1. The Earth’s Atmosphere

2. What is the difference between weather and climate? What do you think?

3. Weather describes what is currently happening to the atmosphere. What is our weather like now? Is it the same every day of the year?

4. Climate describes a general average of our weather. Do we have a cold climate in Georgia? Do we have a dry climate in Georgia? How would you describe our climate?

7. Think about air pressure as being a stack of books. Here at the surface of the earth, we have more air “stacked” on top of us. That means we feel more pressure than if we were higher in the atmosphere. http://curriculum.calstatela.edu

8. Air pressure is measured using an instrument called a barometer. http://www.dkimages.com/ Notice that it looks like a thermometer. But is does not measure temperature. It measures pressure in inches. (see page 510 in your book) Also notice that there are words around the gauge. There must be a connection be weather and pressure! Cold air is more dense (has more pressure) than warm air. Dry air is more dense than wet air. Notice on the dial that rainy weather has a lower pressure!

16. Air quality is affected by pollutants. We just discussed many of these. Some are natural and some are manmade. Two common results of pollutants in our atmosphere are photochemical smog and acid rain .

17. Smog http://science.kennesaw.edu It is formed by sunlight causing reactions between chemicals in the air. Most of those chemicals come out of our cars and busses. Photo taken of Atlanta smog. Notice the brown haze in the sky. That is smog! In Georgia, it is usually caused by car exhaust. New York smog http://jmsoul.files.wordpress.com/ Video clip on smog

18. http://science.howstuffworks.com Acid Rain Acid rain is caused by water vapor combining with chemicals in the air and forming acid. The acid rain then changes the water in an area. It can kill trees and poison streams. http://www.ohiocitizen.org Video segment on acid rain

22. Troposphere – when a cloud reaches the top of this layer, they cannot go higher so they flatten out. Picture taken by the space shuttle.

27. Exosphere The exosphere is the outer part if the atmosphere. Fewer and fewer atoms are found as you get farther from the surface of the earth. Because of this, there cannot be an actual point where you are no longer in the atmosphere. Satellites orbit in the exosphere.

28. What do you know about these layers?

29. Summary video segment