Oceans and Climates Level: 7th Grade Time Frame: 1 Quarter  Description: This unit involves a study of Earth's atmosphere and its role in regulating temperature.  Ocean features and currents are examined.  Air and water pressure are illustrated with laboratory activities.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Learning Objectives

• Compare and contrast Earth with nearby planets.

• Describe how specific factors affect Earth's temperature.

• Describe the greenhouse effect, its causes, and its possible consequences.

• Identify the greenhouse gases and their sources.

• Explain why some regions of the world are warmer or colder than others.

• Explain how heat is absorbed and released in the water cycle.

• Calculate dew-point given the thermometers and dew-point tables.>

• Describe the effect of altitude on temperature.

• Describe several geologic features of the ocean bottom.

• Describe the adaptation of living organisms to ocean ecosystems.

• Relate global warming to processes occurring in the ocean.

• Explain Count Marsili's solution to the Mediterranean puzzle.

• Calculate the density of a substance using a metric balance and a graduated cylinder.

• Explain why ocean water varies in density.

• Describe the causes and effects of ocean currents.

• Describe the relationship between the density currents that occur in air and in water.

• Describe land and sea breezes and the trade winds in terms of the unequal heating of air that causes density differences.

• Explain how different air masses form.

• Describe the characteristics of the air in a given air mass.

• Interpret weather maps in terms of moving fronts.

• Explain the relationship between pressure and altitude in the atmosphere.

• Explain the relationship between pressure and the depth in the ocean.

• Calculate pressure using the weight of an object and the area on which the force is exerted.

• Describe the direction in which moving objects will be deflected in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

• Describe the locations and directions of the major ocean currents and winds.

• Discuss the causes and effects of El Niño and the Gulf Stream.

• Describe the cause of hurricanes.

• Interpret isobars on a weather map.

• Predict wind direction and air pressure form weather maps.

• Explain why winds blow in certain patterns in high- and low-pressure systems.

Standards

Illinois Learning Standards (Middle School)- As a result of their schooling students will be able to: 

12.E.    Know and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the Earth and its resources:

12.E.3a      Analyze and explain large-scale dynamic forces, events and processes that affect the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems (e.g., jetstream, hurricanes, plate tectonics).

12.E.3b      Describe interactions between solid earth, oceans, atmosphere and organisms that have resulted in ongoing changes of Earth (e.g., erosion, El Nino).  

11A.    Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry:

11.A.3a      Formulate hypotheses that can be tested by collecting data.

11.A.3b     Conduct scientific experiments that control all but one variable. 11.A.3c      Collect and record data accurately using consistent measuring and recording techniques and media.

11.A.3d     Explain the existence of unexpected results in a data set.

11.A.3e      Use data manipulation tools and quantitative (e.g., mean, mode, simple equations) and representational methods (e.g., simulations, image processing) to analyze measurements.

11.A.3f      Interpret and represent results of analysis to produce findings.

11.A.3g      Report and display the process and results of a scientific investigation

Illinois Science Assessment Framework- For the 7^th grade ISAT, students are expected to be able to:

 12.7.83   Compare seasonal climates in major regions of the globe, considering effects of latitude, altitude, and

               geography. (I.e., 1. Higher altitude generally means colder temperatures, and lower air pressure;

               2. Places along the equator have a 12 hour day and a 12 hour night every day of the year, and do

               not have strict seasons; 3. Places along latitudes between the equator and one of the earth’s poles

               have seasons, and differing amounts of daylight throughout the year; they have a longest day, a

               shortest day, and two equinoxes on which the daylight lasts for 12 hours; 4. Places along the

               Arctic and Antarctic circles have one day of exactly 24-hour daylight, and one day of exactly 24-

               hour darkness each year).
12.7.88   Understand that changes in climate (e.g., the ice ages) have affected the distribution of living things on

              Earth. A change in climate from warm to cold might force many animals to move closer to the equator in

              order to survive. Identify dynamic forces that affect land and water distributions between solid Earth,

              oceans, atmosphere, and organisms
12.7.91   Understand that the atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and trace gases that include

              water vapor and carbon dioxide.  Understand that atmospheric conditions change as one changes

              altitude.
12.7.92   Understand that clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.

              Understand that clouds cause precipitation and lightning, and that they insulate heat and moisture in the

              air.
12.7.93   Understand that patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Understand that oceans have

              a major effect on climate because water in the oceans holds and distributes a large amount of heat.
12.7.94   Identify the basic stages in the hydrologic cycle on Earth, namely evaporation, condensation, and

              precipitation
12.7.95   Understand that water is a solvent
12.7.96   Know that about three fourths of the earth is covered with water. Understand that most of the earth’s

              water is salt water (oceans), and only about 3 percent of the earth’s water is freshwater. Know that

              freshwater is found mainly in ice caps, glacier, lakes, rivers, and the atmosphere.

National Science Education Standards: Earth and Space Science- As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of Earth

• Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

• Water is a solvent. As it passes through the water cycle it dissolves minerals and gases and carries them to the oceans.

• The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations.

• Clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.

• Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.

• Living organisms have played many roles in the earth system, including affecting the composition of the atmosphere, producing some types of rocks, and contributing to the weathering of rocks.
   

Benchmarks for Science Literacy- By the end of 8^th grade, students should know that:

• Climates have sometimes changed abruptly in the past as a result of changes in the earth's crust, such as volcanic eruptions or impacts of huge rocks from space. Even relatively small changes in atmospheric or ocean content can have widespread effects on climate if the change lasts long enough.

• The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining climatic patterns. Water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises and cools, condenses into rain or snow, and falls again to the surface. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the ocean.
• The benefits of the earth's resources—such as fresh water, air, soil, and trees—can be reduced by using them wastefully or by deliberately or inadvertently destroying them.
• Fresh water, limited in supply, is essential for life and also for most industrial processes. Rivers, lakes, and groundwater can be depleted or polluted, becoming unavailable or unsuitable for life.
• Heat energy carried by ocean currents has a strong influence on climate around the world.
• The atmosphere and the oceans have a limited capacity to absorb wastes and recycle materials naturally. Cleaning up polluted air, water, or soil or restoring depleted soil, forests, or fishing grounds can be very difficult and costly.
• Human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere, and intensive farming, have changed the earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. Some of these changes have decreased the capacity of the environment to support some life forms.

Resources

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800