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Weather,Climate,andWildlife1Objectives:Attheendofthisactivity,studentswillbeableto:

1. Collectandgraphlocalweatherandclimatedata2. Describethedifferencebetweenweatherandclimate3. Explainthatdailyweatherishighlyvariablecompared

tolong-termclimatedata4. Describehowweatherismorevariablethanclimate.5. Identifywaysinwhichweatherandclimateeventsmay

affectlocalwildlifespecies.

Background:Weatherdescribestheatmosphericconditions,suchastemperature,precipitation,wind,andhumidity,onagivenday.Weatherishappeningtodayorinthenearfuture(uptotwoweeks).Climateisrepresentedbythestatisticsoftheenvironmentovertime,includingseasonalcycles,extremeevents,andyear-to-yearvariations.Climatedescribesthetrendsoftheweather2.Forinstance,inthewinter,weexpectittobecoldwithsnowonthegroundinMaine,andrelativelywarminFloridabecausetheseconditionsreflecttheclimatesthere.However,awinterdaythatiswarminMaine,oramajoricestorminFloridacanhappenbecauseweatherisvariable.TheCommunityCollaborativeRain,Hail&SnowNetworkprovidesagoodbackgroundvideoonweathervs.climate:(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHgyOa70Q7Y)Scientistslookatlargeamountsofdatatodeterminethe“normal”climateforalocationwhichisusuallycalculatedasa30-yearaverage,andcanbecomparedtoweatheronaparticulardate.Forexample,the30-yearaveragemaximumairtemperatureinRaleigh,NorthCarolina,forDecember12this54°FbutthemaximumtemperatureonDecember12,2013(consideredpartofthatday’sweather)was44°F,or10°Fbelowthe30-yearaverage.Howdoscientistsdeterminethe“normal”climateaswellasanytrendsforalocation?Theyconsiderpatternsinicecores,treerings,andsoilstodeterminehowtheclimatehasvariedinthepast(morethan100yearsago)andcontinuetomakeweatherandatmosphericobservationstokeeptrackofchangesinclimateoverthepast100yearsandintothefuture.Worldwideaveragesareusedtodetermineglobalclimate,whichisgenerallyhighlystable3.Regionalaveragescanchangewithoutchangingglobalaverages.Forinstance,itmaybecomewarmerinAfricaandcoolerinMexico,andtheglobalaveragewillstaythesame.Ifregionsoftheworldwarmwithoutbeingbalancedbyotherareasthatcool,however,thentheglobalclimatewarms4.Bothweatherandclimateaffectwildlife.Ingeneral,changesinweatherwillhavemoreshort-termeffectsthanclimate.Forinstance,oneweekofhotweatherinthemountainsmayreducedissolvedoxygenlevelsin

Contentareas:Science,mathNCEssentialStandards:Strongconnection:6.L.2.3,7.E.1.4,Possibleconnection:7.E.1.2,8.E.1.1CommonCore:R.1,R.3,R.8,W.2NextGenerationScienceStandards:MS-ESS2.AMS-LS2.A,MS_LS2.CMaterials:o Thermometers(oneforeachgroup)o SpeciesCards(severalcardsper

group)o WildlifeMatchingGame(onesetper

group)o PrintoutsofLocalWeatherand

ClimateData(oneforeachstudent)o StudentDataCollectionSheets(one

foreachstudent)o GraphPaperORGraphingSoftware

(i.e.Excel)ActivityTime:1-345-minuteclassperiods,dependingonifyouhavestudentscollecttheirowndataSetting:Classroomand/oroutside

4streams,suffocatingtrouteggs,andinturn,troutpopulationsarelowerthenextyear.However,ifmountainclimatesbecomewarmer(i.e.,thechangepersistsformanydecades),thetroutmaybeextirpated(i.e.,eliminatedinthatlocation)becausethetrouts’eggsneversurvive5.Inthisactivity,studentswillunderstandthedifferencebetweenweatherandclimateandpredicthowchangesineachmayaffectwildlife.Gettingready1.Downloadweatherandmonthlyaveragetemperaturedataforyourregion.

(a) Gotowww.accuweather.com(b) Searchforthetownwhereyourschoolislocatedinthesearchbar.(c) Select“Month”fromthemenubaralongthetop.SelecttheListviewbyclickingtheicontotherightnexttothewordView.

