Thursday, March 9, 2017

Heat and temperature!

Hi everyone - we re continuing our work as meteorologists.  This week we concentrated on finding out more regarding how heat affects the weather on Earth.  We found out that all heat comes from the Sun - so the sun is a weather machine - here is some of our class research so far:




We also learned that thermometers measure the heat in the air - so we made our own thermometers.  These water thermometers demonstrate that molecules that heat up take up more space - so when the water gets hot, it goes up the straw - when in goes down, the water is cooling off.






We put thermometers in hot water to observe what happens!


Enjoy the second part of your homemade weather station!

Friday, March 3, 2017

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and getting started with weather

Hi everyone!
We  had a great time yesterday celebrating Read Across America by having our own read - a -thon where we got comfortable with a snuggly and enjoyed our time as readers! Most students declared it a huge success!







WEATHER

This week we began our study of weather which relates to food because the weather around us helps determine what food can grow.  We began with our own stories about how weather effected us - stuck inside because of ice, getting a sunburn, losing power in a windstorm were just a few.

The rest of the week we have been exploring the ideas of air pressure and atmosphere.  We read books and researched ideas.  Then, we discovered that air is strong - it takes up space and can hold up objects.  We blew air into bags - then the bags could hold heavy things!



After more reading, writing, and drawing ideas, today we made a version of a tool meteorologists use to determine air pressure - a barometer!  Look for an explanation sheet coming home that will help you set up the barometer and use it to forecast the weather!  Get ready to have your own homemade weather station!