Storms in Science
We have officially started our Storms unit!
We started by investigating vortices in a bottle and discussing how storms form. We found that in the Northern Hemisphere storms with a vortex always rotate counter-clockwise and heat is needed to get storms brewing! We used beads and glitter to represent debris so we could see how heavier and lighter objects would move inside or outside of a storm’s vortex.
In other investigations we studied different surfaces of earth and how those surfaces effected the temperature of air. We learned that the sun gives off radiation and directly heats earth’s surfaces; mostly water absorbs the sun’s heat. The remainder of the radiation is reflected. Students, do you remember why the sun’s radiation is reflected? Where do the radiation rays go when they are reflected?
We also had an in-depth discussion about earth’s atmosphere and layered cake! Wait, what?! Yes! Layered cake. Our earth is like a yummy layered cake in that our atmosphere has many different layers, each with different characteristics and a variety of purposes. Students, in which layer do satellites and space craft fly? Which layer consists of our ozone layer? If I asked you to explain the Greenhouse Effect and talk about greenhouse gases, would you be able to do so? I sure hope so. You might see that on a test. Hint Hint. 
In our latest investigation we used punk sticks as a smoke source so we could visually see how air moves when it is cold and when it is hot. We used ice and boiling water for this inquiry and put each of these items inside a convection tube. From there we added our smoke source, the punk stick, placing it through a funnel. We then turned out the lights, turned on the flashlight, and watched our smoke billow and swirl! We even saw a few vortices! Students, go back and reflect how the cold air moved. How did the hot air move? Where did the cold/hot air come out in the convection tube? The top or bottom? Think of how this relates to the air around you!
I am posting pictures of the past few investigations we have conducted. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments. See you guys on Monday. I have missed you all and hated to be out sick! 
