Science Curriculum Topic Study

Air & Atmosphere and Weather & Climate

I. Identify Adult Content Knowledge

Science for All Americans

Planet enveloped by a thin blanket of air

The earth has a variety of climatic patterns: temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, & air pressure

Energy comes from sun heating land, ocean, and air

Transfer of heat energy at interfaces of atmosphere with land and oceans produces layers at different temperatures in both air and oceans. The layers rise or sink or mix and give rise to winds and ocean currents that carry heat energy between warm and cool regions

Earth’s rotation curves the flow of winds and ocean currents

Water cycle helps to determine climatic patterns: evaporation, rising, cooling, condensing, precipitation and collection of water in ground and surface water.

Climatic changes occur due to factors such as advance or retreat of glaciers or huge volcanic eruptions or changes in atmospheric content or ocean temperature

Science Matters

• Three principal atmospheric cycles (weather, seasons, climate)
• Troposphere is warm layer of air next to surface of the earth – extends up to 40 feet. It contains most of the cloud systems we see from earth
• Stratosphere 9 to 150,000 feet)
• Mesosphere (to 260,000 feet)
• Ionosphere – plays a role in the overall behavior of the ocean of air
• Convection causes weather in near earth layers
• Lower atmosphere powered by solar energy – most solar energy is at equator where warm air expands and rises. The earth’s 24 hour rotation creates 3 large east-west convection cells – creating westerlies and easterlies depending on if it is northern or southern hemisphere respectively. Stagnant air masses (“doldrums”) are found at the equator
• Weather terms
• Temperature – rises and falls on a daily basis and seasonally and with altitude
• Barometric pressure is the weight of all the air overhead (14lbs/in²). Large air masses form vast circular currents, which pile up at margins (high pressure zones) and such air out of their centers (low pressure zones)
• Humidity – relative term – reported as a percentage. It is the amount of water vapor that the air can hold before it produces fog or rain. It depends on air temperature. Relative humidity is a measure of how much water the air actually holds, compared to how much water the air can absorb.
• Wind speed and direction – depends on topography, the location and temperature of large bodies or water, and distribution of high and low pressure air masses.
• Jet stream – high altitude wind currents that behave like fast moving rivers (about 8 miles high) Jet stream roughly divides cold northern air from warmer air in temperate regions. General trend in US is west to east.
• Airborne Pollen – pollutants in air reported during weather forecasts. It is described by arbitrary scale of particles per given volume of air.
• Greenhouse Effect – Effects of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. In a greenhouse, sunlight passes through glass and is absorbed by the materials on the inside. The heated materials give energy back as infrared radiation. The glass in essence traps the infrared radiation and warms the inside. Like glass, carbon dioxide transmits visible light energy from the sun. It also absorbs the infrared radiation that rises from the ground and holds heat in the atmosphere instead of reflecting it back into space. Global warming refers to this process of accumulated carbon dioxide (primarily from burning fossil fuels). Carbon dioxide has always been present in the atmosphere – more is just being added. Other gases like methane and water vapor can also add to the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the main source of the green house effect. Debate in science occurs on if global warming has already started and how much warming will eventually occur.

II. Consider Instructional Implications

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• Grades K-2: Students should keep daily records of temperature (hot, cold, pleasant) and precipitation (none, some, lots). They should plot them by week, month, and years. Students should recognize patterns of ups and downs. They should become familiar with freezing water and melting ice (no weight change), the disappearance of melting water into air, and the appearance of water on cold surfaces. Students observe and read about things that change and come to understand that change is something that happens.
• Grades 3-5: Students learn about some of the surface features of earth and the earth’s relationship to the sun, moon, and other planets. They gain more knowledge of the physical environment becoming more familiar with details of geological features. They begin learning scale. They also learn the connection between gas, liquid, and solid forms of water. Students should figure out where water in an open container goes and that air has mass and movement.
• Grades 6-8: Students add more details to prior knowledge learning more about the seasons and scale and forces that shape the earth. An evitable paradox of scale can be found in the example that an ocean can be 7 miles deep, but that it is considered a thin layer on the earth’s surface.
• Grades 9-12: Information can now be synthesized more holistically, connecting physical concepts and principles, such as energy, gravity, conservation, and radiation. They begin to consider the effects that human activities have on the earth’s surface.

