EarthStorm

The following lessons are available online and in print as part of the OCS Weather Series. Most materials are aimed at the middle school grade level, but many can be modified by the teacher to be more or less difficult, as desired. The lessons typically require environmental data and many can be used with recent or real time data. The lessons contain a list of prerequisites for the activity, suggested grade levels, an overview of the lesson content, ideas for the teacher to apply the lesson, the experiment, and several questions.

Icons are used to indicate appropriate grade level, subject matter, activity time, and computer, data, and telecommunications requirements. A list of the icons used can be found here.

For data interpretation classroom activities go here.

Lessons marked with this icon include data within the lesson.

Meteorological Variables		Relative Humidity & Dew Point In this activity, relative humidity and dewpoint temperature are compared to study why one of these variables may be more useful than the other in weather forecasting.
		Moisture Advection The movement of moisture from one location to another by the wind is an essential process for the development of clouds in locations separated from large bodies of water. Students will observe how the moisture changes during a day and make conclusions regarding why the moisture changed in different parts of Oklahoma.
		Diurnal Temperature Changes and Water Vapor Content In this lesson, students will examine the greenhouse effect, as they determine how moisture in the air affects the diurnal temperature range. Their investigation will help them to understand different climatological regimes of both the Southern Great Plains and the world.

The Earth-Atmosphere System		Sunrise and Sunset This activity helps students to use a graph of daily solar radiation to determine the times of sunrise and sunset. Students also compare how sunrise, sunset, and the length of the day changes with latitude and longitude.
		The Seasons If students think that the seasons are caused by Earth being closer to or farther from the sun during certain times of the year, then this activity is a must for any teacher. This activity helps to solidify in the students' minds the reason for the seasons.
		Length of the Day & the Seasons As a follow-up to "The Seasons", this lesson requires the student to use solar radiation measurements to determine the season of the year.

Radiation and Energy Transfer		An Overview of Solar Radiation This activity is a mathematical exercise to determine the "constants" that help define the radiation budget of the sun-Earth-atmosphere system. Two basic algebraic laws of radiation are used: the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and Wien's displacement law.
		Specific Heat of Air and Soil The heating and cooling of Earth's soil has a dramatic impact on the weather. In this exercise, students will begin to understand how the specific heat of air and soil affects their heating and cooling rates.
		Specific Heat and Insulation This activity is an expansion of "Specific Heat of Air and Soil". In this case, students will examine the heating and cooling rates of soil with and without natural sod cover.
		Albedo In this lesson, students use incoming and outgoing solar radiation data to compute the ratio of the sun's reflected versus incident radiation at the earth's surface. This ratio, called the albedo, is of upmost importance in the earth-atmosphere energy budget.
		Upwelling Terrestrial Radiation The Stefan-Boltzmann Law is a fundamental law of physics. In this exercise, students will use this law and the near-ground air temperature to compute the irradiance emitted by the earth's surface. Then comparisons will be made with actual observations of this variable, called upwelling terrestrial radiation.
		Daily Radiation Balance This lesson is designed to provide students an understanding of how much radiative energy heats and cools the earth's surface on a daily basis. Students will try to determine whether the surface is in radiative equilibrium.
		The Effect of Rain on Morning Temperatures Does a rain event during the night have any influence on the air temperature the following morning? In this lab, students will strive to answer this question and others.

Clouds		Clouds and Solar Radiation Most people are aware that clouds impact the amount of solar energy that is received at the ground. This lesson examines qualitative and quantitative aspects of how clouds affect incoming solar radiation.
		How Do Clouds Affect Radiative Energy? In this activity, students will calculate the amount of radiative energy reaching the ground on a clear day, a day with cirrus overcast, and a day with significant cumulus convection. Comparisons will be made to begin to determine how clouds affect the solar radiation received at Earth's surface.

Mid-Latitude Weather Systems		Air Masses The type of air mass that covers an area will impact its weather significantly. In this lesson, students will classify the air masses over Oklahoma by examining the temperature and moisture content of the air across the state.
		Air Masses & Fronts This lesson extends the "Air Masses" activity by examining weather fronts, which are boundaries between two air masses.

Warm, Cold, and Stationary Fronts

Cold Front Characteristics
In this activity, students will study the weather conditions before, during, and after cold front passage. Two cold front examples are provided so that comparisons can be made.

Thunderstorms		Dryline Characteristics The dryline is a significant atmospheric feature in the U.S. Southern Plains, especially during the spring storm season. In this activity, students will learn how to recognize the dryline from a set of maps.
		Thunderstorm Outflow I Most students are familiar with the cool gust of air from a thunderstorm before and during rainfall. This region of cool air is the "thunderstorm outflow" and it results from the thunderstorm's downdraft. In this activity, the students will examine how the thunderstorm outflow can be measured by the Oklahoma Mesonet.

Climatology

The Accuracy of Climate Data
Sometimes students do not think about how data values are measured and reported. This habit can lead to misinterpretation of the data, at best, influencing a student's grade in class and, at worst, influencing public policy and government spending. This activity reminds students that data are simply measurements, for better or worse, and that a knowledge of how the data were measured and processed is necessary for proper interpretation of the information.