1. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
Thinking Like a Scientist
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2. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
Meteorology
the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting
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3. “…all the affections we may call common to air, water, and
In 350 B.C,
Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, introduced the term meteorology as
“…all the affections we may call
common to air, water, and
all the kinds and parts of the earth and
the affections of its parts.”
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4. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
Aristotle is known as the father of meteorology.
Although some of Aristotle's ideas about rain, hailstorms, and other kinds of weather were accurate, many were not.
Like other thinkers of his time, he believed that logic and reason alone could lead to truth.
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5. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
Aristotle did not think it was necessary to observe the details of the natural world in order to understand it.
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Centuries passed before natural philosophers, as scientists were called in the early years of modern science, realized that to understand things that happened in the world around them, it was necessary to measure, record, and analyze them.
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7. Aristotle would probably be amazed by today’s world of meteorology.
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Today’s weather scientist, or meteorologist, must have a highly specialized education from a college or university.
Many meteorologists have degrees in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and other fields.
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9. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
A meteorologist uses
scientific principles to
explain,
understand,
observe, or
forecast
the Earth's atmospheric phenomena and/or how the atmosphere affects the Earth and life on the planet.
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10. Meteorologists use
instruments to measure temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, and direction.

11. For the rest of this school year, you will explore meteorology
as you observe and record the following:
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12. Temperature in
degrees Celsius
of course!

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Precipitation:
Liquid
rain
Solid
snow
sleet
Hail
Metric units only!
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14. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
Wind speed
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15. © Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative
Now begin thinking
like a
meteorologist!
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