(bright music) - Hey there, scientists, welcome to Room Nine, our region's largest classroom.

My name is Mrs. Newby, and I teach at Flynn Park Elementary School, which is in the school district of University City.

Today, I'm gonna be teaching science for third grade, but as always, everyone is welcome to learn with us.

And I'm super excited you are here.

Last week, we talked about weather reports and what we need to kind of think about when we're explaining weather reports or what really the weather is like in the moment right now.

So I'm outside today and I want to kind of give a quick weather report to kind of see what the weather is like this week compared to last week.

So I know last week, it seemed like the clouds were super, there was lot of clouds.

It was really cloudy, and the sun really wasn't out.

It was kind of windy, and it was pretty chilly.

But I just had a sweater on.

But today it's pretty cold.

It's like in the thirties today.

So it's really cold.

I had to wear a giant heavy coat.

And if you look up at the sky, it's kind of like a clearer sky.

And guess what's shining up there?

The bright sun.

Last week, our sun wasn't up, but today, I barely feel any wind.

It's super sunny, and the skies are pretty clear.

And I mean, the only thing really compared to last week is that it's a lot colder.

So I had to put on my coat.

But that's the weather report today, and it's kind of interesting that it's kind of similar to last week's, but yeah, there is our weather report, and I'm just kind of curious when is it ever gonna just get warmer?

Is it gonna get warmer sometime?

Why do we, why is it always cold in December or January?

Why is it always super hot in June and July?

It kind of got me wondering, because it's, you know, it's kind of the same as last week.

Oh, hang on, my friend is calling me.

(upbeat music) Hi.

- [Friend] Hi - So this is my friend from Brazil.

This is Wendy.

Say hi Wendy.

- Hi, everybody, how are you?

- So she actually lives in Brazil, which is in a completely different country from here, but I'm kind of noticing something different in her screen compared to mine.

She's wearing short sleeves.

Wendy, why are you wearing short sleeves?

- Because it's our summer.

We're south of the equator, so we're on the opposite seasons as the United States.

So it's summer here.

It's very, very warm and hot, not like Missouri's cold.

- Yeah, that is true.

So how would you describe your weather generally in Brazil?

- The climate is very warm.

It's always warm in Brazil.

It's either hot or it's warm.

It's never cold here.

The climate is either wet and it's rainy, or it's dry and very desert like, where I live, in Brasilia, which is the capital of Brazil.

It's a little different in Rio and Sao Paulo and Salvador because they're closer to the ocean.

I'm inland, and so I'm further away from the ocean, so my weather is a little bit different.

The climate is just a little bit different here in Brasilia.

- Wow, that's so interesting.

It's so weird that I have to wear this giant heavy coat right now, and at the same time, you're in short sleeves and near water and just ready to go swimming, huh?

- [Friend] That's right, I was on the boat all day, swimming in the water.

- Awesome, well, thanks so much for calling me.

I really appreciate it.

And you taught us so much today.

- [Friend] You're welcome.

Thank you.

- Thank you, bye.

Wow, that is so interesting.

So even during our walk outside or just noticing tonight or today, I can tell that even though our weather was kind of the same today as it was last week, it's completely different in other places in the world.

My friend, Wendy, who lives in Brazil is in short sleeves.

Man, how I wish I could be in short sleeves right now, right?

That is crazy how the weather is different all around the world at the same time.

And I noticed she used the word climate, and I've heard that word before.

So I'm kind of wondering what is climate and how is it different than weather or just giving a weather report?

That's what I'm kind of wondering.

And again, the biggest thing that I noticed today was our weather right now in Missouri is completely different than other places in the world right this second.

Other people are enjoying nice weather and really warm weather.

And my friend Wendy mentioned that some people are maybe experiencing rainy weather or super dry weather.

That is so interesting.

Let's go back inside so that we can jot down some notes and explore our wonderings and noticings.

Man, I love to be able to go outside and explore our noticings and our wonderings.

The coolest thing about today's though, was that we were able to explore both our regions' noticings and wonderings outside, but also another completely different region on the other side of the world to see what their day was like today.

So let's go ahead and jot down our noticing and wonderings.

Remember our eyeballs are what we noticed, what we saw with our eyes.

And then the question mark is what do we wonder?

What questions can we come up with that we can kind of explore and find answers to?

So the very first thing we kind of did was take a look around us in our region and see what we notice about the weather around us or creating a weather report just like we learned last week.

So we noticed that outside was cold.

There was no precipitation and it really wasn't windy, but it was also really, really sunny.