National Science Education Standards

• Grades K-4: Children are naturally interested in world around them. They should be guided to observe changes and cycles. Students can keep a weather journal. Emphasis is on developing observation and description skills and the explanations should be based on observations.
• Grades 5-8: A major goal is for students to develop an understanding of the earth and solar system as a set of closely coupled systems. Students investigate 4 major interacting components of the earth’s system: geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. They study the composition of the atmosphere and global climate. Energy from the sun transferred by light and other radiation is the primary energy source for processes on earth’s surface and in its hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.
• Grades 9-12: Students focus on matter, energy, crustal dynamics, cycles, geochemical processes, and the expanded time scales necessary to understand the earth system. Driven by sunlight and earth’s internal heat, a variety of cycles connect and continually circulate energy and material through the components of the earth system. Together, these cycles establish the structure of the earth system and regulate earth’s climate. Students deepen their understanding of the water cycle as a carrier of material, and see that it is also important for energy transfer. Students also learn the carbon cycle as it plays a central role in establishing and maintaining earth’s climate. They also extend their knowledge of radiation, convection, and conduction transfer energy through the earth system. They study the fluctuations of climate over earth’s history, including fluctuations in global temperatures. Using this background, students can examine environmental changes occurring today and make predictions about future temperature fluctuations in the earth system. Many students need concrete examples and considerable help in following the multistep logic necessary to develop the understandings described in this standard.

III. Identify Concepts and Specific Ideas

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• K-2: Some events in nature have a repeating pattern. The weather changes some from day to day, but things such as temperature and rain (or snow) tend to be high, low, or medium in the same months every year. Water can be a liquid or a solid and go back and forth from one form to the other. If water is turned into ice and then the ice is allowed to melt, the amount of water is the same as it was before freezing. Water left in an open container disappears, but water in a closed container does not disappear.
• 3-5: When liquid water disappears, it turns into a gas (vapor) in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled, or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water. Clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets of water. Air is a substance that surrounds us, takes up space, and whose movement we feel as wind.
• 6-8: Because the earth turns daily on an axis that is tilted on its orbit around the sun, sunlight falls more intensely on different parts of the earth during the year. The difference in the heating of the earth from the sun produces seasons and weather patterns. Climates sometimes change abruptly due to changes in earth’s crust (volcanic eruptions or meteor hitting surface of the earth). Even relatively small changes in atmospheric or ocean content can have widespread effects on climate if the change lasts long enough. Water cycling plays important role in climate patterns. Heat energy carried by ocean currents has strong influence on world’s climate. The atmosphere and oceans have limited capacity to absorb wastes and recycle materials naturally.
• 9-12: The force of gravity enables the planet to retain an adequate atmosphere and an intensity of radiation from the sun allows water to cycle between liquid and vapor. Weather (short) and climate (long) involve transfer of energy in and out of the atmosphere. Solar radiation heats the landmasses, ocean, and air. Transfer of heat energy at boundaries between atmosphere, the landmasses, and oceans result in layer of different temperatures and densities in both the ocean and atmosphere. The action of gravitational force on regions of different densities causes them to rise or fall – and such circulation, influenced by the rotation of the earth, produces winds and ocean currents.

National Science Education Standards

• Grades K-4: Standard D Earth and Space Science, Properties of Earth Materials: Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. Standard D Earth and Space Science, Objects in the Sky: The sun provides the light and heat necessary to maintain the temperature of the earth. Standard D Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky: Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.
• Grades 5-8: Standard D Earth and Space Science, Structure of the Earth System: Water, which covers the majority of the earth’s surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the “water cycle”. Water evaporates from the earth’s surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations. Clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate. Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat. Standard F Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Natural Hazards: Internal and external processes of the earth system cause natural hazards, events that change or destroy human and wildlife habitats, damage property, and harm or kill humans. Natural hazards include earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, floods, storms, and even possible impacts of asteroids. Standard F Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Risks and Benefits: Students should understand the risks associated with natural hazards (fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions).


