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Activity 3: Drawing Weather Maps

Materials

blank regional map      regional cloud map from previous day

Preparation

Download the current regional cloud map satellite image.


1. Building on the previous activity, have your students study the image and identify the major weather seen in the map. Have your students draw the general shapes and locations of the clouds on a blank regional map. It is more important for them to draw in the rough shapes of the cloudy areas than it is for them to identify cloud types by name.

2. Have the students compare the location of the weather on the current cloud cover map, with the image from the previous day. Have them describe how the cloud cover has changed. If a storm system has moved, have the draw an arrow on their paper map, with the tail of the arrow showing where the clouds where [[were]] yesterday, and the head showing where they are today.


Activity 4: Identifying Clouds from Below

1. Go outside with your students, and have them study the clouds and weather that they see. Have them describe the clouds out loud, and sketch them on paper.

2. Go back inside the classroom, and distribute the Ground Cloud Chart (you may find clearer pictures in a book on weather). Have your students compare the clouds they saw outside with the clouds in the chart, to identify what type of clouds they saw. There may be more than one type of cloud at a given time, so have them identify all types that are currently visible in the sky above your school.

3. Have your students study the other cloud types in the chart. Discuss the similarities and differences among them. The goal is not to have students memorize all of the cloud types, but rather for them to be able to use the chart in the future to identify other cloud types that might appear in the skies over your school, in order to better understand the satellite cloud maps.

Teachers' Guide                      Page 8.27