Title: Start Your Field Trip
1Start Your Field Trip
WEATHER
A journey is a person in itself no two are
alike.
John Steinbeck
Hey boys and girls! Im Mark Reynolds. You may
recognize me as the chief meteorologist for
Newschannel 11. Im going to be your guest tour
guide for our trip today! Im really excited, so
grab your field trip guides and lets get
started!
Click on Stop 1 to get started
2Stop 1
Lets begin here at my weather station at
Newschannel 11. Does this map look familiar? If
you have watched my weather reports, you have
probably seen it. This is a radar map that shows
precipitation over our area. Notice that there
is no precipitation showing up at this time.
3Stop 1
Here is another radar map of the United Sates.
Using the key at the top, you can see that the
northeastern part of the country is having a lot
of rainfall. What other parts of the country are
having rain?
Go ahead to Stop 2!
Hurricane Dolly/ flood warning
Answer Marks question, then click here to see if
youre correct.
Southern Texas, Gulf of Mexico, Iowa, Missouri,
Illinois, parts of Montana
4Stop 2
Tri-Cities Regional Airport
I bet some of you have been here before if you
have ever flown. Thats right! We are now at
our airport. There is a weather station that we
are going to visit that will help us learn more
about weather.
5Stop 2
Here we will learn about warm and cold fronts.
When air masses meet at a front, the collision
often results in changeable weather, or rainfall.
Look at the illustrations of cold and warm
fronts. Describe how cold and warm fronts form.
Can either kind of front bring rainy weather?
6Stop 2
Cold fronts generally move from northwest to
southeast. The air behind a cold front is
noticeably colder and drier than the air ahead of
it. As a symbol, a cold front is represented by
a solid line with triangles along the front
pointing towards the warmer air and in the
direction of movement.
7Stop 2
Warm fronts generally move from southwest to
northeast and the air behind a warm front is
warmer and more moist than the air ahead of it.
When a warm front passes through, the air becomes
warmer and more humid than it did before. A warm
front is represented by a solid line with
semicircles pointing towards the colder air and
in the direction of movement.
Go on to Stop 3
Can you spot the warm cold fronts?
8Stop 3
Here we are at the National Weather Service
Station in Morristown, TN. Here we are going to
do a SCAVENGER HUNT about how scientists use data
to study and forecast the weather. In a future
lesson with Mr. Doty, you will get to build some
of the tools and instruments they use to collect
this information!
Click on the logo above to visit the NWS website
and use your field trip guide to answer the
questions.
After you finish the SCAVENGER HUNT, click End
of Trip.
9End of Trip
Well, unfortunately our trip has reached its end.
I had an awesome time getting to explore the
world of weather with your class! Mr. Doty will
now show you a video and/or a podcast and review
what we learned today. Be sure to watch me every
night at 600 to get your forecast and learn more
about weather!
While waiting for others to finish, you may work
ahead on the definitions on the back page of your
field trip guide. Raise your hand when youre
finished, and Mr. D will start the video/podcast
for you.
Video clip www.unitedstreaming.com Podcast
10Glossary
Anemometer an instrument used to measure wind
speed. Cold front the transition zone where a
cold air mass is replacing a warmer air
mass. Meteorologist a scientist that reports
and forecasts weather conditions. Precipitation
falling products of condensation in the
atmosphere, as rain, snow, or hail. Thermometer
an instrument for measuring temperature, often
a sealed glass tube. Warm front the transition
zone where a warm air mass is replacing a cold
air mass. Weather Vane an instrument used to
measure wind direction.
11Our Virtual Field Trip
WEATHER
A journey is a person in itself no two are
alike.
John Steinbeck
Josh Doty 6th Grade Science JOHN SEVIER MIDDLE
SCHOOL Kingsport, Tennessee
12Standard Synopsis
Earth and Space Science Standard Number 8.0
Atmospheric Cycles The student will
investigate the relationships among atmospheric
conditions, weather, and climate. Learning
Expectations 8.2 Investigate the relationship
between the collection of weather data and
its interpretation.
SYNOPSIS The class will embark on a journey to
several weather testing/research centers that are
close to our school (within 50 miles) via the
internet. We will learn about weather-related
terminology information, weather-mapping, and
the instruments that are used in this field of
study. We will also have a virtual guest tour
guide, Mr. Mark Reynolds (a certified
meteorologist from one of our local stations),
join us along the way!
13Materials/Objectives
Materials
Students will use the teacher-made Field Trip
Guide as they progress through the activity. The
teacher may use this tool as a formative
assessment. To open an example of this guide in
MS Word for your own use or reference, click here.
Objectives
The students will learn about terms and concepts
related to the symbols and instruments used in
weather forecasting.
14Works Cited
www.tricities.com http//ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu www
.triflight.com www.weather.gov www.unitedstreaming
.com