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Students learn about evidence for Earth's rotation by making observations of a Foucault pendulum video and a Coriolis effect simulator. Students then provide reasoning for why the evidence they have investigated supports the claim that the Earth rotates. Additionally, students learn about the concept of time zones by graphing time vs longitude data and creating an algebraic model to represent the relationship between time and latitude.

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.

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.