And the skies were very clear.

So let's jot that down here.

Outside was cold, sunny, no rain.

Or you can write that big science word precipitation.

And I will say that it was about 36 degrees.

So let's go ahead and write 36 degrees, because part of a weather report tells us the temperature, not just that it was cold, but it was about 36 degrees.

It was not windy, so I'm gonna say not windy.

But it was sunny and there was no precipitation.

So that's something that we noticed.

We also noticed that it was kind of similar to last week's weather report, right?

Let's write that down really quick too, because I think that might be pretty important today.

Weather was similar to last week's.

Okay.

And then whenever my friend Wendy called, we were able to see what was happening outside or around her.

And the very first thing I noticed was that she was wearing short sleeves but I was wearing this big bulky coat, because it was cold here, but it was not cold over there.

Let's write that down too.

Brazil is sunny and warm right now.

So as we are freezing outside and having to wear all of these big bulky coats, Brazil, people living in Brazil are enjoying short sleeve shirts and being able to be outside.

Man.

So that kind of gets me thinking and wondering something.

Now, Wendy kind of mention something.

She mentioned the word climate.

Now, that kind of seems like a really important word.

I know we talked about weather reports, but what is climate?

So that kind of got me wondering, and I want to ask that question to see if we can explore it.

What is climate?

And another thing that I kind of want to ask, because Wendy was also kind of explaining her climate in Brazil.

She was kind of explaining what the climate was like in there.

So I feel like after we find out what climate means, it should be pretty important for us to find out what our region's climate is mostly like.

So let's go ahead and write that down too.

What is our region's climate like?

Okay.

So be thinking about some more noticings and wonderings, and maybe you can jot those down in your notebook or your science paper or anything that you have just like good scientists do.

Let's go ahead and explore, do some research.

I have this awesome book that I really like to show you that might have some answers to our questions and wonderings.

So the book that I want to read to you guys is called "What is Climate?

", which is kind of funny, because that's the exact question we wondered at the very beginning.

So this book is for sure gonna answer that question for us.

And the other question we want to try to keep in mind is what is our region's climate like?

So thinking about our region in Missouri, where we live, what is our climate?

But we have to kind of find out what that word climate means.

So let's get started.

This is a nonfiction book, because it's informational.

It is by Bobby Kalman.

Now we could read this whole thing which gives us a ton of information, but let's go ahead and just explore these questions.

And we might revisit this book later on to see if it will give us some more answers on other wonderings and noticings throughout the next few weeks.

So the table of contents kind of gives us a guide of what chapters or pages we can kind of go to to help us.

And the first one is literally called Weather and Climate, which I think is perfect, because we've been talking about weather.

We created weather reports last week.

So I think it kind of makes that connection between weather and climate.

And it might answer this question here, what is climate.

Let's find out.

It is on page four.

Let's go to page four.

Here it is.

Weather and climate.

Is it sunny, hot, and dry?

Is it warm enough to go swimming?

I wish, right?

Is it cloudy and humid?

Will it rain?

Has the temperature changed since last night or this morning?

Do I need to wear a jacket?

Is it windy?

Is it cold?

Will it snow today?

Now those are all things that we probably wonder every single day.

So that's why we need that weather report.

So we know what to wear and what to prepare for that day.

Weather forecast.

Weather is what it is like outside right now, just like a weather report, right now.

It changes from day to day and sometimes from minute to minute.

Can you imagine waking up, going to school, and it's pretty cloudy, and then you go to recess, and it's raining?

It changes.

That's true.

Many people listen to weather forecasts each morning to find out which clothes they should wear or whether they will need an umbrella.

So a forecast is like we said earlier, a prediction of what might the weather be like later on that day or that week.

So we look for weather forecasts, so that we can kind of spend our whole day prepared.

But weather report, again, is just what is happening outside right this second.

So yeah, a lot of people do look at weather forecasts.

Here's that word, and it's bold.

That means it's an important word.

It's pretty important.

Climate is the usual kind of weather that an area has at certain times of the year.

The usual weather pattern has been in the area for many years.

That's so interesting.

So it's not that it's a prediction.

It's the usual of that area.

So if an area that you've been to is normally warm every year at a certain time, then that's going to be the climate.

The climate is gonna be during these months.

It's going to be warm.

That is so cool that we have a word to describe that.

Let's go ahead and write that down.

So we know that we answer that question.

So climate is the usual kind of weather.

Let's write that down.

Usual kind of weather in an area, that an area has, an area has at certain times of the year.

