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Students test out their ideas and misconceptions about moisture in the atmosphere by solving Regents-like dewpoint/relative humidity problems using the ESRT.

In this 5E instructional sequence students learn about evaporation and condensation of water in the atmosphere by observing these processes, then read a text and watch a short video that help them connect what they observed and cloud formation. Students then investigate the conditions that need to exist in order for cloud formation and precipitation to occur through a dew point/relative humidity lab and subsequent analysis.

Students test out their ideas and misconceptions about temperature in the atmosphere by applying their thinking to a new task that asks them to consider the relationship between temperature and air moisture in the atmosphere.

Students learn about convection in the atmosphere by observing a model and making connections to convection in the Earth's mantle. Students then use their understanding of pressure difference and resulting direction of wind to create their own diagrams of global wind belts, which they then revise based on observations of a model which demonstrates the impact the Coriolis Effect. Finally students consider the effect global winds have on NYC weather.

Students learn how pressure and temperature change at different altitudes of the atmosphere by analyzing secondary data and connecting it to particle diagrams of air at different altitudes. Students then refine their understanding of pressure and temperature at different altitudes by watching videos that explain these concepts. 

This booklet can be used with teams of teachers to work through the resources in Unit 5.

Since the time of their early existence, humans have both reaped the benefits and suffered the consequences of weather. In this unit, students will observe models and analyze data to learn how the interplay between atmospheric variables such as temperature, air pressure, and moisture leads to the typical and sometimes extreme weather events that humans' experience. Analyzing weather data to make predictions is a key part of this unit and students' understanding of how weather patterns can help us predict future weather events.