make up the air we breathe. This thin layer also helps the Earth from becoming too hot or too cold.

Identify three instruments used to predict the weather.

Thermometer

A THERMOMETER measures the air temperature. Most thermometers are closed glass tubes containing liquids such as alcohol or mercury. When air around the tube heats the liquid, the liquid expands and moves up the tube. A scale then shows what the actual temperature is.

A BAROMETER measures air pressure. It tells you whether or not the pressure is rising or falling. A rising barometer means sunny and dry conditions, while a falling barometer means stormy and wet conditions. An Italian scientist named Torricelli built the first barometer in 1643.

A SLING PSYCHROMETER measures relative humidity, using the cooling effect of evaporation. Two thermometers are used in a sling psychrometer. Wet the cloth of one of the thermometers and swing the psychrometer around a few times. Water evaporates from the cloth, causing the temperatures on that thermometer to be lower the other.

A RAIN GAUGE measures the amount of rain that has fallen over a specific time period.

A WIND VANE is an instrument that determines the direction from which the wind is blowing.

An ANEMOMETER measures wind speed. The cups catch the wind, turning a dial attached to the instrument. The dial shows the wind speed.

Learn how the water cycle works and why it is so important to us.

The water keeps moving around in an endless cycle called the water cycle.

Water itself is the only substance that exists in liquid, gas and solid form - the keys to the water cycle. Here's how the cycle works:

Water evaporates from oceans, rivers and lakes (water in its liquid form) and rises into the atmosphere (water in its gas form) where it condenses to form clouds. Precipitation then falls to the earth in the form of rain (water in its liquid) or snow (water in its solid form) where it flows into oceans, rivers and lakes and the process begins again.

Describe how the temperature is measured.

Temperature is a degree of hotness or coldness the can be measured using a thermometer. It's also a measure of how fast the atoms and molecules of a substance are moving. Temperature is measured in degrees on the Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin scales.

Read Mark 4:38-39 and tell what Jesus did.

Mark 4:38-39 (NIV)
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm..

Jesus talked to the waters and they obeyed Him.

Make a wind pinwheel.

Pinwheel

Materials

• Paper or card stock
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Pencil with eraser
• Push pin
• Bead (optional)
• Crayons or markers (optional)

Instructions:

1. Start out by cutting two identical squares from paper or card stock. If you are keen on using templates, you can choose two from any of our pinwheel templates and print them out on Letter or A4 size paper or card stock.

2. You can leave the squares plain or color and draw some patterns or designs.

3. Cut out both paper squares.

4. Glue the undecorated sides of the squares together. Remember to apply glue not just along the edges, but on the entire back area of the squares.

5. Cut along the 4 diagonal dotted lines.

• If you're not using templates, cut the square halfway to the center.

6. Gather the four corners towards the center without creasing the paper. You may glue the ends in place or just hold them together with your hand as you do the next step.

7. Insert a push pin at the center. If you did not glue the ends of the paper in Step 6, the push pin should hold all four ends together. Wiggle the push pin around to make the hole a bit larger.

8. Push the pin onto a pencil's eraser. Don't push on too tight to allow the pinwheel to spin more freely.

• As an option, you may put a bead or small button between the paper and the eraser. This helps the pinwheel rotate better and prevents the pin's point from going through the other side of the eraser.

9. Finally, try blowing at the edges of the pinwheel to make it spin. Loosen the pin a bit if the blades do not rotate well. Enjoy!

= Extra Activity

Simulating a Rain Storm

Materials needed to create a rain storm: water, shaving cream, food colouring, a clear container and droppers

Pour water in the clear container. Add shaving cream on top. Pour blue food colouring onto the shaving cream. The moisture seep through and will create a heavy rainfall effect into the water below the shaving cream (clouds).

External Resources

All about weather for kids - Weather Wiz Kids [1]

Pinwheel Craft - First Palette [2]

Rain Storm Activity - Weather Watchers

Weather Wheel - Schoolastic Weather Wheel

Water Education Foundation [3]