Module 3: The Atmosphere and Air - Course Guide

Module Overview:

In this module you will learn about the atmosphere, the characteristics of air, weather, clouds, climate, seasons and the human effects on the climate.

Module Materials:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Material(s)
1	The Atmosphere	pen or pencil;
2	Characteristics of Air	balloon (optional) scale (optional) houseplant clear plastic bag pen or pencil
3	Weather	pen or pencil;
4	Types of Weather and Clouds	2-liter plastic bottle a match pen or pencil
5	Observing Weather	pen or pencil;
6	Understanding Climate	pen or pencil;
7	Climate Types and the Seasons	inflatable globe lamp markers pen or pencil crayons or colored pencils glue (optional)
8	Human Effects on Climate	pen or pencil;

Module Objectives:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Objective(s)
1	The Atmosphere	Name and describe the five layers of the atmosphere. Explain why the sky is blue.
2	Characteristics of Air	Describe characteristics of water in the atmosphere, including humidity, dew point, evaporation, transpiration, and condensation.
3	Weather	Define weather and the ingredients needed to make weather.
4	Types of Weather and Clouds	Define the different types of weather. Identify the different types of clouds.
5	Observing Weather	Define each type of instrument meteorologists use to study and forecast the weather.
6	Understanding Climate	Identify several key factors that affect climate. Describe several types of climate.
7	Climate Types and the Seasons	Describe the reason Earth has seasons.
8	Human Effects on Climate	Explain examples of human effects upon climate.

Module Key Words:

Key Words
atmosphere layers air humidity water cycle transpiration weather energy troposphere clouds weather instruments forecasting meteorologist weather pattern climate latitude elevation seasons Earth's cycles climate change human interaction global warming

Module Assignments:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Page #	Assignment Title
2	Characteristics of Air	6	Transpiration Assignment
6	Understanding Climate	4	Understanding Your Climate Assignment
7	Climate Types and the Seasons	5	Demonstrate the Seasons Assignment

Learning Coach Notes:

None

Module Guiding Questions:

When a student starts a lesson ask them questions to check for prior knowledge and understanding and to review concepts being taught. At the end of the lesson ask the questions again to see if their answer changes.

Lesson Title	Question
The Atmosphere	What is the atmosphere made of?
Characteristics of Air	What are the characteristics of air?
Weather	What is weather?
Types of Weather and Clouds	How are clouds made?
Observing Weather	How is the weather predicted?
Understanding Climate	What is the difference between weather and climate?
Climate Types and the Seasons	Why do we have different climate regions?
Human Effects on Climate	I wonder how humans effect the climate?

Module Video Questions:

When a student watches a video take time to ask them questions about what they watched. Suggested questions for the videos in this module are listed here. Suggestion: Have the student watch the entire video first all the way through. Then have them watch the video a second time, as they watch it pause the video and ask the questions.

Lesson Title	Video	Question
The Atmosphere	The Atmosphere and the Sun	What is the atmosphere? What are the layers of the atmosphere? What is the ozone layer? What layer of the atmosphere does the weather activity happen in? What role does the sun play in weather and climate? Why isn't the weather the same every day? What causes the seasons?
Characteristics of Air	Rainstorms	What are rainstorms? Why does the air sometimes feel humid? What is humidity? What is relative humidity? What holds more water vapor in the atmosphere? What is the dew point? What do scientists use to measure relative humidity?
Weather	Weather Smart: Weather	In your science notebook summarize what you learned about weather from this video.
Weather	Parts of Weather	What is weather? What are the four major ingredients that cause weather? What is a weather system? What role does the sun play in the weather?
Types of Weather and Clouds	Types of Clouds	What are clouds? How do clouds form? What are the different types of clouds? What does each type of cloud tell us about the weather? What is fog?
Observing Weather	Investigating Weather	What is a meteorologist? What tools do they use to study and predict weather?
Observing Weather	Forecasting and Weather Instruments	Write 5 things you learned about from this video in your science notebook.
Understanding Climate	Weather and Climate	What is the difference between weather and climate?
Climate Types and the Seasons	Climate	What are the three distinct weather regions on earth? Where are these regions located? What kind of climate do the tropics have? Where are the polar regions? What type of climate does the polar regions have? Describe the temperate regions.
Climate Types and the Seasons	The Reasons for the Seasons	Why do we have seasons? In your science notebook write the factors involved in Earth having seasons.
Human Effects on Climate	Discovering More About Climate	After watching this video write a summary of the effects humans have on climate.

Module Suggested Read Aloud Books:

Take time to read to your student or have them read aloud to you. Read a different book each day. While reading the book point out concepts being taught. You may purchase these books or find them at your local library. Suggested things to discuss while reading the book:

What is the main idea?
What are three things new you learned?
How does this book relate to what you are learning about?

#	Book	Author	Lexile Level
1	Earth's Atmosphere	Melissa Raé Shofner
2	National Geographic Kids Everything Weather	Kathy Furgang	950L
3	Clouds	Anne Rockwell
4	The Climate Zones	Kristen Rajczak	NC970L
5	What Is Climate Change?	Gail Herman	830L

Module Outing:

Take some time to apply what your student is learning to the real world. Suggested outings are below.

#	Outing
1	Contact a local news station and see if they give tours and will allow your student to meet with the meteorologist on staff to learn more about weather.