Alveary Science Lab: Where Does Weather Come From?

Alveary science includes nature study, general science topics, natural history, and more. In addition to daily lesson plans for readings, Alveary provides nature study guidance and lab books. This lab is included in Grade 5 Alveary Science, but many students (and adults!) will enjoy investigating weather. This lab is spread over three lessons of about 30 minute each but can be adapted to suit various schedules. Materials are listed below and are general household items.

Day 1: Introduction (30 min)

★ TEACHER TIP: Students read the following introduction and then compose the prelab narration in their lab notebook.  These need not be more than a 1-3 sentences at first and teachers should feel free to scribe for students, as necessary.  Spend remaining time gathering materials for next week.  Any additional time can be used for diagramming, as suggested in the lab book.

Introduction

Weather is an important consideration in our daily lives.  Weather often determines what clothes we wear and whether we spend the day indoors or out.  Weather can also present us with life-or-death situations, like in your book.  Scientists work hard to understand the weather to predict it better and help those most at risk from these dangerous situations.  But where do weather changes come from?

One major cause of weather changes is the movement of air.  Air moves because of Earth's rotation.  It also moves because of uneven heating and cooling at the surface.  Why would the surface heat unevenly?  One reason is that the sun's light is stronger in some locations, like the equator, and during some seasons, like summer.  Where the sun's light is stronger, those surfaces will absorb more heat.  Another reason is that land and water do not warm and cool at the same rate.  It is this second reason that we are going to investigate in this lab.

Think of a time when you have gone swimming.  Do you recall that the pavement or sand near the water felt very warm to the touch?  By contrast, the water felt cool on your skin.  The water may have felt rather cool, even on a very hot day.  The water and the land next to it were being warmed by the same amount of light energy, but water absorbs a lot more before its temperature increases.  This means that water has a higher specific heat than land.  What happens to all of that extra energy in the land?  It moved to a cooler area, and you felt it on your toes!  That heat energy warmed the air just like it warmed your skin.  If you are at a pool with a smaller area, the warm air over the land and the cool air over the water is also quite small.  However, if you are at the beach, those warm and cool air masses are very large.  All of that air moving around is wind.  Wind is air movement.

You will simulate this uneven heating and cooling in an oven by warming a small mass of land and water.  Which do you think will warm faster?  Which will cool faster?  Do you think you will be able to measure the difference?  What is your hypothesis?

Take a few moments now to put what you know into words.  In your lab notebook, compose a few sentences to answer the hypothesis questions, "What do I know about this?" and "What do I plan to find out?" When you are finished with this introductory narration, make sure that the materials below are all ready for the procedure.  If you have extra time today, try drawing or diagramming paragraph 3 above.

Materials

• 2 identical, heat-safe containers that can contain about 1c
• 1c soil, allowed to dry for a few days
• kitchen scale
• water
• thermometer
• oven
• oven mitt
• clock

Day 2: Procedure (~30 min)

★ TEACHER TIP: Students will conduct the Procedure today.  They may need help learning how to use the grid lines in their notebook to create a table for data collection as shown in the lab book.  Today's procedure may take longer than the allotted time, so plan accordingly.

1. Preheat the oven to 300℉.

2. Use the graph paper in your notebook to create Table 1.  You can add as many columns as you need:

3. Obtain the weight of the dried soil and place it into one of the heat-safe containers.  You can do this by weighing the soil and then placing it into the container or by taring the balance with the container and then adding the soil to the container on the balance.  Record the weight in Table 1.

4. Now add the same mass of water to the second heat-safe container.  Record the weight in Table 1.

5. Take the temperature of both the soil and the water to obtain a quantitative measurement.  Quantitative means that we are obtaining a quantity or numeric value.  Hold your hand over the surface of each sample and make a qualitative assessment.  Qualitative means that we are assessing a quality or non-numeric attribute.  Record both the quantitative measurement and the qualitative observation in Table 1.

6. Heat both containers in a 300℉ oven for 15-20 minutes and record their temperatures again.  It does not really matter exactly what temperature they reach, but you want to observe a clear difference between them.  If they are not significantly different, put them back in the oven and record their temperature again after another 15 minutes.  There is room on your table for several temperature readings.

7. When you observe a clear difference, record one last temperature and remove them to a heat-safe surface.  Hold your hand over them to see if you notice anything.  Record both the quantitative measurement and the qualitative observation in the appropriate column in Table 1.

8. Allow them to cool, periodically recording their temperatures until one of the samples returns to room temperature.  That will be the last measurement you take for both samples, even if one is still warm.  Hold your hand over the surface and make an observation again.  Record both the quantitative temperature and the qualitative observation in the appropriate column in Table 1. Then take a break for today!

Day 3: Analysis and Conclusions (30 min)

★ TEACHER TIP: Students will finish the lab today using the Analysis and Conclusions section.  Support as needed to create another table using the grid lines in their notebook.  Then complete the postlab narration, as directed.

This is the last day of Where Does Weather Come From (Part 1)!  Use the graph paper in your notebook to create Table 2:

Look at your results.  Subtract the starting temperature from the final heated temperature for both samples, recording in Table 2.  Which sample showed a greater increase in temperature?  Which sample showed a slower increase?  What did you notice when you placed your hand over the samples?

Now subtract the final cooled temperature from the heated temperature for both samples, recording in Table 2.  Which sample showed a faster decrease in temperature?  Was this the same sample that increased more quickly or the other one?  What did you notice when you placed your hand over the samples?  

Draw a diagram of yourself standing on a beach to show what your results would mean.  Would the land or the water heat more quickly during the day?  How would the air above them move?  Would it be the same situation at night, or would it be different?  Do you think there would be a difference in the spring and fall?

Take a few moments now to put what you have learned into words.  In your lab notebook, compose a few sentences to answer the questions, "What did I find out?" and "What now?"