Investigating Weather Systems Lesson 1, Day 1-5

Vocabulary Instruments- tools used to measure elements of weather Weather pattern- the manner in which various types of weather are spread or distributed across the planet.

NASA would like to use Wake County, NC as possible landing site for a new space vehicle. This vehicle will be used to deliver solar panels to the International Space station. However, NASA is not sure if the weather is suitable for the space vehicle to land safely. The scientists need your help. They need a record of the weather patterns in Wake County for several weeks. In fact, they have even sent you some instruments to help with your task. How do you thing that you can use these instruments to help the NASA scientists? What data do you need in order to find a weather pattern?

Think about this! What do the scientists want us to do? What did they provide us with to help? In your notebooks write down a focus question for this scenario. Suggested focus question: What are the weather patterns for Wake County, NC?

How can we find weather patterns for Wake County, NC? Type in possible answers

We have talked about collecting data, but we need tools to use to collect the data. Remember that the NASA scientists provided us with some instruments to use for the collection of data. Let’s examine the instruments and see what they can be used for.

Tools used to collect Data Thermometer- measure temperature Anemometer- indicates wind speed Wind vane- indicated wind direction

Tools used to collect Data Rain gauge- measures the amount of precipitation that falls during a time period Barometer- used to measure air pressure Air pressure- measure of air pressing down on a given area of Earth’s surface

Vocabulary Precipitation- moisture that occurs when clouds lose water Cloud cover- That portion of the sky cover which is attributed to clouds

Think about this! The space vehicle must land during daylight, at what time should we record data? What should our data collection device look like? Work with your group to come up with a data collection device. Data will be collected on chart every day

Weather Patterns We have been collecting weather data for a number of days. The NASA scientists have sent us some information which may be helpful in completing our task to find weather patterns. They have also sent us some materials that may be helpful. After reading article

Think about this! How can we display our data using the materials we have? When we make a line graph what is the scale? In your notebooks graph your data.

Websites http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/investigate/weather_maker.htm