• Grades 9-12: Standard D Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System: Earth systems have internal and external sources of energy, both of which create heat. The sun is the major external source of energy. Heating the earth’s surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents. Global climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun at and near the earth’s surface. This transfer is influence by dynamic processes such as cloud cover and the earth’s rotation, and static conditions such as the position of mountain ranges and oceans. Standard D Earth and Space Science, Geochemical Cycles: The earth is a system containing essentially a fixed amount of each stable chemical atom or element. Each element can exist in several different chemical reservoirs. Each element on earth moves among reservoirs in the solid earth, oceans, atmosphere, and organisms as part of the geochemical cycle. Movement of matter between reservoirs is driven by the earth’s internal and external sources of energy. These movements are often accompanied by a change in the physical and chemical properties of the matter. Carbon, for example, occurs in carbonate rocks such as limestone, in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas, in water as dissolved carbon dioxide, and in all organisms as complex molecules that control the chemistry of life. Standard F Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Natural and Human-Induced Hazards: Normal adjustments of earth may be hazardous for humans. Humans live at the interface between the atmosphere driven by solar energy and the upper mantle where convection creates changes in the earth’s solid crust. As societies have grown, become stable, and come to value aspects of the environment, vulnerability to natural processes of change has increased. Some hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and severe weather, are rapid and spectacular. Natural and human-induced hazards present the need for humans to assess potential danger and risk. Many changes in the environment designed by humans bring benefits to society, as well as cause risks. Students should understand the costs and trade-offs of various hazards – ranging from those with minor risks to a few people to major catastrophes with major risk to many people. The scale of events and the accuracy with which scientists and engineers can (and cannot) predict events are important considerations.

IV. Examine Research on Student Learning

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• Water cycle: Before students understand that water is converted to an invisible form, they may initially believe that when water evaporates it ceases to exist, or that it changes location but remains a liquid, or that it is transformed into some other perceptible form (fog, steam, droplets, etc.) With special instruction, some students in 5^th grade can identify the air as a permanent substance. Students understand rainfall in terms of gravity in middle school but not the mechanism of condensation, which is not understood until early high school.

Atlas for Science Literacy, Volume 2

• Weather & Climate: Students of all ages (including college students and adults) have difficulty understanding what causes the seasons. Many students think that the earth is colder in the winter because it is farther away from the sun. This idea is linked to ideas that the earth’s orbit is a long ellipse. Others are confused by distances, thinking that the earth is farther away from the sun in the winter because it is tilted away from the sun.
• Air: Upper elementary students understand that air takes up space. That air has weight is more difficult to understand. Students of all ages may believe that air exerts force or pressure only when it is moving and only downwards. Only a few middle school students use the idea of pressure differences between regions of the atmosphere to account for wind; instead, they may account for wind in terms of visible moving objects or the movement of the earth.
• Students of all ages confuse the ozone layer with the greenhouse effect, and may have a tendency to imagine that all environmentally friendly actions help to solve all environmental problems (for example, that the use of unleaded petrol reduces the risk of global warming).

Making Sense of Secondary Science: Research Into Children’s Ideas

• Existence of Air: Most 8 year olds recognized air as something you need to breather. By the age of 12, students know that air contains oxygen. Many students think of air in general terms of being related to ideas about solids, liquids, and gasses. By age 11 students know that air exists in open containers. Some children at this age were less sure that air was contained inside a sealed container. Some thought air existed only when it moved. Many young children think of air and smoke as having a transient character like “thoughts”. They do not understand the material nature of gas as having mass and taking up space. Most children’s experiences with gas and air is that it gases tend to rise or float. Most 8-12 year olds consider that air has no weight. A study with 12-13 year olds found that students think of air and gravity as inseparable: that things do not fall in space because there is no atmosphere and, in the absence of air, weight becomes zero. By the age of 16, many students know that the earth’s atmosphere changes with distance away from the earth’s surface. About half of 16 year olds will know that air is a mixture of components. By this age, they do know that air takes up space and that its volume can be changed.
• Air Pressure: At age 8, students recognize that air can push against things. Many 11-13 year olds think that wind and not still air has pressure and that it is the pressure that causes air to move. Students do not think in terms of pressure acting equally in all directions. They think there is greater pressure downwards. They used these same ideas to explain atmospheric pressure. Some thought of air as being sucked as through a straw or vacuum. Students by age 16 rarely account for wind in terms of pressure differences between regions of atmosphere. Rather, they account for wind in terms of visible moving objects and sometimes with movements of the earth or the coldness of the poles. They also equated wind speed with temperature: higher wind and colder temperatures and warmer winds as slower and gentler.

