Extreme weather - ABC Splash Home > Topics > Extreme weather Extreme weather Image source: Tropical Cyclone Inigo approaching northwest Australia, 2003, courtesy NASA/GAFC (Wikimedia Commons) Cracking up! Watch scientists investigate water movement through soil that has been cracked by drought. Science Year: 7 Tracking ice clouds Fly into a massive thunderstorm with pilots and scientists as they study how global warming could affect storms. Science Year: 10 Cracking up! Science Year: 7 Tracking ice clouds Science Year: 10 Devastating bushfires hit Victoria, 2009 Investigate Victoria's devastating bushfires of 2009 and find out why they have been called Australia's worst ever natural disaster. Science Year: 6 Monster tornadoes tear through America What sounds like a freight train and can pick a house up off its foundations? Cyclone Yasi hits Queensland, 2011 Imagine your house being battered by 285 km per hour winds! Australia's east coast hit by floods, 20... Visit the 'big wet' by camel as the dese... Science Years: 5,6 9
Information on wildfires for young people Out of the many natural disasters we have, wild fires would be one that is very common, very difficult to fight, and maybe the most dangerous. What is a fire? Simple, it is the visible part of a combustion. A combustion is a chemical reaction of three things: Heat, fuel and Oxygen. These three ingredients must be present before a fire can be made and maintained. This is simply a gas found in air. Fuel: Fuel is any kind of combustible material. Heat: Heat is thermal energy. Water Cycle in a Bag Activity for ages 3 to 7. I’m always on the lookout for simple, fun kids’ science activities so when I ran across this water cycle in a bag I couldn’t wait to give it a try. It was a quick prep activity that had a big payoff – my boys watched the water do its thing for days. I hope you love this water cycle in a bag too. P.S. Getting Ready I grabbed a Ziploc sandwich bag from our pantry and used a black Sharpie to draw a sun, cloud and water. Water Cycle in a Bag Big Brother carefully unscrewed the lid to the food coloring and squeezed four big drops into the water. Then Middle Brother slowly poured the now blue water into the Ziploc while Big Brother held it open for him. Big Brother ran his fingers along the seal several times to make sure it was closed tight and then passed the bag over to me so that I could give it a double check. We used tape to hang the bag on the window and then sat back and watched it work. The Science Behind It Find More Malia Hollowell
Weather Wiz Kids weather information for kids Wind What is wind? Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Since the earth’s surface is made of various land and water formations, it absorbs the sun’s radiation unevenly. What causes the wind to blow? What is a windstorm? What is a gust front? What is a downburst? What is a monsoon? What are the trade winds? What are the polar easterlies? What is a land breeze? How is wind helpful to Earth? What are some different types of wind names? Beaufort Scale The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure for the intensity of the weather based mainly on wind power. Wind Activities Lesson Plan: Here is a great activity the shows students how the winds work across the globe.Wind Experiment: Here is a great experiment that allows the kids to find out what's in the wind. Pinwheel Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to make a pinwheel to see how wind is created.
Natural Disasters 1. Most natural disasters are caused by weather. Weather disasters can be caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, thunderstorms, wind storms, wildfires, avalanches, and blizzards. 2. Some of the weather disasters can be predicted such as hurricanes and blizzards. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Make A Cloud - We Made That 46K+Do your kids ever ask you how a cloud is made? My oldest asks me that a lot, and although I can explain it to her I thought it would be a LOT more fun to let her make a cloud. That is why we decided to try this experiment. One of the coolest things about this experiment is that you can actually see the cloud building up in the jar and then when you take the lid off you can touch it. What is happening with this experiment? Check out our SCIENCE board on Pintrest for more Experiments! Supplies Jar With Lid Warm Water (should be steaming a little but not boiling) Ice Match Directions Pour warm water in the bottom of your jar. Light a match and throw into jar then replace lid. Watch the cloud form, and how it moves in a circular pattern in the jar. Open the Jar and let your cloud free! As the cloud is leaving the jar you can touch it to see what it feels like.
What are winds? How are winds formed? What are winds? A 'wind' is simply the flow of a huge amount of air, usually from a high pressure-area to a low-pressure area. How are winds formed? Typically, this begins with the sun’s radiation, which is absorbed differently on the earth’s surface. As a result of this uneven heating, there are bound to be earth surfaces that vary a lot in temperature. Important: Hot air rises and cool air sinks. Let us see this illustration below showing pressure and wind direction: In the diagram above, notice how cool air falls, resulting in high pressure, and moving towards regions of low pressure. Anywhere and each time there are differences in atmospheric (air) pressure, there will be a wind, because air will move from the high-pressure area to the low-pressure area. A good example is how tropical depression forms, where warm air over hot tropical waters rise, and high-pressure cold air quickly rushing to fill the space. Did you know?
What is an Earthquake Introduction to Earthquakes & Tsunamis Turn on the TV or read the newspapers and almost always there is something devastating happening somewhere as a result of sheer nature's power. Examples of such natural occurrences are hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, flooding, earthquakes and tsunamis. These are usually not caused directly by humans, but their effects live with us for a long time. What is an Earthquake? Simply, earthquakes are the rumblings, shaking or rolling of the earth's surface. Earthquakes come in many forms. Foreshocks, Mainshocks and Aftershocks: Sometimes, there are smaller shocks that occur before (foreshock) and after (aftershock) a main earthquake (mainshock). Earthquakes are also called temblors. It is important to understand the earth’s makeup to help understand earthquakes better. The Mantle is semi-molten rock, also called magma. Earthquakes are developed in the outer crust of the earth.
What is a flood? Introduction to Flooding Many of us have this idea that floods (or flooding) is simply, too much water around your house. People think that can be fun. Wrong. Flooding is a lot more than that. Flooding is extremely dangerous and has the potential to wipe away an entire city, coastline or area, and cause extensive damage to life and property. What is a flood? It is a natural event or occurrence where a piece of land (or area) that is usually dry land, suddenly gets submerged under water. When floods happen in an area that people live, the water carries along objects like houses, bridges, cars, furniture and even people. Floods occur at irregular intervals and vary in size, duration and the affected area. It is important to note that water naturally flows from high areas to low lying areas. In this lesson, we shall see more about what causes flooding, the types of flooding, some effects of floods and what we can do before, during and after floods occur.
Weather Wiz Kids weather information for kids