Weather
and Living Things
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How the Weather Can Make You Feel
Introduction | Invitation | Exploration | Explanation | Taking Action | Conclusion
Have you ever heard of an older person complain about aches and pains before it rains? Do you have days where you feel more alert and do better in school than on other days? If you think that the weather has something to do with how you feel or even how you react, then you are not alone. Biometeorology is the branch of science that studies the effect of weather on human health.
Objective
Upon completion of this lesson you should be able to
describe the type of weather conditions that seem to have an
adverse impact on various human health
conditions.
Materials
Barometer, thermometer, sling psychrometer
Discuss
with your group members how you think weather affects your
mood, aches and pains, reflexes, and attentiveness.
After your discussion, check out Dr. Dewpoint at Intellicast
to see how some scientists think weather affects our
health. After investigating this site, please
answer the questions below.
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Questions:
1. Explain the effects of air stagnation on health and well-being.
2. Describe the types of weather that seems to
aggravate
the aches and pains that we may have.
3. What type of weather tends to slow our reaction time? speed up reaction time?
4. Describe the weather conditions that seem to facilitate the highest mental functioning.
5. Describe how different weather conditions has a tendency
to affect our mood.
Top Exploration
Now it is time for us to experimentally explore the link
between certain weather conditions and certain physical and
behavioral responses. During the next four to six
days, your job is to make the following weather related
measurements and then compare them to how you were feeling
on those days. If you are unable to make the weather
related measurements in class, you can log on to the Weather
Channel web site to get the needed information about your
area.
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For your convenience, you can make a copy of the following tables to record your data or you can just use them as a guide to making your own.
Table of Weather
Conditions
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Date |
Humidity |
Temperature |
Bar. Pressure |
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Day 1 |
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Day 2 |
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Day 3 |
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Day 4 |
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Day 5 |
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Day 6 |
Table of Health
Conditions
Please rate each factor
on a scale from 1 to 5 according to your own judgment for
each day of the testing. Your ratings during the first few
days may need to be adjusted after you have more days to
compare the data. For the reaction rate measurement, it is
suggested that you do the meter stick drop activity each
day.
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Aches/Pains |
Mood |
Mental
Sharpness |
Reaction
Rate |
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Day 1 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
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Day 2 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
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Day 3 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
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Day 4 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
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Day 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
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Day 6 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
1 2 3 4 5 |
For each day, it is
also recommended that you describe in words how you felt and
responded. For example, it would be important to note
if you had a headache on Day 4 as this observation could
help to explain why you were in such a bad mood.
In addition to monitoring your own health conditions, you
may want to monitor some of the people in your family,
especially older people who are usually more sensitive to
changes in weather conditions.
Meter Stick Reaction Rate Activity:
With a partner
holding a meter stick up, place your thumb and forefinger in
between the stick about one inch apart at the bottom of the
meter stick. Your partner should let go of the meter
stick without telling you and should catch the stick as
quickly as possible using your thumb and forefinger.
After catching it, mark and record the distance (in cm) that
the meter stick fell before you were able to catch it.
Repeat this procedure a total of five times and then
determine your average rate of reaction in terms of
centimeters.
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Now that you have determined your average reaction rate, you should be able to judge your reaction rate on a scale of 1 to 5 for each day that you monitor your health conditions. You can choose to do it just once each day or take an average of several daily trials. You should repeat this process for each of the members in your group.
Explanation
After you complete the necessary monitoring, it is time to analyze your data and look for patterns and consistencies. It would be beneficial at this point if several students could put their data on the board so that your results can be compared with others. Check closely to see if changes in the weather conditions seem to correlate in any way with the changes in the health conditions that were described. After studying your data and comparing it to other members of your class, write a one paragraph summary which describes the what you consider as the key relationships in the data.
Previous researchers have found that falling barometric pressure and rising humidities (dampness) seem to be associated with an increase in aches and pains, a depressed mood, and lowered mental sharpness and reaction rates. Does your data seem to support or refute this previous research. Explain.
Taking Action
Now that you've analyzed your data, it is time for you to state your true opinion on this matter. Go to the Eco-Connections Project Forum for this lesson and express your opinion to the following question:
Do you think that falling air pressure and an increase in
humidity has a significant affect on the way
that you feel or do you think that it is just an old wise
tale?
Conclusion
Whether
or not changing weather conditions seem to impact you as an
individual, we should realize that, across the world,
millions of people suffer from chronic pain and
depression. Whether it is a grandparent with arthritis
or friend who is often down, it is important for us to
recognize that their symptoms will often intensify as the
air pressure falls and the humidity rises. In doing
so, we will be better able to understand their challenges
and show them the compassion and concern that they
deserve.
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