Rising paper bag
1. Prepare an area outside your room
where you can easily conduct an
activity. See to it the place is away
from flammable materials.
2. Prepare needed materials and one
pail containing water in case of
unexpected fire.
3. Attach a paper bag to each end of one
meter long straight stick or meter stick.
4. The open part of the paper bag must be
facing downward.
5. Place and balance your one meter long
straight stick on the chair
6. Light your candle and carefully place it
below one of the paper bags and observe
what will happen.
Q1. What happened to the paper bag after
you placed the lighted candle below it?
Q2. How will you explain the occurrence
observed on the paper bag?
4. The open part of the paper bag must be
facing downward.
5. Place and balance your one meter long
straight stick on the chair
6. Light your candle and carefully place it
below one of the paper bags and observe
what will happen.
Q1. What happened to the paper bag after
you placed the lighted candle below it?
Q2. How will you explain the occurrence
observed on the paper bag?
What happens when air is heated?
You observed that one paper bag
rose while the other paper bag
dropped. The paper bag moving
was caused by the rising warm air
from the lighted candle below it
that pushed the bag upward. The
activity shows that heated or warm
air rises or tends to move upward.
Atmospheric
Phenomena: Breezes,
Monsoon, and
Intertropical
Convergence Zone
(ITCZ)
Warm air above the land surface rises.
This is because the sun heats up land
more quickly than water. When the air
above land is heated, it expands and
begins to rise. The cooler air from above
the surface of the sea moves toward the
land to replace the rising air. This
movement of air creates a local wind
known as sea breeze. Sea breeze occurs
at daytime and provides a cooling effect
on those near the shore.
At night, the land cools faster
than the sea. Thus, the warm air
above the sea surface pulls in the
cooler air from the land surface.
This local wind is known as the
land breeze. Sea and land breezes
over a large region that change
direction with the seasons are
called monsoons.
What are Monsoons?
The local winds created from the differential
heating of land and sea can also be felt over a
much larger geographic area or region. This is a
major wind system known as monsoons. Monsoons
are characterized by a dramatic seasonal change in
the direction of the prevailing winds over a large
area. This change in the direction of the prevailing
winds brings about changes in the amount of
rainfall and leads to the distinct wet and dry
seasons. There are two kinds of monsoons which
are experienced in the country-the northeast
monsoon and southwest monsoon.
The northeast monsoon locally known
as amihan in the Philippines affects
the eastern parts of the country from
October to March. This is brought by
the cold air mass that comes from
Siberia and gathers moisture as it
travels over the Pacific Ocean. Amihan
is characterized by widespread
cloudiness with slight to moderate
rainfall and prevailing cold winds.
The southwest monsoon or habagat affects
the western part of the country from July to
September. It is characterized by heavy
rainfall, humid weather and bring the rainy
season to the western parts of the country.
Habagat is brought about by the cool air from
the high pressure area in the Australian
continent absorbing moisture by passing over
the warm equatorial oceans. The air, now
laden with water vapor, cools as it moves
north and as it rises over land. The air can no
longer hold its moisture and falls huge volume
of rainfall.
Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration
(PAGASA) is the agency
responsible for assessing and
forecasting weather, flood, and
other conditions that are
essentials for the safety of the
people.
What is ITCZ?
The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
appears as a band of clouds consisting of
showers, with occasional thunderstorms, that
encircles the globe near the equator. ITCZ is
the place where winds in the tropics meet or
converge. Because the equator is warmer than
the North and South poles, the cooler air is
drawn towards the equator to replace the rising
warm air. Vapor pressure condenses as air rises
and cools in the ITCZ, forming clouds and rain.
This is where monsoon rainfall occurs.
What is ITCZ?
The Inter-Tropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ) appears as a band of
clouds consisting of showers,
with occasional thunderstorms,
that encircles the globe near the
equator.