sil Gizmos
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Student Exploration: Coastal Winds and Clouds
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) A hot-air balloon contains a propane burner that directs hot air into the interior of the balloon. You can see the flames in the photo at left.
1. What happens when the air inside the balloon is heated?
2. What might happen if the burner was turned off?
Gizmo Warm-up Have you ever taken a walk along an ocean beach and noticed a refreshing breeze blowing in from the water? The cause of this breeze, called a sea breeze, is related to the reason that a hot-air balloon is able to fly high in the sky. The Coastal Winds and Clouds Gizmo allows you to explore how daily temperature variations are related to sea breezes and other weather phenomena.
Click Play (), and watch the Gizmo for 24 simulated hours, focusing on the sailboat.
1. Click Pause (") when the sailboat starts moving towards the shore. This represents the
start of the sea breeze. What time is it?
2.
Click Play, and then click Pause when the sailboat starts moving out to sea again. This
represents the start of the land breeze. What time is it now?
3.
Click Play, and now observe the clouds for a day. What do you notice?
Reproduction for educational use only.Public sharing or posting is prohibited
2019 ExploreLearningAll rights reservec
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting is prohibited.
2019 ExploreLearningAll rights reserved
Activity A: Temperature and wind
Get the Gizmo ready: Click Reset (_). : Turn on the Weather probe.
Question: How is wind speed and direction related to air temperature?
1. Think about it: Imagine a pocket of air over the land ("land air"), and another pocket of air over the ocean ("ocean air").
A. Which air pocket would you expect to heat up more during the day?
Why?
B. Which air pocket would you expect to cool down more at night?
Why?
2. Gather data: Check that the time is 6:00 A.M. Drag the Weather probe so that it is on the ocean's surface (Alt. 0 ft) on the left side of the Gizmo, and record the air temperature. Then, repeat with the probe on the land on the right side of the Gizmo.
Finally, move the probe to the land-sea boundary and record the type of breeze (sea or land breeze) and wind speed. Record data for each time listed in the table below. (Note: Stopping the simulation at the exact time is not necessary, just get close.)
Ocean air
Land air
Sea breeze or temperature ('C) Iand breeze?
Time temperature ('C) 6:00 A.M. 9:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 3:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. 9:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 3:00 A.M.
Wind speed (km/h)
3 Calculate: For both the ocean air temperature column and land air temperature column, find the temperature range by subtracting the lowest temperature from the highest.
A. How much does the temperature over the ocean change in o