The Crooked, Crazy Weather Project

Students were questioned if they thought the sun heats the earth evenly?  If not then how does the sun heat the earth?  Information was given on how the sun does heat the earth and the role of the atmosphere in reflecting heat back to earth.  Students were then questioned what colour sun rays were and where the colours of the rainbow come from.  Through previous knowledge and research on the internet, the students were able to explain how sun rays reflect colour when they are bent or refracted.  Our outdoor experiment reinforced how sun rays reflect the colours of light that we see.

Notes taken from : http://www.wxdude.com/basics.html

Student Notes:
The sun causes all our weather because it heats the earth unevenly. The contrast between the hot parts and the cold parts of the earth turns our atmosphere into a powerful engine.  The engine keeps cold and warm air moving and makes changes in air pressure.  Those air pressure changes cause wind. The atmosphere acts like a big blanket over the earth, holding in the warmth and reflecting it back to earth.

Click below to watch the video presentation of this lesson.

Resources:
Weather Dude
Google Earth

Activity: 
Raindow Activity

Experiment:

Question the students about the rays of the sun.  What colour are sun rays made of?   Why do we see a rainbow after it rains?  Give each student a bottle of bubbles.  Go outside and have the students blow bubbles.  Have them explain why they can see different colours in the bubbles.  Students gain the understanding that the suns rays are reflecting at different angles, causing us to see colour.

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