Weather and your major

Cambria Sorensen
ATMO-101-401
August 4th, 2016
Fourth grade class room Weather Unit lesson ideas
Because of this course, I have a better understanding of the weather
and how it works. I feel that without this course, I would have never realized
that the weather is so important and it effects many different things. I plan to
pass this importance on to my students once I have the platform to do so. I
plan to use this understanding to create many different lesson plans about
weather. I am going to have a whole unit on weather. I will teach my students
things ranging from how to predict the weather, Utah and its weather
system, and the nations weather patterns in all of the different areas of the
United States.
I plan to become a fourth grade teacher and in many school districts
forth grade is the year you learn all about Utah and its history. I would like to
use my knowledge that I gained from this class to help me create a lesson
plan all about Utahs weather. I plan to focus on the inversion that Utah
experiences and how it causes the air quality to be so bad.
I first plan to explain the geography of Utah and how the mountains create
the valley that we live in. I also plan to explain how the valley creates a
pressure system that causes the cool air to be trapped on the valley floor. I
will then go in depth about how the pollutants from cars and business get
trapped on the valley floor and cause the air quality to be some of the worst
in the nation. I am also going to talk about the winter of 2013 and how we
did have the worst air quality in the nation.

I think that it is important for children to understand that they do have

an impact on Utahs air quality. I want to let them know different ways they
can help prevent Utah from experiencing another year like 2013. I will tell
them all of the different ways that you can avoid polluting the air as much
like taking public transportation or riding your bike to school. If I can convey
the importance of minimizing your emissions to the next generation, it may
help to make a difference in Utahs air quality in future years to come. I will
use charts and statistics that are easy enough for a child to understand so
that they may get a better idea of the effect that they have on Utah and our
air quality.

Number of Commuters

Passenger Miles per

Gallon

Pounds CO2 Emitter per

100 Passenger Miles

Passenger car (25 mpg)

25.0

89

Heavy-duty Transit Bus

(2.33 mpg)

2.3

953

11.7

191

11

25.6

87

40

93.2

24

70

163.1

14

I will also teach them how to better predict the weather by looking at
the different types of clouds. I will teach them all of the different types of
clouds and what weather patterns typically have those types of clouds. I
think that this is valuable information for the students to have because not
only will it help them in future school grades, but it can also help them in
their every day life by letting them know how to dress or plan for the
weather. I will not only teach them how to identify clouds, but I will also
teach them how to read basic weather charts to help them predict the
weather and possible weather patterns.

Citations

Joy, Elizabeth, Michelle Hofmann, and Steven Bergstrom. "The Air

We Breathe: Protecting Your Kids During an Inversion."
Http://www.primarychildrenshospitalblog.org. N.p., 3 Dec. 2015.
Web. 4 Aug. 2016.

Hapter. Manufacturing Climate Solutions (n.d.): n. pag. Duke

University, 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Writer, Times. "Cloud Types." Www.whyville.net. N.p., 7 Nov. 2010.
Web. 4 Aug. 2016.