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Flashcards
Discover Your Changing World with NOAA
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Discover Your Changing World with NOAA — Flashcards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| What is Climate Science Literacy? | An understanding of your influence on climate and climate's influence on you and society. |
| What are the three qualities of a climate-literate person? | Understands the principles of Earth's climate system; knows how to find and use scientifically accurate climate information; makes informed and responsible decisions about actions that may affect climate. |
| Climate Science Principle 1 | The sun is the primary source of energy for Earth's climate system. |
| Climate Science Principle 2 | Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system. |
| Climate Science Principle 3 | Life on Earth depends on, is shaped by, and affects climate. |
| Climate Science Principle 4 | Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes. |
| Climate Science Principle 5 | Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observations, theoretical studies, and modeling. |
| Climate Science Principle 6 | Human activities are impacting the climate system. |
| Climate Science Principle 7 | Climate change will have consequences for the Earth system and human lives. |
| What causes winds and large ocean currents? | Heat moving from warm areas (like the Equator) to colder areas (like the North and South Poles), converting some of the Sun's heat energy into motion energy. |
| What is a Solar Heat Engine? | A tool built in Activity 1 that changes heat energy from the Sun into motion energy, demonstrating Climate Science Principle 1. |
| How does the Solar Heat Engine work? | Plastic strips attached to a flywheel shrink when exposed to sunlight, pulling the flywheel off-center and causing the drum to rotate; as strips move into shadow, they cool, lengthen, and the cycle continues. |
| What material property makes the Solar Heat Engine work? | Many plastics shrink when heated (and lengthen again when cooled). |
| What is the flywheel in the Solar Heat Engine made from? | A plastic lid (such as from a yogurt or margarine container) with a hole cut in its center. |
| What is the Fixed Cup Assembly? | The stationary part of the Solar Heat Engine, made from a Styrofoam cup with a dowel through it, providing a pivot point for the Wobble Cup. |
| What is the Wobble Cup Assembly? | The rotating part of the Solar Heat Engine with plastic strips glued around its rim, which wobbles on the dowel as the strips shrink and lengthen. |
| Why might color matter for the plastic strips in the Solar Heat Engine? | Because of the principles of heat reflection and heat absorption—black plastic absorbs more heat than white plastic, affecting how well the strips shrink in sunlight. |
| What does the Solar Heat Engine challenge suggest about latitude and climate? | Differences in the amount of solar energy arriving at different latitudes (e.g., Northern Canada vs. Southern Florida) is one of the major controls on climate. |
| How can you measure the Solar Heat Engine's performance? | By marking the flywheel and counting revolutions per minute under different conditions (cloudy vs. clear, different times of day or year) to see how solar energy varies. |
Original licensed under Public Domain. This teaching material is provided free by OER.ai.