South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

High and Low: Pressures and Fronts (Grade 5-6)

Master Teacher

Sandy Rogers

Time Allotment

90 minutes or two 45-minute classes

Overview

This lesson will teach students basic information about high- and low-pressure fronts and how they affect the weather. Students will observe weather patterns and cloud formations. Students will learn the basic pattern of movement of high- and low-pressure weather systems.

Subject Matter

Science

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

identify different types of weather fronts
discriminate between a low- and high-pressure system
identify the type of pressure system in an area based on the current local weather
demonstrate the physical movement of high- and low-pressure systems

South Carolina Standards

These Standards can be found online at Office of Curriculum Standards.

Relate cloud types to weather events and patterns.

Use weather maps, Internet sites with satellite images, and other weather data to identify weather conditions.

Relate heat transfer to the movement of air masses, high- and low-pressure areas, and fronts in the atmosphere.

Media Components

Web Sites

Weather is a scrambled word activity about weather. (Note to Teacher: Student time at the Web site should be 20 minutes.)

Fronts . This site looks at stationary weather fronts, cold fronts, warm fronts and occluded fronts. (Note to Teacher: Student time at the Web site should be 20 minutes.)

Google is a Meta search engine for research.

Related Web sites for possible lesson extensions:

Lots of Weather Resources. This site is the gateway to Weather resources, El Nino Information and Resources, and Ask a Weather Expert. (Note to Teacher: Student time at the Web site should be 10 minutes.)

Reading Weather Maps demonstrates how to read weather maps by understanding various features, such as time and temperature. (Note to Teacher: Student time at the Web site should be 30 minutes.)

Kids Weather Page features weather information and a weather glossary for kids. (Note to Teacher: Student time at the Web site should be 35 minutes.)

Video

Eye Wonder, Lesson 4: "Weather."

Materials

computers connected to the Internet
paper and pencils
TV
Activity Sheet 1: Pressure System

Prep for Teachers

Prior to this lesson, bookmark the first two Internet sites used in this lesson and briefly visit each site to be familiar with its content.

If possible, chose a day with a variety of clouds for the outdoor cloud observation activity.

Visually demonstrate how to use your hands to simulate the actions of high- and low-pressure systems to the students before using the Pressure System handout.

When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after video segments, Website, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Ask the students what causes the weather to change. After listening to their answers, have the students go to the Web site Weather and have them complete the weather word scramble activity.

Step 2: Provide a Focus for Media Interaction, saying, "Now we are going to complete a word scramble activity using common weather words. Click your mouse button over the down arrow to select each letter for your word. If you cannot figure out the word, you can click your mouse on the answer button below your word for the correct answer. Are there any questions? Please begin and please raise your hand when you are finished." (Answers are: 1. ice; 2. fog; 3. dry; 4. wind; 5. hail; 6. snow; 7. rain; 8. cold; 9. sunny; 10. frost.)

Step 3: Use this word scramble activity as an introduction to commonly used weather terms. Begin a discussion by saying, "Changes in weather are caused by moving air [wind]. Air tends to move from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure. An example of this is a pressurized tire. The air will flow out of a pressurized tire when the tire develops a leak or gets a hole in it. The high-pressure air in the tire moves the lower pressure air outside of the tire. Once air starts to move in the form of wind, the wind's direction and speed can be controlled by factors such as the shape of the Earth's surface, the temperature, and the effect of the Earth's rotation on its axis [the Coriolis effect]. We will demonstrate this effect in our next learning activity."

Learning Activities

Step 1: Provide a Focus for Media Interaction, saying, "Go to the bookmarked Web site Fronts. This Web site describes weather fronts. Navigate this the site and find the definitions to the listed weather terms and write them in your notebook. The terms are fronts, stationary front, cold front, warm front, occluded front and dry line." (Note to Teacher: You may want to write these terms on the board.)

Tell the students after they have written down each term they can further investigate the different terms by placing the mouse on the term and left clicking on the term. This will take them to a Web page giving more detail on each term. When they are finished with the page, tell them to simply click on the back arrow to return to the front homepage.

After checking the vocabulary terms, briefly discuss them and how they relate to the changing weather. For example: with stationary fronts the weather stays the same, cold fronts make the weather cooler by replacing warm air with cold air, and warm fronts make the weather warmer by replacing cooler air with warmer air. When warm and cold fronts meet, rain and wind often form.

Step 2: Play the video, Eye Wonder, Lesson 4: "Weather." START the video when the reporter and the weatherman are looking at the Doppler weather radar screen. Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by saying: "Weather people use Doppler radar to better interpret the weather caused by the interaction of weather fronts. Listen for the three main things that Doppler radar is very good at showing."

PLAY the tape until the questions are shown on the screen, then say, "What are the three things Doppler radar is very good at visually displaying?" (Answer: clouds, precipitation and wind.)

Step 3: Give each student a pressure system handout (Activity Sheet 1). The handout describes the downward and outward movement of high-pressure systems (clockwise) and the upward and inward movement of low-pressure systems (counterclockwise). Read the paragraph on the handout describing the system movements to the students. Have the students watch as you visually demonstrate the hand movements displaying the system movements. Then have them proceed with the activity.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Now you will show students how they can determine the current type of pressure system in their area by viewing the current weather. Take the class outside and observe the present weather conditions. Say, "Today we are going to observe the clouds to try to determine the type of weather system we are currently under the influence of. Take a close look at today's clouds. Briefly describe their shape, color, and closeness to the ground on a sheet of notebook paper."

Give the students a few minutes to do this and then say, " If there are few clouds or only high puffy clouds observable, you are under the influence of a high-pressure system. If you observe low gray or dark clouds, or if there is any precipitation, you are under the influence of a low-pressure system. Low-pressure systems tend to bring precipitation. The interaction of low- and high-pressure systems causes the changes in our weather.

Step 2: While you are still outside say, "Nephelococcygia is looking at clouds and trying to find the shapes of objects in the clouds. Examples of shapes can be animals, cars, trees, boats, and other objects. Look at the clouds and try to find as many different objects as possible hidden in the clouds." Discuss and describe the different shapes with the students. Point out that we may see different shapes in the same clouds and that the clouds will appear as different objects to different people. As an extension to this activity you can have the students try to make as many different words with the term nephelococcygia as possible for homework.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Language Arts: Read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and discuss the types of things that fall out of the sky (rain, snow, sleet, etc). Have the students research and report other items that have fallen from the sky (meteorites, parts from planes,etc). This can be accomplished through research on the Internet (Use the search engine http://www.google.com and type in "objects falling from the sky.") or through research in the library.

Community Connections

Have a local weatherperson visit the school. Ask him/her to describe the steps involved in assembling the nightly weather forecast.

(Note to Teacher: We do this every year and the weather people are always entertaining and informative.)

Student Materials

computers connected to the Internet
paper and pencils
Pressure System handout

Activity Sheet (PDF)

Activity Sheet 1: Pressure System Handout