Take notes on the information included on this handout. Answer all questions for the lab in your notebook. Answer in complete sentences so you know what the question was.

Coriolis Effect Demos

Station 1

One person should place his/her fingers on the top/bottom of the globe and hold it straight up and down (with the North Pole at the top and south pole at the bottom). Have another group member stand opposite the person holding the globe and rotate the earth from west to east. We refer to the rotation of the earth as counterclockwise. Observe the direction of rotation while looking at the equator. Observe both sides of the earth while it is rotating.

Now have one group member hold the globe sideways (the north pole/south pole axis should be horizontal). Another group member should slowly rotate the globe in the same manner as before, from west to east.

Observe the direction the globe appears to spin while looking at the North Pole and then while looking at the South Pole. Refer to the rotation as clockwise or counter clockwise motion.

  1. As you looked at the equator while the axis was held vertical, in which direction did the globe rotate, from left to right or right to left? Was this direction of rotation the same for both observers?
  2. In which direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) did the globe appear to rotate as you observed the North Pole? In which direction, as you observed the South Pole?

Station 2

Tape a Northern Hemisphere projection map to the turntable. Have one person spin the map counter clockwise. Have another person take the red pen and try to draw a radius from the North Pole outward to the edge of the projection on the turntable while the map is spinning. Just draw it straight (your pen should curve). Repeat with the blue pen but this time start at the equator and draw the straight radius in towards the North Pole.

Tape a Southern Hemisphere projection map to the turntable. Have one person spin the map clockwise. Have another person draw a radius with the black marker from the South Pole to the equator. Repeat with the green marker from the equator the South Pole. Sketch your drawings in your lab notebook.

Describe how these marker paths represent

  1. the direction of air mass flowing from the North Pole toward the equator
  2. the direction of air mass flowing from the South Pole toward the equator
  3. the direction of air mass flowing from the equator toward the North Pole
  4. the direction of air mass flowing from the equator toward the South Pole

How might the Coriolis effect influence global air circulation?

Station 3: Convection Currents

Materials: 250mL beaker, chilled food coloring (in a test tube), hot plate, paper towels

□Observe the beaker set up at the front of the classroom:

  • To prepare the beaker: Fill your beaker with Convection Fluid
  • Heat the water for ~10 minutes on setting 5. It should be warm, not boil!

□Sketch a side view of the beaker and heat source. Record your observations and draw the movement of the fluid.

  1. What does the heat source under the beaker do to the water? What does the heated water do?
  2. What happens to the water as it moves farther and farther away from the heat source? What happens to the water as it reaches the surface?
  3. What happens to the food coloring as it heats up? How might this relate to a mass of heated air?
  4. What do you expect will happen as air masses move over cold locations? Hot locations? How does this movement of air influence climate?
  5. Climate:
  6. What type of air masses originate from near the equator?
  7. From near the North and South Pole?
  8. How do the qualities of these air masses differ depending on whether they were informed over land or water?
  9. What climate would regions where air masses from the equator and the poles collide probably have? Where would you expect to find these regions?
  10. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that causes excess solar energy to be trapped in the form of heat in the atmosphere. How do you think carbon dioxide affects convection currents?

Station 4: Insolation Energy

The amount of solar energy that any particular region on Earth receives is based on the mostly spherical shape of the earth, the tilt of the earth’s axis, and the angle of the sun’s rays. Regions close to the equator receive the most solar energy overall because these areas remain closer to the sun over the course of earth’s orbit, while the regions near the North and South poles receive less solar energy over the course of a year because these regions remain farther from the sun. Annual seasonal changes can be attributed to the tilt of the earth.

Hold the globe upright, with the North Pole facing directly upward and the South Pole facing downward. Have one person hold a flashlight and point the light at the equator of the globe. Observe how the light from the flashlight is distributed across the globe. Tilt the earth slightly. Have one person hold the globe and (without blocking the light) move in a circle around the person holding the flashlight. This represents the orbit of the earth around the sun.

Shine the flashlight perpendicular to the globe, directly at the equator. As the globe orbits the flashlight, turn the flashlight so that it is always shining on the globe. As you do so, observe how the light is distributed across the globe at different points of the globe’s rotation. Note the amount of “sunlight” received at the equator, at the pole, at the Tropic of Capricorn, and at the Tropic of Cancer, and consider how many the amount of solar energy received would affect each regions’ climate.

  1. Which regions receive the most light? The least light?
  2. How does June in the northern hemisphere compare to June in the southern hemisphere?
  3. How does the amount of sunlight an area receives influence the climate of that area?

Northern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere