Much like a cell membrane, our atmosphere forms a protective boundary between outer space and the biosphere that allows for all life to exist on Earth’s surface. Today, we’re going to talk about its composition and layers (the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere), follow the path of a sunbeam of light as it travels through space and (potentially) reaches Earth’s surface, and discuss how the greenhouse effect can be both a good and bad thing.
In this video, we're going to talk about how the Earth moves, but to do that, we're going to have to go way back to the early days of the galaxy. Processes that happened before the Earth even formed have led us to the geographic patterns and processes that create Earth's environments and support all living things. We'll talk about how the Earth rotates, the effects of it being slightly tilted, how events like sea ice melting impact how the Earth wobbles, and talk about how our elliptical orbit gives us seasons. So many of our life decisions are influenced by the motion of Earth. It guides where we decide to live, what food we eat, or even what weather we experience, which we'll talk about more next time.
In this video, students take a closer look at how the oceans circulate by following the life of a discarded water bottle as it gets snagged in the North Pacific Garbage Patch. We'll talk about what causes the movement of water, called current, both near the surface and much deeper in the oceans, and we'll show how they follow similar (but not identical) paths to the winds. Ocean circulation plays a huge role in cycling vital nutrients within the seas and helps us transport goods on ships across the globe and it's up to us to protect it.
In this passage, students learn the difference between climate and weather. Time is the basic difference between climate and weather. When one averages the weather (maximum temperature, minimum temperature, wind speed and direction, rainfall, etc.) for any place, for any day, over a fixed number of years, that determines the average weather experienced, for that day, at that location.
Note: You will need to create a free account to access this resource.
In this video, we’re going to visit Siberia and take a closer look at how temperatures there (and around the globe) impact the way cultures, communities, and landscapes form. Air temperature plays a much bigger role than just helping us decide what we’re going to wear every day, it dictates the kind of foods we can grow, how we build our cities and roads, and the kinds of industries that can even exist in a location. In a region like Siberia, where it can get cold, like REALLY COLD, the air temperature has had an incredible impact on life. Before we end this episode we’ll warm up with a visit to Phoenix, Arizona to talk about how they too have to make a lot of decisions due to the extreme heat of a city in the middle of the desert.