V. Examine Coherency and Articulation

Atlas of Science Literacy, Volume 2

• Temperature and Winds
• K-2: The sun warms the land, air, and water
• 3-5: A warmer object can warm a cooler one by contact or at a distance. When warmer things are put with cooler ones, heat is transferred from the warmer ones to the cooler ones.
• 6-8: Light and other electromagnetic waves can warm objects. How much an object’s temperature increases depends on how intense the light striking its surface is, how long the light shines on the object, and how much of the light is absorbed. The temperature of a place on the earth’s surface tends to rise and fall in a somewhat predictable pattern every day and over the course of a year. The pattern of temperature changes observed in a place tend to vary depending on how far north or south of the equator the place is, how near to the oceans it is, and how high above sea level it is. The number of hours of daylight and the intensity of the sunlight both vary in a predictable pattern that depends on how far north or south of the equator the place its. This variation explains why temperatures vary over the course of the year and at different locations. Thermal energy is transferred through a material by collisions of atoms within the material. Over time, the thermal energy tends to spread out through a material and from one material to another if they are in contact. Thermal energy can also be transferred by means of currents in air, water, or other fluids. In addition, some thermal energy in all materials is transformed into light energy and radiated into the environment by electromagnetic waves; that light energy can be transformed back into thermal energy when the electromagnetic waves strike another material. As a result, a material tends to cool down unless some other form of energy is converted to thermal energy into the materials. Thermal energy carried by ocean currents has a strong influence on climates around the world. Areas near oceans tend to have more moderate temperatures than they would if they were farther inland but at the same latitude because water in the oceans can hold a large amount of thermal energy.
• 9-12: Because the earth turns daily on an axis that is tilted relative to the plane of the earth’s yearly orbit around the sun, sunlight falls more intensely on different parts of the earth during the year. The difference in intensity of sunlight and the resulting warming of the earth’s surface produces the seasonal variations in temperature. In a fluid, regions that have different temperatures have different densities. The action of a gravitational force on regions of different densities causes them to rise or fall creating currents that contribute to the transfer of energy. Transfer of thermal energy between the atmosphere and the land or oceans produces temperature gradients in the atmosphere and the oceans. Regions at different temperatures rise or sink or mix, resulting in winds and ocean currents. These winds and ocean currents, which are also affected by the earth’s rotation and the shape of the land, carry thermal energy from warm to cool areas.
• Water Cycle
• K-2: Water can be a liquid or a solid and go back and forth from one form to the other. If water is turned into ice and then the ice is allowed to melt, the amount of water is the same as it was before freezing. Water left in an open container disappears, but water in a closed container does not disappear.
• 3-5: When liquid water disappears, it turns into a gas (vapor) in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled, or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water. Clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets or frozen crystals of water.
• 6-8:Water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises and cools, condenses into rain or snow, and falls again to the surface. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the oceans. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on earth.
• 9-12: Life is adapted to conditions on the earth, including the force of gravity that enables the planet to retain an adequate atmosphere, and an intensity of electromagnetic waves from the sun that allows water to be present in the liquid state.
• Atmosphere
• K-2: The temperature and amount of rain (or snow) tend to be high, low, or medium in the same months every year.
• 3-5: Air is a material that surrounds us and takes up space and whose movement we feel as wind. The weather is always changing ad can be described by measurable quantities such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation. Large masses of air with certain properties move across the surface of the earth. The movement and interaction of these air masses is used to forecast the weather.
• 6-8: The earth is mostly rock. Three-fourths of the earth’s surface is covered by a relatively thin layer of water (some of it frozen), and the entire planet is surrounded by a relatively thin layer of air. The earth has a variety of climates, defined by average temperature, precipitation, humidity, air pressure, and wind, over time in a particular place. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases.
• 9-12: Plants on land and under water alter the earth’s atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide from it, using the carbon to make sugars and releasing oxygen. This process is responsible for the oxygen content of the air. Climatic conditions result from latitude, altitude, and from the position of mountain ranges, oceans, and lakes. Dynamic processes, such as cloud formation, ocean currents, and atmospheric circulation patterns influence climates as well.

