Standard 3: Students will understand the atmospheric processes that support life
and cause weather and climate.
Objective 1: Relate how energy from the Sun drives atmospheric processes and how
atmospheric currents transport matter and transfer energy.
a. Compare and contrast the amount of energy coming from the Sun that is reflected,
absorbed or scattered by the atmosphere, oceans, and land masses.
b. Construct a model that demonstrates how the greenhouse effect contributes to
atmospheric energy.
c. Conduct an investigation on how the tilt of Earth’s axis causes variations in the intensity
and duration of sunlight striking Earth.
d. Explain how uneven heating of Earth’s atmosphere at the equator and polar regions
combined with the Coriolis effect create an atmospheric circulation system including,
Hadley cells, trade winds, and prevailing westerlies, that moves heat energy around
Earth.
e. Explain how the presence of ozone in the stratosphere is beneficial to life, while ozone
in the troposphere is considered an air pollutant.
Objective 2: Describe elements of weather and the factors that cause them to vary from day
to day.
a. Identify the elements of weather and the instruments used to measure them (e.g.,
temperature—thermometer; precipitation—rain gauge or Doppler radar; humidity--
hygrometer; air pressure—barometer; wind—anemometer; cloud coverage—satellite
imaging).
b. Describe conditions that give rise to severe weather phenomena (e.g., thunderstorms,
tornados, hurricanes, El Niño/La Niña).
c. Explain a difference between a low pressure system and a high pressure system,
including the weather associated with them.
d. Diagram and describe cold, warm, occluded, and stationary boundaries (weather
fronts) between air masses.
e. Design and conduct a weather investigation, use an appropriate display of the data, and
interpret the observations and data.
Objective 3: Examine the natural and human-caused processes that cause Earth’s climate
to change over intervals of time ranging from decades to millennia.
a. Explain differences between weather and climate and the methods used to investigate
evidence for changes in climate (e.g., ice core sampling, tree rings, historical temperature
measurements, changes in the extent of alpine glaciers, changes in the extent of Arctic
sea ice).
b. Explain how Earth’s climate has changed over time and describe the natural causes for
these changes (e.g., Milankovitch cycles, solar fluctuations, plate tectonics).
c. Describe how human activity influences the carbon cycle and may contribute to climate
change.
d. Explain the differences between air pollution and climate change and how these are
related to society’s use of fossil fuels.
e. Investigate the current and potential consequences of climate change (e.g., ocean
acidification, sea level rise, desertification, habitat loss) on ecosystems, including human
communities.
and cause weather and climate.
Objective 1: Relate how energy from the Sun drives atmospheric processes and how
atmospheric currents transport matter and transfer energy.
a. Compare and contrast the amount of energy coming from the Sun that is reflected,
absorbed or scattered by the atmosphere, oceans, and land masses.
b. Construct a model that demonstrates how the greenhouse effect contributes to
atmospheric energy.
c. Conduct an investigation on how the tilt of Earth’s axis causes variations in the intensity
and duration of sunlight striking Earth.
d. Explain how uneven heating of Earth’s atmosphere at the equator and polar regions
combined with the Coriolis effect create an atmospheric circulation system including,
Hadley cells, trade winds, and prevailing westerlies, that moves heat energy around
Earth.
e. Explain how the presence of ozone in the stratosphere is beneficial to life, while ozone
in the troposphere is considered an air pollutant.
Objective 2: Describe elements of weather and the factors that cause them to vary from day
to day.
a. Identify the elements of weather and the instruments used to measure them (e.g.,
temperature—thermometer; precipitation—rain gauge or Doppler radar; humidity--
hygrometer; air pressure—barometer; wind—anemometer; cloud coverage—satellite
imaging).
b. Describe conditions that give rise to severe weather phenomena (e.g., thunderstorms,
tornados, hurricanes, El Niño/La Niña).
c. Explain a difference between a low pressure system and a high pressure system,
including the weather associated with them.
d. Diagram and describe cold, warm, occluded, and stationary boundaries (weather
fronts) between air masses.
e. Design and conduct a weather investigation, use an appropriate display of the data, and
interpret the observations and data.
Objective 3: Examine the natural and human-caused processes that cause Earth’s climate
to change over intervals of time ranging from decades to millennia.
a. Explain differences between weather and climate and the methods used to investigate
evidence for changes in climate (e.g., ice core sampling, tree rings, historical temperature
measurements, changes in the extent of alpine glaciers, changes in the extent of Arctic
sea ice).
b. Explain how Earth’s climate has changed over time and describe the natural causes for
these changes (e.g., Milankovitch cycles, solar fluctuations, plate tectonics).
c. Describe how human activity influences the carbon cycle and may contribute to climate
change.
d. Explain the differences between air pollution and climate change and how these are
related to society’s use of fossil fuels.
e. Investigate the current and potential consequences of climate change (e.g., ocean
acidification, sea level rise, desertification, habitat loss) on ecosystems, including human
communities.