Title: Measuring Air Pressure
Grade Level: 8
This is an example of a fine antique desktop barometer. A barometer measures the pressure of the air. Note the labels on the dial on the right. Falling air pressure indicates warm, wet and windy weather is approaching. Rising air pressure indicates cold, dry and calm weather. This particular barometer has a recording drum of paper. You can see if the pressure is showing a trend downwards or upwards. This can give an important clue to the next day's weather.
Subject: Science
Learner Outcomes:
Duration of Lesson:
Materials:
Technology Tools / Courseware:
Teacher Notes:
1. Have the students check the Internet for information about air pressure to better understand the concept. Here are some good sites:
2. Before during the lab, discuss with your students the following concerns:
4. Directions for using the barometer. (1) Place the barometer on the table near the wall. The pointed end of the straw should be near, but not touching, the sheet of paper that you taped to the wall. (2) With a pencil, make a mark on the paper where the straw is pointing to. Place the date next to this mark on the sheet of paper. (3) In your data table, record the current weather conditions and the date. (4) Each day for the next three weeks (or time span the teacher specifies), make a mark on the sheet of paper where the pointed end of the straw is pointed to and mark it with the date. Record your information on your data table.
Click here for a printable Data Table for this lesson (Word 97/2000 format)
5. Conclusions. Discuss with your students what kind of weather occurred when their barometer pointed high and what kind occurred when their barometer pointed low. Remind them that when their barometer points up, the air pressure is increasing. Did their barometer accurately predict the weather?
6. Using either the Weather Channel on TV or one of the Internet sites that provides local weather information (see teacher notes, above), have students compare their observations with the official weather conditions. Discuss with your students why there might be a disparity in conditions. This disparity might be due to where the local conditions are being measured (usually at an airport outside of town). Another possibility is the phenomenon of local weather conditions. I.e.. if your school is in a valley, or on a hill, or amongst high buildings, these conditions will create local weather that is slightly different from the main weather conditions for the region.
Who Invented the Barometer? - check this out and see! Homemade Barometer - how to make another kind of barometer Make Your Own Barometer - how to make yet another kind of barometer See Air Pressure - A simple activity to prove that invisible air has pressure
2. You may wish to have your students use a good search engine to look for more information. Afterwards, students could submit written reports describing the information they have discovered. Here is a suggested format: a) When you find a good site and have read it, shrink the browser to your toolbar (if using Windows 95/98) by clicking on the underline box in the upper right corner of your screen. b) Start your word processor and then shrink it to your toolbar also. c) Click on the browser button on your toolbar to restore it. Click on the address to highlight it and right click to get a menu. Select "copy" by clicking on it. Shrink the browser to the toolbar again. d) Click on the word processor button on your toolbar to restore it. Type your name, date and class on separate lines. Highlight the three lines and click the right alignment button. Press <enter> twice to skip two lines. e) Type the word "Address" and then click the paste button. The address of your web site will appear. If it is still right aligned, simply click the left alignment button on your toolbar. Press <enter> twice to skip two lines. f) Type in a brief description of what you learned on the web site. Several paragraphs should do. g) Save your work in the method your teacher wants and submit it to your teacher in the method your teacher wants.
2. The students will turn in a completed Data Table. (Summative)
West Virginia Goals and Objectives:
Eighth grade Science: 8.8 8.10 8.13 8.17 8.22 8.72 8.78 8.89 8.98
National Standards
References:
1 The following links to the World Wide Web:
Air Pressure Changes With Elevation High and Low Air Pressure Homemade Barometer How Air Pressure is Measured? How Air Pressure Signals Changes in Weather Intellicast.com Make Your Own Barometer See Air Pressure State of WV Instructional Goals and Objectives for Eight Grade UM Weather Weather Channel.com Weather Underground What Causes Air Pressure? What is Air Pressure? Who Invented the Barometer?
2. The following documents written by the author: Cooperative Learning Groups
3. The midi file was Pressure originally performed by Billy Joel
Author:
Robert Wharton Hamilton Junior High School http://hjhs.wood.k12.wv.us Parkersburg, WV email: rwharton@access.k12.wv.us