This Khan Academy video explains how convection cells and the Earth's rotation create global wind patterns.
The video also discusses how wind patterns distribute heat and precipitation unevenly around the globe, which helps form different biomes.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video uses diagrams to simplify the complex topic of global wind patterns.
A full transcript of the video is available.
Teachers can share this resource on Google Classroom.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers need to create a free account to use Khan Academy.
Differentiation
Science classes could use this resource in lessons on global wind patterns, convection, air pressure, density, Earth's biomes, or wind energy.
Earth science classes could discuss how climate change might affect global wind patterns and the various biomes they create.
The video mentions that water-covered areas and land-covered areas absorb heat from the sun differently. Teachers could ask students to predict how rising sea levels could affect global wind patterns.
This video could be used with this real-time interactive map that displays global wind speed and direction.
Other similar resources include this NASA video that highlights the importance of wind and this resource that describes how wind and other factors affect climate.
Scientist Notes
This video offers a primer on our best understanding of the global wind patterns, which are driven by solar energy. Earth's rotation also plays a role in the finer details of the circulation patterns. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Science and Engineering
ESS2: Earth’s Systems
MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.
MS-ESS2-6 Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
HS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
