Matt Whitton
WebQuest – Weather Crisis!
Introduction
As we’ve learned already, a meteorologist is someone who studies the science behind the weather, and uses that understanding to try and predict what weather is coming up (forecasting). Without trained meteorologists, there’s no weather forecasting. Who depends on the weather forecast? Well, not just you and me when we get up in the morning – without accurate forecasts there would be big problems for agriculture, power plants, tourism, air, sea and road travel, and environmental management. Big storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes can cause death and destruction, and lives are saved by accurate forecasts.
Unfortunately – there’s a problem! All the lecturers who were due to give training at the forthcoming California Meteorology Conference have chronic food poisoning and cannot attend. Who will train the meteorologists of the future about the role of air masses and fronts in creating our weather?
Task
The problem: There’s a crisis in weather forecasting – who will deliver the information needed to inform the meteorologists of tomorrow? It’s up to you!
The task: In groups of four, you will research and then provide scientific knowledge explaining how air masses and fronts affect the weather for presentation at the upcoming California Meteorology Conference, and thus allow the meteorologists of the future to do their job.
The output: At the end of the WebQuest, you will individually complete two research worksheets on air masses and fronts. You will also take two online quizzes as a team.
Evaluation: See the end of the WebQuest for how you will be graded for this task.
Process
Step 1 (Lesson 1): Research into Air Masses
You will achieve this task in groups of four. (To see how you will be evaluated, have a look at the rubric). You will each need a copy of the research worksheet.
Now you need to find out what an air mass is. Go to the following websites, and use the information you find to complete Part 1 of the research worksheet.
(Hint: Don’t worry about Continental Arctic (cA))
(Gh)/guides/mtr/af/arms/home.rxml
Step 2: Now, in your group, you each need to choose one of the four main types of air mass that influences weather in North America to research. Then go to the following websites, and find out all you can about your chosen air mass. Use the information to make notes and draw diagrams and complete Part 2 of the research worksheet.
Step 3: Quiz time!
Before we move on to fronts, it’s time to see how much you know. Work together, and tell each other what you learned about your air mass. Listen to your team-mates, and fill in the three columns in Part 3 of the research worksheet.
Now, as a team, take the quiz:
( ).
Discuss the answers together (use your text-book for help), take the quiz, click on ‘submit your answers for grading’, and then call me over.
Step 4 (Lesson 2): Research into Weather fronts
Now you are going to research weather fronts as a group. Chose to research one of the four main types of weather fronts:
i) Cold fronts
ii) Warm fronts
ii) Occluded fronts
iv) Stationary fronts
Go to the following websites, and find out all you can about your chosen front. Use the information to make notes and draw diagrams and complete Part 2 of the research worksheet.
(Introduction to fronts)
(Gh)/guides/mtr/af/frnts/cfrnt/def.rxml (cold)
(Gh)/guides/mtr/af/frnts/wfrnt/def.rxml (warm)
(Gh)/guides/mtr/af/frnts/ofdef.rxml (occluded)
(Gh)/guides/mtr/af/frnts/sfdef.rxml (stationary)
(animation of weather fronts in motion)
Step 5: Quiz time!
It’s time once again to see how much you know. Work together, and tell each other what you learned about your front. Listen to your team-mates, and fill in the three columns in Part 3 of the research worksheet.
Now as a team, take the quiz:
( ).
Discuss the answers together (use your text-book for help), take the quiz, click on ‘submit your answers for grading’, and then call me over.
Evaluation
You will be individually evaluated on your research worksheets:
Personal Rubric:
| |Excellent |Good (4 points) |OK (3 points) |Poor (2 points) |
| |(5 points) | | | |
|Air Mass worksheet |The worksheet was completed |The worksheet was completed |The worksheet was mostly |The worksheet was incomplete. |
| |accurately and in depth. The |with good accuracy and in |completed and with some |The notes and diagrams in Part |
| |notes and diagrams in Part 2 |depth. The notes and diagrams |accuracy. The notes and |2 show little evidence of |
| |show knowledge gleaned from the|in Part 2 show knowledge |diagrams in Part 2 show |knowledge gleaned from the |
| |websites, good annotation and |gleaned from most of the |knowledge gleaned from some of |websites, and annotation is |
| |accurate labeling, and Part 3 |websites, good annotation and |the websites, there is some |poor or non-existent. Part 3 is|
| |is filled out entirely and |accurate labeling, and Part 3 |annotation and Part 3 is filled|incomplete. |
| |accurately. |is filled out entirely. |out in places. | |
| |Excellent |Good (4 points) |OK (3 points) |Poor (2 points) |
| |(5 points) | | | |
|Fronts worksheet |The worksheet was completed |The worksheet was completed |The worksheet was mostly |The worksheet was incomplete. |
| |accurately and in depth. The |with good accuracy and in |completed and with some |The notes and diagrams in Part |
| |notes and diagrams in Part 2 |depth. The notes and diagrams |accuracy. The notes and |2 show little evidence of |
| |show knowledge gleaned from the|in Part 2 show knowledge |diagrams in Part 2 show |knowledge gleaned from the |
| |websites, good annotation and |gleaned from most of the |knowledge gleaned from some of |websites, and annotation is |
| |accurate labeling, and Part 3 |websites, good annotation and |the websites, there is some |poor or non-existent. Part 3 is|
| |is filled out entirely and |accurate labeling, and Part 3 |annotation and Part 3 is filled|incomplete. |
| |accurately. |is filled out entirely. |out in places. | |
Conclusion
Congratulations expert meteorologists! By the end of the WebQuest you should all be able to explain in detail what an air mass is, how it is categorized, what air masses influence the weather here in North America, and what happens at the boundaries of the air masses.
Now that you’ve investigated weather fronts and air masses, perhaps you want to look deeper into more extreme weather? If your interest has been piqued, you can check out the following websites to learn more:
(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/home.rxml (hurricanes)
(Gh)/guides/mtr/svr/home.rxml (severe storms)
And for careers in meteorology:
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