Objectives

Standards Addressed

Introduction and Background

Classroom Activity

Resources and Links

Teacher Guide

This high school activity has been developed as a result of collaboration between the National Science Foundation, Coastal Carolina University, and the South Carolina Aquarium. The concepts and exercises that are presented in this activity stem directly from the research conducted by Dr. Craig Gilman of Coastal Carolina University. The methodology and data observed and collected by an undergraduate student and a high school teacher working directly under the tutelage of Dr. Gilman on the research project have been used to develop locally relevant discovery- and inquiry-based classroom activities for high school students. Each activity has been tested and assessed in the classroom.

Dr. Gilman's research is focused on coastal weather patterns. A long-term study of coastal cells is underway to develop a baseline of normal weather patterns. By analyzing data from the weather stations, we can observe the conditions at different distances from the coast at the same time, including temperature, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, and relative humidity. Anomalies in the data will be studied by students in the classroom and any patterns will be analyzed.

Each activity introduces students to application of scientific concepts to actual field data that has been collected by Dr. Gilman's team and posted on the web. They provide the opportunity for students to consider the many components of the weather along the coast. These will also serve as a vehicle to promote consideration of ones personal environment, develop techniques for data analysis, and create a passion for scientific discovery.

Oceans Effect on Temperature

Heat capacity is a measure of the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1°C (measured in calories/gram). Waters heat capacity is among the highest of all known substances. This means water can absorb large amounts of heat while changing relatively little in temperature. Because of this, on a hot summer day followed by a cool evening, the surface temperature of the land will change dramatically while the ocean temperature remains relatively stable. Thus, the ocean exhibits greater resistance to temperature change, or thermal inertia, than does the adjacent land.

This difference in thermal inertia between land and ocean has important consequences on weather and climate in coastal areas. Areas right along the coast will experience smaller temperature variations than more inland areas. The ocean will act to keep the coastline cooler on hot days and warmer on cold days.

The difference in heat capacity between ocean and land creates a circulation pattern in the atmosphere known as a Thermal Circulation Cell. The most noticeable feature of the Coastal Cell is the formation of land and sea breezes. The sea breeze is a local coastal wind that blows from the water to the land during the late morning and early afternoon hours in response to strong solar heating of the land. Its nighttime counterpart is a land breeze that blows from land to sea in response to strong radiational cooling over the land.

During the day, the land surface heats up faster than the water surface. Therefore, the air above the land is warmer than the air above the ocean. As a result, the warm air rises. This rising of air due to surface heating is known as convection. As the warm air over the land is rising, the cooler air over the ocean is flowing over the land surface to replace the rising warm air. This is the sea breeze.

At night the land surface cools quicker than the water surface. Therefore, the warmer air over the ocean rises due to convection. The denser cool air over the land then flows offshore to replenish the rising warm air. This is a land breeze.

To download a PowerPoint animation of the formation of a Coastal Cell click here.

To download a PowerPoint slide show of many aspects of the oceans effect on weather, click here.