Thiswillprovideyouwithactualhighsandlowsfordaysinthepastandforecastedhighsandlowsfortheremainderofthemonth.Theobservationsandforecastsforthemonthwillbetheweatherdata.Thelasttwocolumnsrepresenttheaveragehighandlowsforthatdaybasedonpastdecades.Thisrepresentsthenormaltemperaturerangesbasedonyourclimate.2. DownloadagraphoftheaveragetemperatureintheUSforthelastcentury.

a. Gotohttp://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/.b. Selectthefollowingoptions:

i. Parameter:Averagetemperatureii. TimeScale:12-monthiii. Month:themonthyouarecurrentlyiniv. Startyear:1895;endyear:currentyearv. State/Region:yourstate vi. ClimateDivision/City:yourregionvii. IntheOptionsbox,uncheckDisplayBasePeriod.CheckDisplaytrendandselect“perdecade”

Thiswillprovideagraphshowingtheaveragetemperatureforeachyearoftheselectedmonthalongwithatrendlineshowinghowtheaveragetemperatureperdecadehaschangedoverthelastcentury.Seethegraphonpage9.3. PreparetheSpeciesCards(AppendixA)

Choose3-4speciestofocusonduringthislesson.Makeenoughcopiessothateachstudenthasaccesstoatleastoneofthespeciescardsfortheselectedspecies.

4. Decidehowmuchweatherstudentswillcollectandhowmuchyouwillprovide.Thislessonwasdesigned

forstudentstocollectweatherdatafor5days.Alternatively,youmayprovideweatherdataforstudentsbydownloadinglocalweatherdataforthecurrentweek.Youmayalsochoosetohavestudentscollectdataforlongerthan5days.

5. Preparestudentdatacollectionsheets.Eachstudentwillneedadatacollectionsheetforeachdaydatais

collected.Alternately,youmaychooseforstudentstouseajournaltocollecttheirdatausingtheaspectsofweatherdatathecollectionsheetprovides.

5Procedure:Pre-activity:Introductionanddatacollection

1. Introduceorreviewtheconceptofweatherwithstudents.Studentsshouldknowhowthecyclingofwaterwithinthehydrosphereinfluencesweather.Studentsshouldalsoknowhowwindsformandhowmajorstormssuchashurricanesandthunderstormsdevelop.Havestudentslistvariousaspectsofweatherdata(temperature,precipitation,wind,cloudcover,humidity)andhowthedatacouldbecollectedforeachaspect.

2. Askstudentstodescribehowweathercanaffectthem.Askstudentshowtheythinkweathermayaffectwildlife.Answersmayincludeaseverestormtopplingtreeswhereflyingsquirrelsoreaglesarenesting,ahurricaneerodingabeachanddestroyingseaturtlenests,aheatwavedecreasingdissolvedoxygeninastreamsothathellbenderortrouteggssuffocate.

3. Explaintostudentsthatasaclass,theywillbetrackingtheweatheroverthecourseofaweek.

4. Explainthateachday,workinginpairs,studentswillcollecttemperature,cloudcover,precipitation,

andwindobservations,aswellasthetimethedatawascollected.Thiscaneitherinvolvetheentireclasseachday,oryoumaychoosetosendoneortwopairsofstudentsoutsidedailyandreporttotheclass.

5. HavestudentsrecordtheirdataontheWeather,Climate&Wildlifestudentsheetorintheirweather

journal.Day1:Weathergraphing

1. Ingroups,havestudentscomparetheirweatherdata.Areeveryone’smeasurementsthesame?Thisisagoodopportunitytodiscussconceptsofaccuracyandprecision.Askstudentstoidentifyanypatternstheyseebetweenthetemperatureandotherweatherdatameasured(wind,precipitation,cloudcover).

2. Determinetheclassaveragefortemperature.Thisaveragewillbeusedforstudentstograph.EitherinExcel,Googlesheets,oronpaper,studentsshouldcreateadatatablewiththedate,timeandtemperaturevalues.

3. Havestudentsmakealinegraphoftheirweatherdata,eitherinExcelorongraphpaper.(Yaxis=

temperature,xaxis=date).Ifstudentsarehand-drawingtheirgraphs,theywillneedtomakesuretheXaxisincludesroomfortheentiremonth.Thismeansthatifyoubegincollectingdataonthe15th,theaxisshouldstillbeginonthe1st.Youwilladdclimatedatatothisgraphlater.

