Weather

Precipitation Chart
We usually think of precipitation as just rain.  But precipitation is also snow, sleet, and hail.  Compare the different types of precipitation.

Type of Precipitation	How it forms
rain
snow
sleet
hail

In terms of the water cycle, how does fog form?  How is the number of days of fog in Salt Lake City, Utah different than the number of foggy days in Seattle, Washington?  What are some of the weather, climate, and physical geography factors that make the two cities so different in terms of fogginess?

Climates of the World Chart
Climate is the patterns of weather over an extended period of time.  Compare these main worldwide climates.

Climate	What are some examples of places where this type of climate occurs	What are some of the characteristics of this climate	How is the sun responsible for the characteristics of this climate
Polar climate
Desert climate
Tropical climate
Temperate climate

–The layers of the atmosphere from the top to the bottom are exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere.  Why do you think that many airplanes fly in the stratosphere instead of the troposphere?

Rainfall Chart
Rain.  It’s part of the water cycle which is driven by the heat of the sun. Explore worldwide precipitation amounts.  Why is it rainier in Pensacola, Florida than in Fillmore, Utah?  Websites such as Worldwide Weather might be helpful in gathering rainfall amounts. These cities and their annual rainfalls are also easily located from a reliable search engine. Use search term “Aswan Egypt annual rainfall”. The rainfall amounts might be given in millimeters rather than inches.  Google has an online converter built into its interface.  Simply google “convert millimeters to inches” in the Google search box, and the converter will be at the top of the page.

City	Amount of annual rainfall	Factors that influence the amount of rainfall
Aswan, Egypt
Dallas, Texas, USA
Pago Pago, American Samoa
Monticello, Utah, USA
Cropp River, New Zealand
Logan, Utah, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Kavieng, Papua New Guinea
St. George, Utah, USA
Santiago, Chile
Yuma, Arizona, USA
Seattle, Washington, USA
Moulmein, Myanmar
Cedar City, Utah, USA
London, England
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Cherrapunji, India
Price, Utah, USA
Mount Waialeale, Hawaii
Bangor, Maine, USA
Tutendo, Colombia
Ogden, Utah, USA
Debundscha, Cameroon
Los Angeles, California, USA
Copenhagen, Denmark
Bismark, North Dakota, USA
Tokyo, Japan

Snow is made from tiny ice crystals. If you live in a snowy part of Utah, go outside when it is snowing, and take a piece of black paper and a magnifying glass with you.  Catch a few snowflakes.  Examine them with the magnifying glass and describe what you see. 

–Compare the densities of warm and cold air.

–Analyze and explain this statement: There are three things needed to make weather: water, air, and heat.

–Investigate weather folklore.  Have you ever heard someone say that they can tell that it’s going to rain because their bones or joints are aching?  Have you heard little rhymes like “red sky at night, sailor’s delight and red sky at morning, sailors take warning”? Compile a list of 5-7 weather sayings and then analyze if there is some kind of scientific reason why each saying or folklore may have some basis in fact.

––Utah has cold and snowy winters, wet springs, sunny and warm summers, and crisp and cool autumns. In terms of what you know about the role of the sun’s heat energy in how weather occurs, analyze and explain this fact: If the earth weren’t tilted in its orbit, the seasons would always be the same.

––How is it possible that the glass of water that you drank today may be the same water that was drunk by a dinosaur millions of years ago? Explain in detail.

Investigate why is it almost always hot in Kuala Lumpur, Malasia, almost always cold in Nuuk, Greenland, and both hot and cold in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Explain your answer in terms of latitude, angle of the sun’s rays, and physical geography.

3rd Rock from the Sun Chart
Within our solar system, the earth is in just the right place for life to exist and thrive.  Compare aspects of other planets to those of the earth to understand just how perfect a spot the earth occupies in the solar system. 

Planet	Distance from the sun	Composition of atmosphere	Average high temperature	Availability of water	Average low temperature
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars

Breathe onto the surface of a mirror.  What happens?  Analyze this in terms of the water cycle.

Describe how an actual greenhouse that is used to grow plants works and compare it to the earth’s natural greenhouse effect.

Investigate the worldwide climates.  Choose 3 cities.  One of the cities needs to be the city in Utah where you live.  The second city needs to be another city in the United States of your choice; you can choose any state that you like and then select a city.  The third choice needs to be a city not in the United States.  Create a chart that shows the (1) the average temperature for each city, (2) how many inches of rain per year each city receives, (3) how many inches of snow each city receives each year.  In terms of latitude (distance north or south of the equator), physical geography, ocean currents, etc., write a brief paragraph explaining the variations in temperature, rain, and snow in each city.

In the snowy winter, snow plows in Utah spray a mixture of salt brine onto roads and highways to making driving safer.  How does salt melt snow?

Analyze this statement: Weather is the way water changes in the air.

No rain.  No wind (the footprints that the astronauts left in the dusty ground of the moon will never blow away).  No snow.  Investigate why there is no weather on the moon.

Compare the white puff that you breathe out of your mouth when the weather is cold to the formation of clouds.