NIST+Science+Afternoon

=**March 26, 2009 Science Afternoon at NIST**=

Atmospheric Pressure: A Measurable Force of Wind and Weather
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(The photograph shows altocumulus standing lenticular clouds over the Colorado Rockies. These mid level cloud formations are indicative of strong winds and turbulence in the atmosphere. We will learn about tools that forecasters use to determine the conditions that produce these clouds during the afternoon workshop; including atmospheric cross sections- //upper right insert//- and surface pressure analysis- //lower left insert//.)

Welcome
Thanks for visiting our NIST Science Afternoon Wiki page. My hope is that after the workshop, this page can be a collaborative effort where we can all add useful weather information that engages your students.

Introduction
The earth's atmosphere is tremendously varied and continually inspiring to scientists, artists, writers, and probably all of us. My hope is that learning some essentials of measuring and quantifying the air above us will be useful to you and your students. Much of what I present here is the work of others with some of my ideas sprinkled in. Here is what I covered at our workshop afternoon:

1. A review of the atmosphere's main ingredients 2. A look at ways we see and measure the sky above- including changes in color. 3. A short tutorial on drawing your own weather maps and charts 4. A LabQuest experiment validating changes in pressure 5. Brainstorming activities for your students to measure the weather.