4. Introduce3-4localwildlifespecies(seespeciescardsinAppendixA).Eitherdistributespeciescardsto

eachgroup(eachtoallgroups,oreachgroupgetsonespecies)orprojecttheinformationfortheentireclass.

5. Askstudentstodiscusshowthelocalweatherinthelastweekmayhaveaffectedthesewildlife

species.Sampleanswers:

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ExampleSpecies WeatherimpactsEasternhellbender Hellbendersdigoutnestswheretheylaytheireggs.Droughtscancause

silttoaccumulateinthesenests,whichcouldmakeithardfortheeggstosurvive.Aparticularlyrainyspringcankeephellbendernestsfreeofsilt.However,inareaswherestreamsareclosetodevelopmentoragriculturallands,increasedrainfallcanbringextrasedimentorpollutantsfrompesticidesandherbicides.Inpristineecosystems,rainfallisgenerallygoodforstreamhealth,butinotherareas,itcandependonwhattherainbringstothestreams.Forstudents,youmaywanttoassumeapristineecosystemtomakeasimple,clearconnectionbetweenweatherandwildlifehealth,butadiscussionofhowlanduseinteractswiththisrelationshipmayalsobefruitful.

Northernflyingsquirrel Alargewindstormcouldknockdowntreeswhereflyingsquirrelsnest

Easternwildturkey Turkeyshaveahardtimestayingwarmwhentheirfeathersarewet,andthisisespeciallythecaseforjuvenileturkeysbecausetheyaresmaller.Acoldandwetspringcanreducesurvivalratesofjuvenileturkeysbutwarmerdrierspringscanincreasesurvival.

SeaTurtle Acoldsnapcan“cold-stun”seaturtles,preventingthemfromswimmingandmakingthemvulnerabletohypothermiaandpredators

Brooktrout Duringdroughts,siltcanbuildupinstreams,whichcanbebadfortroutspawningbedsandeggs.Heavyrainswashsiltoutofspawningbedsmakingthemmoresuitablefortrouttolaytheireggs.However,rainscanbringsedimentandpollutiondependingonhowprotectedthesurroundinglandsarefromsoildisturbanceoragriculturallands.

Quail Quaildependonheavygroundcoverfornesting.Thecoverhidesthenestsfrompredators.Rainyspringscausemorevegetationgrowth,whichcanincreasesurvivalforjuvenilequail.

Marbledsalamander Marbledsalamandersdependonephemeral(temporary)poolsforbreeding.Heavyrainsinthespringcreatemoredependablepoolswhiledrierspringsmaymakepoolstoosmallorshort-livedforthesalamanderstolaytheireggs.

Day2:Climategraphing

1. Askstudentsiftheythinktheweathertheyhaveobservedoverthelastweekis“typical”forthistimeoftheyear.Introducetheideaofclimate,thestatisticalrepresentationoftheenvironmentovertime,includingseasonalcycles,extremeevents,andyear-to-yearvariations.

2. Providestudentswithweatherobservationsand/orforecastandclimatedataforthecurrentmonth(seeGettingReady).

3. Ingroups,havestudentsaddtheweather(observationsand/orforecasts)andclimatedatatotheir

weathergraphs(fromday1).Explainthattheaveragetemperatureisbasedon30-yearaverages,whichreflectstheclimateforthearea.InExcelorGooglesheets,studentscanaddmonthlyweatherandclimatedataasnewseriestotheirexistinggraphs.Ifstudentsaremakinggraphsbyhand,they

