SCIENCE Technology &Society NETWORK fCIENCE Te^cShocnioeltoyg y ACCESS NETWORK The guide that accompanies The All Weather Video of the Science, Technology and Society series was written by Barry Edgar. Producer: Arthur Heller Editor: Betty Gibbs Graphic Designer: Barbara Coonfer Pen & Ink Illustrations: Ray Fowler Educators in public educational institutions in Alberta may photocopy, verbally quote, or use in exams, excerpts from this publication, except material that has been credited to another source. Additional copies of the guide can be obtained, at cost plus handling and postage, from the ACCESS NETWORK Media Resource Centre. The order numbers and titles are: The All Weather Video BPN 3539-01 Toxic Wastes: A Problem in Search of a Solution The Lowdown on Food Additives 3539-02 3539-03 TBA 3539-04 TBA 3539-05 TBA 3539-06 When ordering videotapes, please use the Basic Program Number (BPN), plus the program number and title(s), on an ACCESS NETWORK order form. 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ISBN 1-895350-56-5 PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA Table of Contents The Science, Technology and Society Series i • To the Teacher...... 1 29 • Overview of The All Weather Show 1 Climate 2 Ocean Currents 14 Weather 18 Severe Weather 20 Global Climate 26 Bibliography Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Alberta Libraries https://archive.org/details/allweathervideoOOedga The Science, Technology and Society Series STS is an international science • explain how the sun’s education movement. It energy is the force behind represents the first significant weather change in the science • describe air masses and curriculum in 25 years. The STS associated cyclonic weather concept strives to broaden the phenomena scope of science education by • identify the technology integrating into the science used in forecasting weather program accurate presentations • foster an appreciation of of the nature of science, the the importance and the nature of technology and the complexity of weather interactions of science and forecasting. technology with each other and society. This video series This program examines the provides illustrative examples processes: that cause the of the relationships between weather we experience and science, technology and that are used to predict it. society. Another thread running through the video is the importance of To the Teacher accurately predicting severe T weather. Although climate is This video program is intended touched upon briefly, the main for use in first year high school focus of the program is (Science 10) as an introduction weather and the technological to a study of weather or as an network that is in place to end of unit activity. The predict it. A purpose is to show how Overview of The All science and technology, along Weather Show with human expertise, are 1 applied in meteorology. More The video begins as host Bill specifically, the video program Matheson, a professional is intended to: weather forecaster, looks at global sized phenomena and changes in these factors are briefly mentions some climate described as weather, while types. Then the program climate is the average of the focusses on regional weather conditions over several phenomena in the cyclonic years at some locale. zone of the Earth, examining and tracking the progression of The sun heats the equator a cyclone or low pressure more than the poles. When a system. Finally, local temperature gradient is phenomena are discussed, with established heat must move an emphasis on severe from hot to cold. (This is a weather, including hurricanes, statement of the second law of thunderstorms, and tornadoes. thermodynamics.) These two effects taken together set the The technology used to predict atmosphere and the oceans these phenomena is focussed into motion. The motion results upon throughout most of the as heat is transferred from the program. The radiosonde, equatorial to the polar regions weather satellites, and weather of the Earth by convection, radar (including Doppler radar) producing winds and ocean are shown, as well as the currents. standard measurement instruments. The temperature difference between equator and poles is caused by the angle at which the sun’s rays strike the Earth’s surface. When a source of radiation hits a surface at an Climate and weather are the oblique angle its energy is combined effects of air spread out over a greater area pressure, temperature, relative than it would cover if it hit the humidity, winds, and surface at a right angle. precipitation. Day to day k it explains why the equatorial Demonstration regions are the hottest. The v Earth’s axis is tilted 23.50, so the place on the Earth that Shine a f lashlight onto a blackboard so that the light receives the sun’s direct rays (known as the heat equator) beam hits the blackboard at a moves from the Tropic of right angle. Draw a chalk line Cancer on the Summer Solstice around the circle of light on to the Tropic of Capricorn on the blackboard. Repeat this the Winter Solstice. In this procedure with the flashlight shining at some other angle. program and guide, “<e quator ” refers to the heat equator. (Be sure to keep the flashlight- to-blackboard distance constant. It is easy to show that the second area is larger than the first one. The same energy is spread out more so each unit square of lit up blackboard gets less radiant energy. When this concept is applied to the Earth Purpose: To show the effect of different angles on the strength of radiation. Design: Shine a l ight on a radiometer at various angles to the plane of the vanes and count how many turns it makes in a certain time period. The distance from the radiometer to the light should be held constant. Notes: 1. A radiometer is a d evice that has vanes that spin in proportion to the radiant energy that hits them. They can be obtained through the science supply companies or in most stores that sell science toys. They cost about $15 retail (1993 price) and they have an explanation of how they work printed on the box. 2. This lab can be used to work on graphing skills, especially drawing the line of best fit. The data points usually have some scatter to them but the overall trend is that smaller angles (light beam to the surface of the vanes) produce a slower rate of turn of the vanes (90° perpendicular to the plane of the vanes is the “equator” and o° parallel to the plane of the vanes is the “north pole”). t