• Climate Change
• K-2: Change is something that happens to many things.
• 3-5: No benchmarks listed
• 6-8: Human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere, and intensive farming, have changed the earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere. Some of these changes have decreased the capacity of the environment to support some life forms. Climates have sometimes changed abruptly in the past as a result of volcanic eruptions or impacts of huge rocks from space.
• 9-12: Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, are transparent to much of the incoming sunlight but not to the infrared light from the warmed surface of the earth. When greenhouse gasses increase, more thermal energy is trapped in the atmosphere, and the temperature of the earth increases the light energy radiated into space until it again equals the light energy absorbed from the sun. The earth’s climates have changed in the past, are currently changing, and are expected to change in the future, primarily due to changes in the amount of light reaching places on the earth and the composition of the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels in the last century has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which has contributed to earth’s warming.

VI. Clarify State Standards

Kindergarten

SC00-S2C1-01: (History and Nature of Science, History of Science as a Human Endeavor): Give examples of how diverse people (e.g. children, parents, weather reporters, cooks, healthcare workers, gardeners) use science in daily life.

SC00-S3C2-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Science and Technology in Society): Describe how simple tools (e.g. scissors, pencils, paper clips, hammers) can make tasks easier. <e.g. thermometers can make taking temperature outside easier>

SC00-S5C2-01: (Physical Science, Position and Motion of Objects): Describe spatial relationships (i.e. above, below, next to, left, right, middle, center) of objects. . <e.g. the sun, clouds, etc are above our heads>

SC00-S6C3-01: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Identify the following aspects of weather: temperature, wind, precipitation, storms.

SC00-S6C3-02: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Describe observable changes in weather.

SC00-S6C3-03: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Give examples of how the weather affects people’s daily activities.

Grade 1

SC01-S2C1-01: (History and Nature of Science, History of Science as a Human Endeavor): Give examples of how diverse people (e.g. children, parents, weather reporters, cooks, healthcare workers, gardeners) use science in daily life.

SC01-S3C2-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Science and Technology in Society): Describe how suitable tools (e.g. magnifier, thermometers) help make better observations and measurements.

SC01-S5C1-02: (Physical Science, Properties of Objects and Materials): Classify materials as solids or liquids.

SC01-S6C1-04: (Earth and Space Science, Properties of Earth Materials): Identify the following as being natural resources: air, water, soil, trees, wildlife.

SC01-S6C1-05: (Earth and Space Science, Properties of Earth Materials): Identify the ways to conserve natural resources (e.g. reduce, reuse, recycle, find alternatives)

SC01-S6C2-01: (Earth and Space Science, Objects in the Sky): Identify evidence that the Sun is the natural source of heat and light on the Earth (e.g. warm surfaces, shadows, shade)

SC01-S6C2-02: (Earth and Space Science, Objects in the Sky): Compare celestial objects (e.g. Sun, Moon, stars) and transient objects in the sky (e.g. clouds, birds, airplanes, and contrails)

SC01-S6C2-03: (Earth and Space Science, Objects in the Sky): Describe observable changes that occur in the sky (e.g. clouds forming and moving, the position of the Moon)

SC01-S6C3-01: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Identify the following characteristics of seasonal weather patterns: temperature, type of precipitation, wind.

SC00-S6C3-02: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Analyze how the weather affects daily activities.

Grade 2

SC02-S2C1-02: (History and Nature of Science, History of Science as a Human Endeavor): Identify science-related career opportunities.

SC02-S3C2-03: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Science and Technology in Society): Identify a simple problem that could be solved by using a suitable tool.

SC02-S5C1-02: (Physical Science, Properties of Objects and Materials): Classify materials as solids, liquids, or gases.

SC02-S5C1-03: (Physical Science, Properties of Objects and Materials): Demonstrate that water can exist as a: gas – vapor, liquid – water, solid – ice.

