Weather

See [] =Weather = 'Weather' and 'climate' are two very different things, and it is important to understand the difference between the two, as well as understanding the relationship between them. **Weather** is the short-term pattern of atmospheric conditions, including temperature, precipitation, winds, and humidity, that prevail over time periods of days, weeks, and even seasons. Weather has a large effect on our daily lives; anything from everyday choices, such as how to dress, to bigger decisions, such as when and where to vacation or plant a garden. The fundamental causes of weather are surface temperature and, to a lesser extent, altitude. Because the Earth's axis is tilted, its orbit will affect the amount of energy received at a particular point on the Earth throughout the year, thereby affecting surface temperatures. This effect is also what causes seasons and may influence long-term weather patterns. Small changes within the Earth system can potentially have large effects, making it difficult to predict short-term weather changes more than a few days in advance, although forecasters continually work to extend this limit. To make predictions, weather forecasters typically rely on observations of atmospheric conditions, including temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction. This information is used and modified according to specific local influences, such as topography or the proximity to large bodies of water. Yet, even with sophisticated computer models, satellite images, and monitoring stations across most of the planet, forecasts can be inexact because it is impossible to collect and process all the relevant data, particularly when atmospheric conditions are changing rapidly.   World Weather 2010 The Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois provides what is probably the best collection of educational weather resources on the web ? combining concise, accessible, scientifically accurate information.  UM Weather: Connecting You to the World of Weather The Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan provides access to thousands of forecasts, satellite images, and the largest collection of weather-related links on the internet.  National Weather Service For information on forecasting and about the weather in general, the first place to turn is the National Weather Service. Since 1870, it has been the authority in weather prediction in the United States, and has a Climate Prediction Center that also studies long term weather conditions and changes.  USA Today: Weather Forecasting This website provides substantive weather knowledge that students can use, with pages on winds, fronts, storms, and El Niño. There is also a page devoted to questions about weather, compiled by a science journalist and the weather editor of USAToday.com.

DATA & MAPS
 World Climate: Weather, Rainfall, and Temperature Data This website allows users to search by city to learn what average weather conditions are for areas all over the world. There is also a section that answers frequently asked questions.

FOR THE CLASSROOM
 Weather Scope: An Investigative Study of Weather & Climate Through these five activities, created by the Stevens Institute of Technology, students learn how to describe weather quantitatively and record information in graphs and maps. The website also includes a guide for teachers, reference materials, and a student gallery.  Differences Between Climate and Weather In this University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) activity, students undertake a project that fosters an understanding and interpretation of local weather changes and how the changes relate to local climate.  Franklin's Forecast The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia named its online weather education page in honor of Benjamin Franklin, who printed early weather forecasts in his Poor Richard's Almanac. In addition to lesson plans and weather resources, there is a section on reading Doppler radar, with the history and an explanation of radar science.  The Ceres S'COOL Project In NASA's S'COOL educational project, students observe weather in coordination with satellites passing over their location and send them to a NASA database. Other students can then compare the results of the various visual and satellite observations. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> PBS NOVA: What's Up With the Weather? This PBS NOVA teacher's guide was developed to accompany NOVA's 2000 broadcast on weather and climate. The guide includes a classroom activity, with handouts and graphs, in which students examine trends in regional temperature data.