At certain times of the year.

So that kind of gets me thinking.

I like how they explained the definition that way, because we wouldn't necessarily explain our climate as cold because Missouri isn't cold all the time.

But in the months of December, January, February, that those months are cold.

But whenever we hit summertime, which is May, June, and July, we're gonna say that those are the summer months or the warm, hot months and sometimes really humid.

So it's interesting that it's pretty much what the weather is usually like during certain times of the year.

Let's keep reading to see if we can find out more.

So I want to go to a different chapter, because I thought one was interesting.

It kind of talked about, I saw in here, it was talking about the tilted earth.

What does that have to do with climate?

Let's find out what that says.

And then the four seasons, because it seems like what Wendy was describing, she was not, she does not experience all four seasons in Brazil, but we do.

So what difference, like why?

Why do we have four seasons and other places don't have four seasons?

We're gonna take a look at that chapter as well.

So here is the tilted earth.

During the year, Earth moves in one complete circle around the sun.

Earth is tilted or not straight up and down.

When Earth circles the sun, parts of the planet are tilted toward the sun at different times.

This causes the seasons to change.

In winter, areas receive less sunlight and heat, because they are tilted away from the sun.

In summer, temperatures are warmer because areas are tilted closer toward the sun's light and heat.

So I think that tilt is really important.

That kind of helps us not only get those seasons but also that climate or that usual weather that we experience.

So this diagram shows the seasons in the Northern hemisphere.

It takes Earth 365 days to travel once around the sun.

So this picture is focusing on the Northern hemisphere, because that's where we are.

Anywhere in America, we are in the Northern hemisphere.

So whenever the Northern hemisphere, let's see, right here, the top half of the globe is pointing closer towards the sun, we get summertime.

But Wendy was saying that she lives in the Southern hemisphere.

So when we are receiving summer, she is experiencing winter, because the bottom part of the Earth is getting less of that sunlight.

So that's why our seasons are flip-flopped.

And when we experience winter, like we are now, we are facing away or tilting away from the sun.

Look how far apart that top part is.

And the bottom part or the Southern hemisphere is tilted closer to the sun.

So that's why Wendy is able to wear those short sleeves right now, because her area on Earth is tilted closer to the sun when our area is tilted away from the sun.

So we know that she lives on Earth.

So depending on the tilt, she will either get winter or summer, but she also explained that it doesn't really snow out there.

And she's kind of mentioned rainy seasons and dry seasons.

So why doesn't she experience fall, winter, summer and spring?

Why doesn't she experience all four like we do?

So the next chapter is Four Seasons.

Let's find out what this says.

In both the Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere, many areas, many areas have four seasons each year.

So that sentence already tells us that not all areas have four seasons.

The seasons are spring, summer, autumn, or we call it fall, and winter.

Seasons are part of climate, because the weather in each season stays about the same for a long time.

So we get warm seasons in about three or fourish months in the year.

We get really cold snowy seasons in about three or fourish months every year.

So it's kind of the same thing.

We know what months are going to be what season.

So that's why we kind of clump it in climate.

The seasons in the Northern hemisphere are the opposite of the seasons of the Southern hemisphere at the same time of the year.

When it is winter in the North, it is summer in the South.

So that kind of helps us.

And it kind of answers a lot of our questions as to why Wendy was getting a lot of sunlight and a lot of warmth from the sun when we were not at the same exact time.

So that tilt is really, really important.

There was also another chapter here that was called Tropical Dry Climate.

I want to be able to read that really quick because when Wendy mentioned that dry season.

It says a tropical Savanna climate is hot.

It has a long dry season with very little rain.

So whenever you hear a dry season or dry climate, that means that hardly rains in that area during that time.

This climate can be found in many areas of the continents of Africa and South America, and that's where Brazil is, South America.

So that's kind of cool.

As well as in countries of India and Australia.

During the dry season, there is less than 2.4 inches of rain.

In summer, there are storms with lightning and loud thunder.

It rains and strong winds blow.

So those are the two types of climates that Wendy experiences, either super rainy or super dry, but there are some in-betweens every once in a while, but throughout the most, most of the time within those months, it's mostly rainy or the other half, it's mostly dry.

So she said that she kind of was lucky because today, it's pretty nice outside.

It's not super rainy or anything.

So it's kind of a nice day.

So that's really cool.

So I love though, now we know what climate means.

So it's the usual weather.

So I think with this information, we will be able to answer this question what is our region's climate like?

And again, it has to be during specific parts of the year.

