Pebblekeeper

Handbook of Nature Study –

Summer Nature Study

Using Your Senses: Nature Study at Sundown –

Weather – Take Two

 

Yesterday I sat down to sum up our Weather Summer Study – and realized that I had been the only one talking about it.  The boys gave a nod and a grin and an uh-huh, so I wrote a post based on my observations . . . . . I gave Nate the assignment to track the temperatures throughout the day and write/draw about weather in his notebook.

That’s when it happened.  Another example of Unschooling.  Change. Something Unexpected. Out of the Ordinary – created a need for explanation – created a learning opportunity. We needed to look up information to explain what we had seen.  Journey through an Unschooling Experience with us if you will . .  . .

Boring Facts – The Set Up:

We were informed on the TV that we would receive unseasonably warm weather for  3-4 days, topping 100 degrees as a high pressure system sat on the coast, forcing the northern cooler air to go through Canada – and allowing the system of warm HOT air from the south to travel north and move on shore in Oregon.

The first day was great – 95 degree temps throughout the day at our home that is located slightly east of the Pacific Ocean.  Warm lake swimming – sun bathing, pink noses and flowers blooming like crazy. We stopped at the beach on the way home from a BBQ supply run to the store and stayed on the windy cold foggy beach for about all of 5 minutes, and came back home to the heat.

Day two was a bit more upside down in temps – Which is the day that Nate was keeping track with me.

70 Degrees at 6am; 95 Degrees at 9:30 am; 85 Degrees at noon, and then a drop to 60 Degrees at 4, and a drop to 55 Degrees at 6 pm.

To top off our known information, a friend was visiting from the Valley an hour inland – and she verified that the temperature had dropped 15 degrees that morning when she moved from Hwy 18 to Hwy 101.  She verified again the temperature rise on the way home that evening after 6.

Why?  This morning we have a Weather Advisory of Heat.  But it’s foggy.  Why?

Advection Fog

Advection- The horizontal transportation of things like heat, humidity, salinity, polytants and silt.

Have you seen the beautiful pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge with the fog underneath?  Advection Fog.

Temperature in the Shade on the Deck mid morning:

Temperature at the Beach at 4pm

Good thing we have jackets in the car!

The view west at Taft/Siletz Bay – usually waves –
I bet the travelers from Portland
are glad for a “Hot” day at the beach . . .

It’s no Golden Gate Bridge Advection Fog Photograph –
but it is the View from BiMart to the 55 Degrees at Mc’D’s just a mile or so south of Hwy 18 where it was hovering around 80 degrees.

   

Boys a bit disappointed at how cold it was – and the tide pools are getting covered up by the summer shifting sands. 

It wasn’t this bright – I added some highlights so you could see the pretty wave. :) 

This morning –

We did a study on the
Types of Fog
<<Click Here for NOAA’s Definitions>>

Evaporation Fog is one of my favorites – We see it alot here in the mornings, when the heat of the water is warmer than the coolness of the morning – and the mist forms on top of the lake – which packs into a fog. <<Pics of Sunrise Fog Here from our Lake Schooling Blog>>

Radiation Fog is what we are used to seeing – From moisture rising from the cooling earth, creating humidity and Fog – it is what you experience in the evening inland.

Advection Fog – is created when Warm Air is transported horizontally over cold water.  Fog is created that pushes up into the shore, and is burned off in the heat that is inland.

We learned that it’s not just a “sunny day warm” that creates the fog – but the traveling of the warm air over cold water side to side, not just radiating downward.

 

We read about how the Redwood Trees are dependant on the Advection Fog for moisture.

 

Jon drew a picture of a car with headlights to show how hard it was to drive on Highway 101 yesterday.

 

Which led to the conversation and questions of where did the warm air come from? What happened to the cold northern air? Where do they go? Where do they meet? What happens when they meet? and on and on for about an hour.   I showed them an entry from the Pioneer Woman today – as she was contemplating Ding Dongs and Storm Shelters – Check out her photos today of what happens in the middle when all of this chaos meets up. 🙂 

So – to answer the never ending question of what do you do all day if you unschool and don’t use curriculum – How many hours do you spend in school each day – How do you expect them to learn if you don’t use books –

We spent yesterday intentionally observing the weather all day, using the weather knowledge previously attained. Then we saw weather patterns that didn’t fit into what we could explain. So we  um. Looked it up?

The boys drew photographs of what they had learned, and each gave an oral presentation to dad until dad knew what Advection was.

We also threw in a little phonogram lesson and tried to come up with all of the  . . .tion words we could think of – mixing up a few sion words for fun.

I’m glad it’s summer and we don’t have to “do” school . . . .cause then I would have encouraged the boys to write paragraphs about the weather, instead of just drawing.> . . . . . .

Until next time we can’t explain something . . . . .