How can the Sun tell you the season?
The Coriolis Effect:
Procedure--in pairs
To hold and rotate: Hold the balloon at eye level, by the knot, and rotate it left to right, simulating the rotation of the earth.
Questions:
Procedure--in pairs
- Blow up a balloon.
- With a marker, draw the equator on the balloon midway between the knot and the top of the balloon.
- Label the top North Pole and the knot South Pole.
- While 1 partner rotates the earth balloon, the other examines the movement of the earth. Take turns rotating and observing/answering the questions.
To hold and rotate: Hold the balloon at eye level, by the knot, and rotate it left to right, simulating the rotation of the earth.
Questions:
- As you look from the North Pole toward the equator, is the balloon spinning clockwise or counterclockwise?
- As you look from the South Pole toward the equator, is the balloon spinning clockwise or counterclockwise?
- Try to draw a straight line from the North Pole to the equator as your partner keeps spinning the Earth. What happens?
- Try to draw a straight line from the South Pole to the equator as your partner keeps spinning the Earth. What happens?