SC02-S5C1-04: (Physical Science, Properties of Objects and Materials): Demonstrate that solids have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

SC02-S6C3-01: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Measure weather conditions (e.g. temperature, precipitation)

SC02-S6C3-02: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Record weather conditions (e.g. temperature, precipitation)

SC02-S6C3-03: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Identify the following types of clouds: cumulus, stratus, cirrus

SC02-S6C3-04: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Analyze the relationship between clouds, temperature, and weather patterns.

Grade 3

SC03-S2C1-02: (History and Nature of Science, History of Science as a Human Endeavor): Describe science-related career opportunities.

SC03-S3C1-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Describe the major factors that could impact a human population (e.g. famine, drought, disease, improved transportation, medical breakthroughs).

SC03-S3C1-02: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Describe the beneficial and harmful impacts of natural events and human activities on the environment (e.g. forest fires, flooding, pesticides)

Grade 4

SC04-S2C1-02: (History and Nature of Science, History of Science as a Human Endeavor): Describe science-related career opportunities.

SC04-S3C1-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Describe how natural events and human activities have positive and negative impacts on environments (e.g. fire, floods, pollution, dams).

SC04-S3C1-02: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Evaluate the consequences of environmental occurrences that happen either rapidly (e.g. fire, flood, tornado) or over a long period of time (e.g. drought, melting ice caps, the greenhouse effect, erosion)

SC04-S6C2-05: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Identify the Earth events that cause changes in atmospheric conditions (e.g. volcanic eruptions, forest fires).

SC04-S6C3-03: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Differentiate between weather and climate as they relate to the southwestern United States.

SC04-S6C3-04: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Measure changes in weather (e.g. precipitation, wind speed, barometric pressure).

SC04-S6C3-05: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Interpret the symbols on a weather map or chart to identify the following: temperatures, fronts, precipitation

SC04-S6C3-06: (Earth and Space Science, Changes in the Earth and Sky): Compare weather conditions in various locations (e.g. regions of Arizona, various U.S. cities, coastal vs. interior geographical regions).

Grade 5

SC05-S3C1-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Explain the impacts of natural hazards on habitats (e.g. global warming, floods, asteroid or large meteor impacts).

Grade 6

SC06-S3C1-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Evaluate the effect of the following natural hazards: sandstorm, hurricane, tornado, ultraviolet light, lightning-caused fire

SC06-S3C1-02: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Describe how people plan for, and respond to, the following natural disasters: drought, flooding, tornadoes

SC06-S4C3-01: (Life Science, Populations of Organisms in an Ecosystem): Explain that sunlight is the major source of energy for most ecosystems.

SC06-S4C3-02: (Life Science, Populations of Organisms in an Ecosystem): Describe how the following environmental conditions affect the quality of life: water quality, climate, population density, smog

SC06-S5C3-04: (Physical Science, Transfer of Energy): Explain how thermal energy (heat energy) can be transferred by: conduction, convection, radiation

SC06-S6C1-01: (Earth and Space Science, Structure of the Earth): Describe the properties and composition of the layers of the atmosphere.

SC06-S6C1-04: (Earth and Space Science, Structure of the Earth): Analyze the interactions between the Earth’s atmosphere and the Earth’s bodies of water (water cycle).

SC06-S6C1-05: (Earth and Space Science, Structure of the Earth): Describe ways scientists explore the Earth’s atmosphere and bodies of water.

SC06-S6C2-01: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Explain how water is cycled in nature.

SC06-S6C2-02: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Identify the distribution of water within or among the following: atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere

SC06-S6C2-03: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Analyze the effects that bodies of water have on the climate of a region.

SC06-S6C2-04: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Analyze the following factor that affect climate: ocean currents, elevation, location

SC06-S6C2-05: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Analyze the impact of large-scale weather systems on the local weather.

SC06-S6C2-06: (Earth and Space Science, Earth’s Processes and Systems): Create a weather system model that includes: the Sun, the atmosphere, bodies of water

Grade 7

SC07-S4C3-05: (Life Science, Populations of Organisms in an Ecosystem): Predict how environmental factors (e.g. floods, droughts, temperature changes) affect survival rates in living organisms.

