Kathleen M. Reilly - Weather and Climate!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

Titles in the Explore Earth Science Set

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RAIN

If a raindrop falls the average speed of 14 miles per hour from a cloud of average height of 2,500 feet, it would take the drop two minutes to hit the ground!

DROUGHT

As the climate warms, scientists expect droughts to happen more often and last longer.

GLACIER

The largest glacier on Earth is the Lambert glacier in Antarctica, which is 60 miles wide and about 270 miles long!

RAINFOREST

Rainforests cover about 2 percent of the earths surface, but about 50 percent of all plants and animals on Earth live in a rainforest.

DESERT

Areas covered in ice or snow are called cold deserts, compared to hot deserts in warm areas. Antarctica is the largest cold desert on Earth.

HURRICANE

Hurricanes have different namesin the Atlantic Ocean they are hurricanes, in the Northwest Pacific Ocean they are typhoons, and in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans they are cyclones.

Imagine its Saturday morning. You wake up and get dressed to go outside. You pull on some shorts and a T-shirt and run out the door intosnow. Oops! You didnt think about what the weather was going to be like.

Of course, its unusual for there to be snow when you think its going to be warm. But weather is a major part of our daily lives, affecting what we wear and do. You might picture summer as always sunny and hot. But it can rain during the summer or even be chilly. Severe weathersuch as a thunderstormcan rattle a calm summer afternoon. In hazardous weather, such as a tornado , you need to get to a safe place.

WORDS TO KNOW

weather: what its like outside in terms of temperature, cloudiness, rainfall, and wind.

tornado: a violent, twisting column of air.

The weather you experience depends on where you live, and it can vary quite a lot from day to day. The climate is the average type of weather a place gets during the entire year and longer.

WORDS TO KNOW

climate: the average weather in an area during a long period of time.

equator: the imaginary line around the earth halfway between the North and South Poles.

region: a large area of the earth.

weather pattern: repeating weather during a number of days or weeks or months.

desert: an area that lacks water, receiving 10 inches or less of precipitation each year.

WHAT IS CLIMATE?

You may live in an area that gets a ton of snow in the winter. But your cousin might live nearer to the equator , where its hot and they wear shorts for most of the year.

Whats up? Why the difference? Different regions have different weather patterns . What we call weather is really something that we measure during a short period of timewas it raining yesterday or last week? Is it hot today? Climate is measured during the course of many, many years.

When you think of Africa, what kind of weather do you think of? Probably hot and dry. What about the North Pole? Brr! Cold and snowy. Thats the climate of those areas. But on any one day, it could rain in the desert of Africa or even be chilly. Thats called weather. But the general trend, or climate, is hot and dry.

WORDS TO KNOW

meteorologist: a person who studies the science of weather and climate.

atmosphere: the blanket of air surrounding the earth.

air mass: a large pocket of air that is different from the air around it.

air pressure: the force of the gases surrounding the earth pressing downward.

predict: to say what will happen in the future.

crop: a plant grown for food and other uses.

forecast: to make a prediction of the weather.

PREDICTING THE WEATHER

Have you ever turned on the computer, television, or radio and heard someone telling you what the weather will be for the week? People who study the weather are called meteorologists .

Meteorologists observe what is happening in the atmosphere , including the movement of air masses , changing temperatures, and rising and falling air pressure . They use these observations to predict what the weather will be like in an hour, tomorrow, or next week.

Accurate weather predictions are important for planning. Farmers need to know when to plant their crops . Airlines need to know if it will be safe to fly. Schools need to know if classes should be canceled.

But there are so many things that go into figuring out what the weather is going to do that even meteorologists can get it wrong. Sometimes, meteorologists forecast that its going to rain buckets, and you end up with a day of only drizzle! Its not an exact science.

Learn more about the difference between weather and climate in this video .

CRASH COURSE WEATHER

WORDS TO KNOW

altitude: the height above the level of the sea. Also called elevation.

humidity: the amount of moisture in the air.

LOOKS LIKE NICE WEATHER!