What Makes One Place Wetter Than Another

Lab Brief #5

🎯 Your mission

Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Distance from the sea, height above sea level, and which way the prevailing wind blows all shape a local climate. That is why one side of a small island can be lush and the other nearly bare.

Key words

prevailing wind
The direction the wind most often blows from in a place.
altitude
Height above sea level, which lowers temperature as it rises.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

climate data tables
graph paper
map

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Think about what you just learned: say what "prevailing wind" and "altitude" mean in your own words before you start.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Compare rainfall and temperature data for four places at similar latitude but different altitude and distance from the sea. Rank them and explain each position using the two factors.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Question 1 of 2

As altitude increases, temperature generally:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 2

The prevailing wind is the direction wind:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 2 right.

Next: Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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