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canaddthenewdatapointsdirectlytotheirexistinggraphs.Dependingonthetimeofdaystudentscollectedtheweatherdata,theirweatherdatamaybemoreinlinewiththehighorlowtemperatures.Askstudentswhethertheirweatherdatawasmorealignedtothehighorlowtemperaturesforthatday.Importantnote:Thegoalofthisgraphingactivityistohavestudentsseethatweatherismorevariablethanclimate.Itispossiblethatbychanceyoumayhavestudentcollectdataforaweekwhenweatherconditionsarereallystable.Bygraphinghighandlowobservation/forecastsforthemonth,itshouldbeobvious,butsomemonthsjusthavemoreconsistentweatherthanothersandtheymaynotbeabletoseeacleardifferencebetweenweatherandclimatedata.Ifthat’sthecase,showstudentsagraphofadifferentmonthforyourarea.Repeatthestepsfordownloadingmonthlyweatherandclimatedatainthe“GettingReady”sectionandselectamonththatistypicallymorevariable.Ifyouscrolldown,thereshouldagraphyoucanshowyourstudents.Usethisgraphtodiscusshoweventhoughtheweatherwasstablefortheweekoftheirstudy,ingeneralweatherismorevariablethanclimateSeethegraphbelowforagoodexamplefromNovember,2014inRaleigh,NC.Thedarkerorangeandbluelinesrepresenttheactualhighandlowtemperaturesforeachday.Thelighterstraightlinesrepresenttheaveragehighandlowsforeachdaybasedonpreviousdecades.Theaveragesarerepresentativeoftheregionalclimatewhilethemorevariabledailyobservationsshowweather.Yourstudents’graphsshouldlooksimilar.Basedonthedatatableprovidedbyaccuweather.com,theyshouldbeabletogeneratethemiddlefourlines.Theirdailyobservationswouldmakeupaseparatelinewithfivedatapoints.

4. Discusswithstudentsthatthoughclimateismorestablethanweather,itcanchangeovertime.ShowstudentsthegraphofUSTemperaturesince1880(visithttp://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/togenerateagraphspecifictoyourregionorusethegraphattheendofthisactivity).Pointoutthatannualtemperaturesalsovary,buttheygenerallystaywithinacertainrange.Intheexamplegraph,althoughtheannualDecembertemperaturesvisuallyjumparoundalot,theystayaround15oC,plusorminus1oC(59oF,+/-2oF).Overthelast100years,1-3oCrangehasbeenshiftingupwards.Therehavebeensomeverycoldwinters(seeseveralcoldwintersinthe1960sand70sintheexamplegraph)butonaverage,thetemperatureisincreasing.Thismeansthatwemayseenormalmonthlytemperatures(thestablelinesinthegraphsstudentmade)shiftupwardsincomingdecades.

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5. Havestudentsconsiderthespeciescardsagain.Askstudentswhichismorevariable–theclimateortheweather?(theweatherismorevariable)Whichdoyouthinkdetermineswherewildlifecansurvive?Why?Typically,theclimatedetermineswherewildlifecansurvive.Thoughweathereventscanaffectsurvivalofindividualanimalsovertheshortterm,climatecaneffectanentirepopulationorspecies.Climateconditionsdeterminethetypesofvegetationthatareinanarea,whichdeterminewhichkindsofwildlifecanliveinanarea.

Discussionandassessment:

1. Discusswithstudentsthefollowingquestions:a. Whichismorevariable,weatherorclimate?Why?Weatherismorevariablethanclimate.

Climatebydefinitionisthestatisticalrepresentationoftheenvironmentovertime,includingseasonalcycles,extremeevents,andyear-to-yearvariations,anddescribestrendsoftheweather,soweatherwillalwaysbemorevariable.

b. Wastheweatherdatawecollectedwarmer,cooler,oraboutthesameastheaverage?(Answerswillvarywithyourdata)

c. Ifyouwerepredictingthetemperaturefortomorrow,woulditbemorehelpfultoknowtoday’stemperature,orthe30-yearaveragetemperatureforthatday?Theaveragetemperaturewillgiveyouanideaofwhatthenormalrangemaybe,butthetemperaturetodayaswellasinformationonhowimmediateatmosphericconditionsmaychangewillbemorehelpfulinpredictingthetemperaturefortomorrow.

2. Play“ClimateorWeather?”quizgame.Studentsidentifyimpactsonlocalwildlifeanddecideiftheyareassociatedwithweatherorclimateevents.

3. Createsimilargraphsforanotherlocation.Askstudentstoidentifytheweatherandclimatedataand

explaintheirchoice.Extension:

1. Collectweatherdataforentireyearandcomparetoyourlocalclimatedata.2. ParticipateintheGLOBEprogram(www.globe.gov).Studentsfromaroundtheworldcollectandshare

environmentaldata.3. BecomeaCommunityCollaborativeRain,Hail&SnowNetwork(CoCoRaHS)volunteer

(http://www.cocorahs.org/)andcollectprecipitationdatatocontributetothelargecitizensciencenetwork.