SC07-S6C3-04: (Earth and Space Science, Earth in the Solar System): Explain the seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in terms of the tilt of the Earth’s axis relative to the Earth’s revolution around the Sun.

Grade 8

SC08-S2C1-02: (History and Nature of Science, Nature of Scientific Knowledge): Defend the principle that accurate keeping, openness, and replication are essential for maintaining an investigator’s credibility with other scientists and society.

SC08-S3C1-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Analyze the risk factors associated with natural, human induced, and/or biological hazards, including: waste disposal or industrial chemicals, greenhouse gases

High School

SCHS-S3C1-02: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Changes in Environments): Describe the environmental effects of the following natural and/or human-caused hazards: flooding, drought, earthquakes, fires, pollution, extreme weather

SCHS-S3C2-01: (Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Science and Technology in Society): Analyze the costs, benefits, and risks of various ways of dealing with the following needs or problems: various forms of alternative energy, storage of nuclear waste, abandoned mines, greenhouse gases, hazardous wastes

SCHS-S5C3-06: (Physical Science, Conservation of Energy and Increase in Disorder): Distinguish between heat and temperature.

SCHS-S5C3-07: (Physical Science, Conservation of Energy and Increase in Disorder): Explain how molecular motion is related to temperature and phase changes.

SCHS-S6C1-01: (Earth and Space Science, Geochemical Cycles): Identify ways materials are cycled within the Earth system (i.e. carbon cycle, water cycle, rock cycle)

SCHS-S6C1-04: (Earth and Space Science, Geochemical Cycles): Demonstrate how the hydrosphere links the biosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere.

SCHS-S6C2-01: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Describe the flow of energy to and from the Earth.

SCHS-S6C2-02: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Explain the mechanisms of heat transfer (convection, conduction, radiation) among the atmosphere, landmasses, and oceans.

SCHS-S6C2-03: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Distinguish between weather and climate.

SCHS-S6C2-09: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Explain the effect of heat transfer on climate and weather.

SCHS-S6C2-11: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Describe the origin, life cycle, and behavior of weather systems (i.e. air mass, front, high and low systems, pressure gradients).

SCHS-S6C2-12: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Describe the conditions that cause severe weather (e.g. hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms).

SCHS-S6C2-13: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Propose appropriate safety measures that can be taken in preparation for severe weather.

SCHS-S6C2-14: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Analyze how weather is influenced by both natural and artificial Earth features (e.g. mountain ranges, bodies of water, cities, air pollution).

SCHS-S6C2-15: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): List the factors that determine climate (e.g. altitude, latitude, water bodies, precipitation, prevailing winds, topography).

SCHS-S6C2-16: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Explain the causes and/or effects of climate changes over long periods of time (e.g. glaciation, desertification, solar activity, greenhouse effect).

SCHS-S6C2-17: (Earth and Space Science, Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External): Investigate the effects of acid rain, smoke, volcanic dust, urban development, and greenhouse gases, on climate change over various periods of time.

Resources:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2001. Atlas for Science Literacy. Volume 1. Washington, DC: NSTA Press.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2007. Atlas for Science Literacy. Volume 2. Washington, DC: NSTA Press.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1994. Benchmarks for Science Literacy. New York: Oxford University Press. Note:  This document is also available on the web at:  http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/bolintro.htm
• Arizona State Board of Education. Arizona Academic Content Standards: Science Articulated by Grade Level. May 24, 2004. (Updated March 10, 2005) http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/science
• Driver, R.; Squires, A.; Rushworth, P.; and Wood-Robinson W. 2000. Making Sense of Secondary Science: Research Into Children’s Ideas. London: Routledge.
• Hazen, R.M. & Trefil, J. 1992. Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy. New York: Anchor Books.
• Keeley, P. 2005. Science Curriculum Topic Study: Bridging the Gap Between Standards and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
• National Research Council. (1996). The National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Note:  This document is also available on the web at:  http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html
• Rutherford, F. J. & Ahlgren, A. 1989. Science for All Americans: A Project 2061 Report. American Association for the Advancement of Science. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. Note:  This document is also available on the web at:  http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/sfaatoc.htm