Are you feeling under pressure?
Did you know the weight of the air in the atmosphere presses down on everything on the Earth, including you.
This is air pressure. It varies all the time. Lows are areas of low pressure, with the lowest pressure in the centre. Highs are areas of high pressure, with the highest pressure in the centre. Lows usually bring wet, cloudy weather and Highs usually bring sunny, dry weather. So poor old Wellington has been getting a lot of low pressure recently.
Try this 3 minute mission Air-pressure trick.
You need:
- One piece of card (7.5 x 12.5 cm)
- A glass
- Water
- Fill the glass a third full with water.
- Wet the lip of the glass and cover the top with the card. Hold the card in place.
- Take the glass to the sink and turn it upside down. Carefully, take your hand away.
- What happens? The force of air pressure against the card should hold the card in place.
Earth in 30 seconds has 30 amazing topics for Earth explorers explained in half a minute and there are lots of exciting mini-mission to test facts or find out more.
So explore the earth’s structure, learn about the season, understand volcanoes, earthquakes, wild weather and discover our watery world.