ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

[ELA2021] (6) 7 :

7. Produce clear, coherent narrative, argument, and informative/explanatory writing in which the development, organization, style, and tone are relevant to task, purpose, and audience, using an appropriate command of language.

a. Write narratives incorporating key literary elements, including characters, plot, setting, point of view, resolution of a conflict, dialogue, and sensory details.

b. Write informative or explanatory texts with an organized structure and a formal style, incorporating a focused point of view, a clear purpose, credible evidence, and technical word meanings.

c. Write an argument to convince the reader to take an action or adopt a position, stating a claim and supporting the claim with relevant, well-organized evidence from credible sources.

This lesson will begin with students discussing ways that we can feel the sun’s energy even though the sun is very far away from Earth. Then, the teacher will introduce the three methods of heat transfer (radiation, conduction, and convection) utilizing an online video clip, and the students will take jot notes while viewing the video clip. Next, the students will perform an experiment to investigate radiation as a form of heat transfer by recording how the temperature of ice changes when exposed to an energy source (solar energy or heat energy from a clamp lamp). Then, students will perform an experiment to investigate convection as a form of heat transfer using blue dyed ice cubes and warmed red food coloring, to create a convection cycle within a container filled with room-temperature water. Lastly, students will apply the data gathered from the experiments to write a response to the question: “How is heat energy from the sun distributed between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere?”

This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

In this interdisciplinary lesson about atmospheric heating, students investigate the three transfers of heat: radiation, conduction and convection. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 14 :

14 ) Use a model to represent how any two systems, specifically the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and/or hydrosphere, interact and support life (e.g., influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere).

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

The atmosphere is a blanket of gases surrounding the Earth. The gases are classified according to their temperature differences. The weight of those gases pressing down on earth is what creates air pressure.

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the different layers of Earth's atmosphere, how the atmosphere supports life, and how Earth's weather occurs in the atmosphere. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 14 :

14 ) Use a model to represent how any two systems, specifically the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and/or hydrosphere, interact and support life (e.g., influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere).

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

[SC2015] ESS (9-12) 15 :

15 ) Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to verify that weather (e.g., temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, dew point, adiabatic cooling, condensation, precipitation, winds, ocean currents, barometric pressure, wind velocity) is influenced by energy transfer within and among the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere.

a. Analyze patterns in weather data to predict various systems, including fronts and severe storms.

b. Use maps and other visualizations to analyze large data sets that illustrate the frequency, magnitude, and resulting damage from severe weather events in order to predict the likelihood and severity of future events.

Changes in air pressure, caused by air’s height above sea level, temperature, and amount of water vapor, cause wind. The Earth’s rotation also helps. It causes the Coriolis Effect, which makes the wind blow on a curved path.

The classroom resource provides a video that will explain how changes in air pressure create wind in the atmosphere and how the Earth's rotation causes global wind belts to curve. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

[SC2015] PHYS (9-12) 7 :

7 ) Plan and carry out investigations to provide evidence that the first and second laws of thermodynamics relate work and heat transfers to the change in internal energy of a system with limits on the ability to do useful work (e.g., heat engine transforming heat at high temperature into mechanical energy and low-temperature waste heat, refrigerator absorbing heat from the cold reservoir and giving off heat to the hot reservoir with work being done).

a. Develop models to illustrate methods of heat transfer by conduction (e.g., an ice cube in water), convection (e.g., currents that transfer heat from the interior up to the surface), and radiation (e.g., an object in sunlight).

b. Engage in argument from evidence regarding how the second law of thermodynamics applies to the entropy of open and closed systems.

Through the use of an experiment, PBS Learning Media videos, and interactives, students will learn how heat is transferred through convection, radiation, and conduction. Students will develop a model to demonstrate their understanding of conduction, convection, and radiation. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the differences between ocean waves and ocean currents. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 13 :

13 ) Use models (e.g., diagrams, maps, globes, digital representations) to explain how the rotation of Earth and unequal heating of its surface create patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

a. Use experiments to investigate how energy from the sun is distributed between Earth's surface and its atmosphere by convection and radiation (e.g., warmer water in a pan rising as cooler water sinks, warming one's hands by a campfire).

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the different ways heat can be transferred from the sun through the atmosphere, as well as other applications of heat transfer. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.