Unit 3, Lesson 1

If you're ready for this new unit, put your hands up! 
Anyone else excited...? No...?
Ah, well, I tried.

Today we discussed lesson 1 of unit 3. The lesson talked about weather maps and how meteorologists use them to predict what conditions a given region will experience. There are maps that chart out cloud cover, precipitation, temperatures for different areas, and where pockets of high and low pressure are found. In addition to these helpful tools, there are also maps that display fronts and the jetstream. The jetstream, a constant current of wind (similar to the current you might've heard about running through the ocean) that divides the country in half, travels at about 57 mph, 4 miles above the ground, in a west-to-east motion. It gives flights head-winds and tail-winds, which mean that if you're flying, you might arrive at your destination earlier or a tad late. Fronts are "waves" if you will that push temperature, cloud cover, and precipitation into areas north or south of the jetstream. The type of precipitation that falls varies in areas of high or low pressure, which means that the southern United States will generally be more humid, overcast, and wet than the north and midwest regions.

Problems:

1.) What substances are necessary in order for a planet to have weather? Substances that make up the atmosphere, like gases and water vapor, must be present in order for a planet to have weather. An atmosphere creates an apparatus around the planet in which weather phenomena can occur.

3.) What is a physical change? A physical change is any form that a substance takes after conditions around that substance change. An example of a physical change would be ice melting into liquid water on a hot day or when sitting at room temperature.