1. Monday April 28, 2014
What is a tornado?
What are tornadoes
made of?
How are tornadoes
Classified?
-A tornado (twister or waterspout)is a rapidly spinning tube of air that touches both the ground and a cloud above.
-Tornadoes are whirlpools of wind, forming a visible funnel of dust and condensed water.
-The Fujita Scale measures the strength of tornadoes. Ranging from F0 tornadoes that cause minimal damage to F5 tornadoes which cause massive damage.

2. Monday April 28, 2014
How did the phrase
“Tornado Alley”
Come about?
-The USA averages around 1200 tornadoes every year, more than any other country.
The majority of these tornadoes occur in a geographically unique area nicknamed ‘Tornado Alley’.
US States most often hit by tornadoes include Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Florida.

3. Why these states?
-The warm, moist air from the gulf meets the cool, dry air from Canada, and you add in a dry breeze from the Rockies, and poof! Thunderstorms. These usually stretch in a moving band bowing from Texas to the great lakes. -

4. -Due to the high pressure of the warm air from the south and the easterly winds sweeping off the Rockies, plus the rotation they give the storm, these storms will usually move north/northeast. Of course, tornadoes are erratic and cannot be counted on to follow this "rule".
Is it true that
Tornadoes travel
N / NE?

5. A tornado watch means a tornado is likely
A tornado watch means a tornado is likely. A tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted.
What is the difference
between a Watch
and a Warning?

6. What are negative effects on ecosystem? Vegetation is uprooted.
Trees can be pulled out of the ground.
Organisms that live in or near these uprooted trees need to relocate.
This can cause a loss of species of organisms could also affect the interaction between plants and animals.
This loss of vegetation could also lead to soil erosion.
What are negative
effects on ecosystem?

7. The loss of plants caused by a tornado can allow new species of plants to grow in the cleared area.
Plants that survive can grow more abundantly then other species.
What are positive
effects on ecosystem?

8. Tuesday April 29, 2014
Sunrise 6:44 am Sunset 8:10 pm Determine the number of daylight hours.

9. Wednesday April 30, 2014
WOD- Topography The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area. "the topography of the island" A detailed description or representation on a map of the natural and artificial features of an area.

10. What is a hurricane? What is the “eye”?
An intense, rotating oceanic weather system. Measuring up to 600 miles across and having winds at speeds of 75 to 200 mph.
Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving miles per hour over the open ocean.
Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an "eye" in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The center of the storm or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair weather.

11. Hurricanes only form over really warm ocean water of 80°F or warmer
Hurricanes only form over really warm ocean water of 80°F or warmer. Winds flow outward above the storm allowing the air below to rise. Hurricanes typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator.
Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases their power.
How do
hurricanes
Form?

12. Storm surges are frequently the most devastating element of a hurricane. As a hurricane’s winds spiral around and around the storm, they push water into a mound at the storm’s center. This mound of water becomes dangerous when the storm reaches land because it causes flooding along the coast.
What is a storm
surge?

13. The Atlantic hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30, but most hurricanes occur during the fall months. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30.
When does
hurricane
season start?

14. From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean were identified by the alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc.), but in 1953 the US Weather Bureau switched to women's names. The rest of the world eventually caught on, and naming rights now go by the World Meteorological Organization, which uses different sets of names depending on the part of the world the storm is in. Around the U.S., only women's names were used until 1979, when it was decided that they should alternate a list that included men's names too. There's 6 different name lists that alternate each year. If a hurricane does significant damage, its name is retired and replaced with another. Atlantic Hurricane Names Eastern Pacific Hurricane Names
Who names hurricanes?

15. In the Western Pacific Ocean, they are called typhoons.
Nothing except geography. Tropical storms occur in several of the world's oceans, and except for their names, they are essentially the same type of storm. In the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, they are called hurricanes.
In the Western Pacific Ocean, they are called typhoons.
In the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and Australia, these types of storms are called cyclones.
What is the difference
between
hurricane and a typhoon?

17. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
How are
Hurricanes
rated/ or classified?
Category
Wind Speed
Storm Surge
Damage 1
74-95
4’-5’
Minimal 2
96-110
6’-8’
Moderate 3
9’-12’
Extensive 4
13’-18’
Extreme 5
>155
>18’
Catastrophic

18. What are the effects on the Ecosystem? Aquatic Ecosystems
Sediment erosion and deposits in oyster beds and coral reefs.
Saltwater intrusion in freshwater lakes and streams causes massive fish kills and affects habitat.
The hurricane floodwater often carries many toxic substances (heavy metals, pesticides, ammonia, phosphate, untreated sewage)
Hurricanes have minimal effect on oceanic ecosystems since the contaminants tend to be flushed out by tidal flows.

19. Terrestrial Ecosystems
What are the
effects on the
Ecosystem?
(cont.)
Terrestrial Ecosystems
The storm surge causes sediment erosion.
Forests are devastated by wind. These trees often become fuel for wildfires.
Saltwater intrusion from storm surge also changes the wetland ecosystems.
Sea grass beds, critical to feeding and nesting, are often destroyed.

20. Friday May 2, 2014
WOD- Lichen
a composite organism consisting of a fungus and a photosynthetic partner growing together in a symbiotic relationship.
Lichens occur in some of the most extreme environments on Earth—artic tundra, deserts, rocky coasts, and toxic slag heaps. However, they are also abundant as epiphytes on leaves and branches in rain forests and woodland, on bare rock, including walls and gravestones. The roofs of many buildings have lichens growing on them.
Lichens are widespread and may be long-lived; however, many are also vulnerable to environmental disturbance, and may be useful to scientists in assessing the effects of air pollution.
Lichens have also been used in making dyes and perfumes, as well as in traditional medicines. It has been estimated that 6% of Earth's land surface is covered by lichen.

21. P-AP Homework Record data for 30 earthquakes. Graph earthquakes
P-AP Homework Record data for 30 earthquakes. Graph earthquakes. If you graph all 30, you can glue/staple the printed list. Due Monday May 12!