ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [DLIT] (9-12) 37 :

31) Create interactive data visualizations using software tools to help others understand real-world phenomena.

[DLIT] (9-12) 31 :

25) Utilize a variety of digital tools to create digital artifacts across content areas.

[DLIT] (9-12) 6 :

R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

[DLIT] (9-12) 5 :

R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[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.

Students will research natural disasters and their impact on people.  They will work in teams to design a disaster preparedness guide to share with the community to reduce the impact of a natural disaster utilizing various creativity apps on the iPad.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [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.

[MA2015] AL1 (9-12) 4 :

4 ) Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multistep problems; choose and interpret units consistently in formulas; choose and interpret the scale and the origin in graphs and data displays. [N-Q1]

[LIT2010] SCI (9-10) 7 :

7 ) Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.

This activity utilizes maps and other visualizations to analyze past NOAA hurricane data.  It incorporates graphing wind speed and pressure to note the correlation between the two. Finally, it will show the relationship between hurricane category and damage.  

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

   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) 12 :

12 ) Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information (e.g., weather maps; diagrams; other visualizations, including radar and computer simulations) to support the claim that motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.

a. Use various instruments (e.g., thermometers, barometers, anemometers, wet bulbs) to monitor local weather and examine weather patterns to predict various weather events, especially the impact of severe weather (e.g., fronts, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, ice storms, droughts).

[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.

Weather is the condition of the outside air at any time or place, and it is constantly changing. The climate, on the other hand, gives the big picture, or what the weather is like over a long period of time.

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the different characteristics of weather and climate. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their 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.