Day 18, Mary Lee Sherman-Challenge Teacher

Today in Challenge we learned about weather fronts.  Who knew air had characteristics like temperature, humidity, and stability? Our favorite part was watching the cold front (blue water) push the warm front up and away.  The cold water is denser and heavier than the warm water.  Eventually the water reached homeostasis – where the temperature of the warm and cold water mixed and came to room temperature.

              

Did you know: 

• The symbol for a cold front is a blue line with teeth.  
• The symbol for a warm front is a red line with half circles. 
• A stationary front is when a warm front and cold front meet and stay in the same place because neither is strong enough to push the other out.  They cause lots of flooding.  
• Occluded fronts happen when a cold front pushes under a warm front and cuts it off.

For most of us our favorite part of the day is doing research. We’re researching famous storms.  

Did you know: 

• An ice shove is when a lake freezes then a heavy wind pushes it up on the land.  On Lake Winnebago it destroyed houses, boats, and caused major damage.  
• Hurricane Ike was the costliest storm Cuba has had.  
• The Tri-State tornado in 1925 was the deadliest in the US.  
• One major reason Katrina had so much impact on New Orleans is that New Orleans is kind of shaped like a bowl so the water didn’t have anywhere to go.  
• The storms of the Dust Bowl started the Great Depression.

Stay tuned for more interesting facts about weather. We have lots to say!

Mrs. Sherman's Thursday Challenge Class (3rd-5th Grade)