Okay, it's not like our climate is one way all of the time, because we experience different types of weathers.

So I found this really cool map of America and it was color coded.

I think it was, I thought it was pretty cool.

And there's actually a key down here to kind of explain what the colors mean.

And the title of this map says Climate Zones of the Continental United States.

So even in the United States, there are different climates throughout the different areas of North America.

So it's not that all of America is experiencing the same seasons.

Have you ever gone to Florida in December?

It's a lot nicer out there, isn't it?

So they experience a different climate.

And if you notice here, at the very teeny tiny tip, the very bottom of Florida, it is red, but everywhere else is that dark green.

And the red is a tropical wet slash dry season climate.

So their climate is mostly tropical or wet slash dry.

So they have some wet climates or seasons, where it's raining a lot and storming, and then they kind of have those dry seasons where it's just really hot, and it doesn't rain as often during those times.

And then if you kind of look kind of closer here in the middle area, we have that light blue, and that's where Missouri falls in, right here.

And the light blue says that we are the humid, continental, warm summer climate.

And I think I would agree.

So our summers are always warm.

I walk outside, and (inhales) it like takes my breath away because it's so humid.

So our climate in the summertime is very humid.

But if you look here too, the dark blue, up here, it says that it is a cool summer climate.

So they still have humid weather, but in the summertime, it's a lot cooler or nicer.

It's not as hot outside.

So even in America, we have different climates.

This gray area is where there's a lot of high mountains.

So even whenever you go in like high elevations, the climate is going to be a lot different.

It's gonna be a lot colder.

You might go there in the months of May, June, July, and you might need a jacket.

It might even snow up there because of how high it is.

So they don't really, they don't experience the same summer that we experience.

And then California, most of California right here on the end, it's kind of like an orange color, and it's a Mediterranean climate.

So again, it rains a lot, and they get a lot of sunlight and a lot of heat in those areas.

And it might be pretty dry as well.

So it's even cool that the United States experiences different seasons and different climates.

So if I were to explain our region's climate, I would say just that.

I would say that in the winter, so in like November, December, January, we would describe that as really cold and snowy.

That's our climate in our winter.

But in Wendy's winter, it's really dry because our seasons are opposite.

So her winter is really dry.

And I would probably explain like our spring is, we always call it like April showers.

So we know that in our spring time, it's gonna be mostly rainy.

That's when we receive a lot of rain.

And the summertime is very humid, because we are in this region here of the United States that has that humid and very warm summer compared to North of us, they experience a cooler summer than us.

So it's really cool that we're able to use that climate.

And a lot of meteorologists actually came up with all of this data and all of this research over a long period of time, years and years and years, to come up with specific types of climates in different areas.

So they didn't just say, oh, this year it was like this, so this is how our climate is.

They actually collected so much data to be able to figure out the climate of certain areas so that we can pretty much determine what the weather is and the seasons are going to be like throughout different times of the year.

So let's go ahead and review what we have learned and see all of this awesome information we came up with.

So once again, we've learned so much during our time together today, and I am super excited to review today.

So this is our learnings for today.

I know that the very first thing we realized and we learned was what the word climate means.

And we know that now, climate is the usual kind of weather that an area has at certain times of the year, so during certain times of the year, figuring out what is the weather mostly like during that time.

We also know that not every area experiences the same climate or even at the same time.

So we experience summer, just like what Wendy was experiencing, but we experience it at the different or the opposite time.

So she's experience it now.

But in our summer months, May, June, July, she will not experience that summer weather.

We also know that meteorologists collected data for many, many, many years to determine the climate of different areas.

So we know what the weather is mostly like during certain times of the year, because of all of the data that these scientists, meteorologists, have collected.

And the last thing is that we know that our region's or Missouri's climate is mostly humid, especially in the summertime, but we also have those cold winters, and our winter months are November, December and January.

So it's kind of cool, all of this information we learned.

I want you to be thinking about other areas in our world and what types of climates they have.

Where do you think you would go if we had super cold, snowy weather, if you wanted to experience nice warm weather, besides Brazil, of course?

Or if you were, in the summertime, you wanted to go somewhere really cold, where do you think you could go in the world or even in America that is cold for you to experience that climate during our summer months?

I hope you enjoy exploring this and really realizing how awesome weather is and how amazing climate is in different areas.

I'll see you next time.

Bye.

(bright music) - [Narrator] Teaching in Room Nine is made possible with support of Bank of America, Dana Brown Charitable Trust, Emerson, and viewers like you.