Module VI

Essential Question: How are the Earth, atmosphere and cultures all connected?


Explain~
The Six Principles of Weather on YouTube explained that there are many factors that contribute to our Earth's climate. The interactive presentation Giving Rise to the Jet Stream, by Nova on TD tells us that, "Nearly all forms of weather, including Earth's most powerful winds, can be attributed to the fact that the Sun warms our planet unevenly." This information was explained to us in great detail in our last module and highlighted in in the YouTube video What Causes Earth's Seasons? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuiQvPLWziQ&feature=related

Low and high pressure areas and the resulting movement of air is transferring pollutants into our Arctic regions. http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ipy07.sci.life.eco.pcbfoodchain/ This information should illustrate to us clearly that taking care of our own backyard is not enough. What our neighbors in more populated areas are doing greatly effects our communities as well as theirs. It could be said that we are "down wind" of them, or even more precisely in Alaska we're "down stream".

Extend~
Our atmosphere is fluid. It is like water, it moves and flows. I guess this explains why on the flight returning from Maui to Anchorage last week my family spent 45 minutes feeling like we were inside of a washing machine on the spin cycle. Our pilot explained that the "ding, ding, ding" we were hearing meant to return to your seats until further notice. In my mind it meant this might be the end, we're going down! After a few minutes the pilot came back on and explained we were flying through the jet stream and we were experiencing some bumpy conditions due to the high winds. She said she would try to change our elevation to see if we could find some smoother air. I suppose that information was intended to be calming. I just hoped that the change in elevation meant that we would be flying lower so that our crash landing would be softer. In time I realized I guess we'd make it through the turbulence and that our pilots sounded pretty calm if we were really going down! I guess they probably have studied a bit about our Earth's weather systems.

I particularly liked the illustration of the atmospher on TD in this module. Try clicking on the "add objects" box. Check it out at www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_int_vertical/. It was an excellent visual demonstration of where our little plane from Maui was flying in relation to the Earth.

Evaluate~
It's really something to think about... the question, I mean of, Why is global warming so clear scientifically and why is there such debate whether it is really happening in the media?

The following in an excerpt from from an article on ADN.com titled: Lawmakers Tone Down Effort to Overturn Polar Bear Listing

"As much as 90 percent of Alaska's general fund revenue is generated by the petroleum industry. Lawmakers fear restrictions to protect polar bears, Cook Inlet beluga whales or other listed species could diminish prospects for oil that could be shipped south through the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline or for natural gas that could fill a proposed multi billion dollar pipeline.

Majority lawmakers in the Alaska Legislature have been frank about their skepticism that polar bears are in danger from global warming, which they have characterized as a blip in the Earth's weather history. Both the House and Senate in 2007 passed resolutions urging the Bush administration to reject listing polar bears."

By DAN JOLING
The Associated Press

As educators we need to continue to study the reasons for our change in temperature. We need to encourage our students to ask the right questions and do the right thing for our environment. Looking closely at the patterns in our atmosphere may be the clue that we are looking for.

Photo credits: sun, Bing.com
birds, Brad Mieklejohn