Page 1
Experiment Manual
Page 2
A Word to Parents and Supervising Adults
This kit will give your child a broad overview of
climate and climate change. Experiments and
background information will provide him or her
with basic information about a fascinating topic,
one of extreme importance and interest to both
adults and children.
The topic is complex and the experiments
are not always simple, so they should be carried
out with thought and care. Please be prepared
to stand by your child to offer help and advice
and provide support whenever it may be needed. If an experiment does not work as expected
the first time, you may need to try it again.
The climate is a massive natural system, but
despite its enormous size, often phenomena or
changes in the climate are ver y subtle and hard
to detec t in a short amount of time. The experi-
Kit Contents
10
12
11
15
14
16
1
4
9
7
18
ments in this kit model aspect s of the climate
on a smaller scale, thus making them easier to
obser ve. However, some of the experiments will
yield ver y subtle results, and you will have to
look closely to see them. Encourage your child
to be a good detec tive and look closely to see
the results of the experiments.
Read through the instruc tions together
before beginning the experiments and follow
them. Pay attention to the basic rules for safe
experimentation on the inside cover and be
sure both you and your child review the safety
warnings that are provided with the individual
experiments.
We wish you and your young researcher lots
of fun and success with the experiments.
3
2
23
24
22
13
21
19
5
6
8
20
17
No. Description Qty. Part No.
1 Transparent half-spheres 2 706346
2 Die-cut sheet 1 706376
3 Continent sticker sheet 1 706378
4 Transparent plastic sheet for
experiment basin 1 706381
5 Cork stopper 1 071118
6 Pins 5 706382
7 Wooden sticks 3 020042
8 Incense cones 5 706385
9 Balloon 1 701060
10 Black disk 1 706387
11 Black equator strip 1 706442
12 Tubing 1 706384
Also Required
Glue, flashlight, paper, tape, felt-tip pen, table lamp, empty plas tic bot tle, insulated flask (e.g. Thermos), watch, lighter, scissors, knife, ink, white bowl, salt , plastic wrap, baking powder, vinegar, paper
towels , teaspoon. The components that are not contained in the kit are marked in italic at the beginning of each e xperiment.
No. Description Qty. Part No.
13 Thermometer with case 1 232105
14 Petri dish 1 700408
15 Sponge 1 000585
16 Tea light containers 3 706377
17 Paper clips 4 020040
18 Pipette 1 232134
19 Clay 50 g 000588
20 Rubber band 2 529122
21 Drinking straw 1 704257
Polystyrene foam tray holding: 706373
22 Sphere with indentations 1
23 Hemispheres 2
24 Ramp 1
1
Page 3
2
GLOBAL WARMING
Table of Contents
What Is Climate Change? 3
Earth and its Climate System 4
The Earth — A WellRounded Package
Experiment 01: Your Own Globe 5
Experiment 02: Day and Night 6
Climate and Weather 7
Experiment 03: The Seasons 8
Experiment 04: How the
Sun’s Rays Strike Earth
Earth’s Atmosphere 12
Experiment 05: Are You
Stronger than Air?
The Hydrological Cycle 14
Water in the Air?
Atmospheric Humidity,
Clouds, and Precipitation
Experiment 06: Make
Your Own Clouds
Experiment 07: How Do
Rain Drops Form?
Heat Reservoirs 19
Experiments 08–10:
Heat Absorption
Wind — The Movement
Of Air Over The Earth
Temperature Makes the Difference 21
Experiments 11–12: Warm
Air and Cold Air
Thermals 22
Experiment 13: Warm Air Rises 22
Local Wind Systems 23
Experiment 14: Fall wind 24
12
15
16
17
19
21
21
Global Circulation 26
Experiment 15: The
4
8
Global Wind System
Experiment 16: Winds
and Vortices
Ocean Currents 32
Experiment 17: The Gulf
Stream in a Basin
Experiment 18: Salt as an Engine 34
How Humans Influence the
Climate — The Greenhouse Effect
The Most Important Greenhouse
Gas: Carbon Dioxide
Experiment 19: The Climate
Measurement Station
Experiment 20: Let’s Produce CO
Experiment 21: The Influence
of CO2 on Temperature
Global Warming Is Not
Only in the Air
Experiment 22: The End
of the Gulf Stream
The Consequences Of
Climate Change
Effects on Humans 43
Effects on Ecosystems 44
Experiment 23: The
Rising Ocean Levels
Economic Consequences 46
How Can We Protect The Climate? 47
30
33
35
36
37
38
2
39
41
41
42
44
Page 4
18
GLOBAL WARMING
The drops will keep growing if you take
the light away and let the dome cool.