ReferencesandSourcesforMoreInformation1 Thisactivitywasutilized:NationalCenterforAtmosphericResearch.(2005).Differencesbetweenclimateandweather.Retrieved

fromhttp://eo.ucar.edu/educators/ClimateDiscovery/LIA_lesson1_9.28.05.pdf2NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration.(2014).Whatisthedifferencebetweenweatherandclimate?Retrieved

October24,2014,fromhttp://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/weather_climate.html 3NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration.(2014).PaleoclimatologyData.RetrievedOctober24,2014,from

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data4NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration.(2014).GlobalClimateChangeIndicators.RetrievedOctober24,2014,from

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/indicators/5NationalFishWildlifeandPlantsAdaptationPartnership.(2012).NationalFish,WildlifeandPlantsClimateAdaptationStrategy.

Washington,DC.doi:10.3996/082012-FWSReport-1

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SampleAverageUSTemperatureGraphThegraphbelowrepresentstheaverageDecembertemperaturesinthecentralPiedmontregionofNorthCarolinaeachyearfrom1895-2014.Thepurplelineshowschangesinaveragetemperaturesfromyeartoyear.Thebluelinerepresentsthetrendoverthetimeperiodshownbasedonaverageperdecade.Onaverage,theMaytemperaturesrose0.1oFperdecade.

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Weather,Climate,andWildlifeStudentSheet1

Name:_________________________ Date:___________________________Datacollectedby(names):____________________________________________________________Time(makesureyoucollectdataatroughlythesametimeeachday):________________________

Observations:Thetemperatureoutdoorsis:

___________oC ___________oFCloudiness(circleone):

NocloudsClear(cloudsin<10%ofsky)

Isolatedclouds(10-25%ofsky

covered)

Scatteredclouds(25-50%ofskycovered)

Brokenclouds(50-90%ofsky

covered)

Noblueskyshowing(100%ofskycovered)

Precipitation: o Heavyraino Lightraino Lightsnowo Heavysnowo Hailo Noneo Other:________________

Wind:o Completelycalmo Lightbreeze(leavesmove)o Moderatebreeze(smallbranchesmove)o Strongbreeze(treessway)o Heavywinds(difficulttowalkinwind)o Other:_______________

Compareyourobservationswithdatareportedonalocalweatherwebsitesuchaswww.weather.comorwww.accuweather.com.Clickonthemonthlyforecastforyourarea,andthehighandlowtemperatureshouldbelistedonthecalendarforthepreviousday.Areyourmeasurementsclosetothemeasurementsyoufindonline?

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ClimateorWeather?WildlifeQuizGame

Asaclass,insmallgroups,orinpairs,havestudentsquizeachotheronwhetheraparticulareventcanbeattributedtoweatherorclimate.Cutouteachcardandeitherattachtheanswertothebackofeachscenarioorusethisasakey.

Front Back Front Back

Aseasonaldroughtcausesthestreamlevelstobetoolowandslowflowingtodissolve

enoughoxygenforbrooktrouteggstosurvive.

Weather

Decreasedrainfalloverathirtyyearperiodmeansthatstreamlevelsaretoolowtosupportbrooktroutpopulations

Climate

Ahurricanecreatesalargestormsurgethatfloodsanearbycoastalwetlanddestroyingclapperrailnests

Weather

Risingoceanscoverupacoastalwetland,

eliminatingnestingsitesfortheclapperrail

Climate

Astormblowsdownalargetree,eliminatingaNorthernflyingsquirrel

nestingcavity

Weather

Warmerwinterseliminatespruce-firforestsfromitssouthernmostrange,potentiallyeliminatingNorthernflyingsquirrelhabitatinNorthCarolina

Climate

Awarmwinterhelpsmorejuvenilealligators

survive.Weather

Warmer,wintersallowalligatorstoexpandtheirrangesfurthernorthand

inland.

Climate

AnunusuallywarmwinterallowsCarolinawrenstosurvivefarthernorth.

Weather

AseriesofwarmerwintersovertimeallowsforCarolinawrenstoexpandtheirnormalrangefurthernorth.

Climate