DEC 16. Please excuse any formatting problems, esp. in mobile view of the web site, or as new material is being added. THANK YOU for your understanding!

NOTICE and WONDER……

Photo Sheared Mammatus Cloud. Stillwater, Minnesota. October 2019. Copyright Amy Lilienfeld/Circle of Illumination Science Education.

One cannot help but notice and wonder about something like this unusual “sheared mammatus cloud”. But like all clouds it is a phenomenon indicating the incredible things that are going on in our atmosphere.

What secrets do YOU think this cloud is trying to tell us?

The more familiar— but related— type of cloud is the “mammatus cloud”. As shown in photo below it consists of well-defined pouches that hang off of the bases of other types of clouds.

Mammatus Clouds, Credit: Felipe Palacio, Unsplash.

But If you know anything about the formation of more common clouds (such as stratus or cumulus clouds) this is actually the opposite of how those types of clouds form, i.e., through air rising. So there are obviously some unusual things happening when we see any type of mammatus clouds. But from either of the photos above we can visualize that there is some type of downward motion. This is just one example of how careful observation and description can serve as important bases for inquiry.

But all clouds, in general, are just one element of the highly complex phenomena called “Weather” and “Climate”. Although they operate at vastly different spatial and temporal scales weather and climate are comprised of many of the same elements: air temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind direction and speed, and atmospheric pressure. Each of these elements is constantly changing but is also often interacting with the other variables in a highly complex system. One of the major goals of Circle of Illumination Science Education is to help unpack some of this complexity while emphasizing the big ideas in a way that all teachers, regardless of prior knowledge, will be able to comprehend.

Dr. Amy Lilienfeld, Founder and President of Circle of Illumination Science Education

CIRCLE of ILLUMINATION SCIENCE EDUCATION, owned and operated by Dr. Amy Lilienfeld, a geographer who has taught earth science for over 20 years at the college-level, is dedicated to promoting excellence in the instruction of weather, climate and other aspects of earth science and geography thru the provision of teaching training and high quality instructional materials. The grade focus is primarily on elementary and middle school grades. Almost all of the training and related products involve the use of data provided by agencies of the Federal government such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service.

Please see workshop pages for current workshop/webinar offerings (which is constantly being expanded) and stay tuned for a new activities book intended for both teachers AND PARENTS in which hands-on activities related to sun angle and day length across all the months of the year will help explain the existence of our seasons in the midlatitudes!