When the drops are large enough, they
will run down the sides of the dome.
Taste the water of condensation. Is it
still salty? If your experiment were to
run long enough, all the water would
evaporate and the salt would remain
behind in the petri dish. This technique
can be used in an emergency to make
drinking water out of seawater. However, the evaporated and condensed
water would lack important minerals.
Clouds collect on the Sierra Nevada.
Explanation:
Only pure water evaporates from the
oceans, leaving the salt behind. The
water condenses in the air and collects
into larger droplets, which eventually
rain down again as fresh water. That is
why rainwater is never salty, even near
the ocean.
Evaporation does not only occur above
bodies of water. Evaporation also takes
place over land, from water stored in
the ground and, above all, in plants.
That is why you have to water the garden so often in summer when temperatures are high.
Clouds
Clouds form
Precipitation
Wet
Updraft
break up
Downdraft
Dry
DID YOU KNOW ?
DID YOU KNOW ?
It’s Raining...
The distribution of land and water
masses over the Earth largely determines where rain falls. Rainfall is
also influenced by large mountain
ranges and plains, and by air pressure regions. In the interior areas of
the continents, dry climates prevail
with cold winter months and nights
and hot summer months and days.
Maritime climates determine the
weather on the coasts, with mild
winters and cool summers. Desert
climates generally prevail over large
land masses bordered by mountain
ranges against which clouds release
their rain. For example, the high
Sierra Nevada mountain range in
California catches the rain from the
moist Pacific Ocean air as it flows
eastward. On the ocean side of the
range, you will find thick forests and
fertile valleys. On the other side, to
the east, is where the hot California
desert begins.
Page 5
19
Heat Reservoirs
08–10
The features of a particular area of
Earth’s surface play an important role
in evaporation and cloud formation for
that area — for example, whether it
is covered by water or not, how much
vegetation there is, and the composition of the soil.
But Earth’s surface also has another
kind of impact on Earth’s climate. The
sun delivers heat to the Earth. Oceans,
seas, and rivers, as well as the land and
the air, absorb the sun’s warmth during
the day. The amount of sunlight that an
area of Earth’s surface absorbs is primarily determined by its color. Dark objects
absorb more heat than light-colored
ones, because light-colored objects are
reflecting the light while dark-colored
ones are absorbing it.
An experiment with three differentcolored landscape disks will show that
different-colored bodies hold different
quantities of heat.
Experiments
Heat Absorption
• Materials from the kit : transparent
half-spheres, landscape disks (forest, ocean, ice), thermometer, stand
from the die-cut sheet (globe side up),
wooden stick
• Additional materials: tape, clay, tape,
lamp, watch
white ice disk together back to back,
slide the wooden stick between them,
and secure the disks together with
pieces of tape to the left and right of
the wooden stick.
Top side
1.
Bottom side
Lay the disks inside one half-sphere,
put the two half-spheres together, and
place the combined plastic sphere on
the globe stand.
Set the entire apparatus in the sun or
under a lamp (at least 60 watts) so that
the white ice side of the landscape disk
is illuminated directly. Push the thermometer into the hole and seal it off
with a little clay. Seal off the hole on
the underside with clay too. Support
the end of the thermometer with some-
thing placed under it, e.g. books, or
by securing it with clay or tape
to a support like a glass or
block of wood.
2.
Procedure:
Place the green forest disk and the
Loading...