Mrs. Colyer's 

Essential Question - 

How does energy provided by the Sun influence global weather patterns?

Energy provided by the Sun causes the air in the atmosphere to heat up. The Sun's energy does not heat the air in the Earth's atmosphere evenly because the Earth is shaped like a sphere. Warmer air has air particles that are spread farther apart from each other than cooler air, which causes air pressure to be lower. Winds are created when air moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas. Global wind patterns are created because of the uneven heating of the Earth at the different latitudes.  Jet streams are belts of high speed winds that occur at the boundary between hot air around the equator and cold air around the poles. Winds are created by difference in the temperature of the air is caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the Sun. 

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