If you are having trouble visualizing the Coriolis Effect, you are not alone! Everyday, someone wakes up believing that sinks drain in the opposite direction in the Northern and Southern hemispheres! In fact, the Coriolis Effect is one of the poorest understood ideas in meteorology. Below, you will find tutorials and lessons to help you become more familiar with this phenomenon.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offers these EXCELLENT online tutorials for understanding key earth science topics. You will want to explore
all of these lessons, but to get to the Coriolis Force lessons, follow the directions below.
- On the Learning Demos page, click on Activity #8–Ocean Currents.
- A new window will pop up to start the simulation.
- In the far right corner is a link that says Coriolis Effect.
- Click on the link and learn using an interactive game!
This 46 page document covers all aspects of ocean/weather interactions including the water cycle, surface and wind-driven ocean currents, and El Nino. This document is special because the hands-on approach includes a lot of visual aids. The students interact with real science data as they use their problem-solving abilities. It would also make a great budget-wise science unit. Scroll to Activity #1 –
Wind Circulation, Surface Currents, & Climate for a detailed Coriolis Effect lesson.
Although not for the Physics weary, this paper outlines the mechanics and math behind Coriolis. As the author explore the role of inertia in the atmosphere, diagrams, calculations, and a brief biography of Gaspar Gustave Coriolis could help to make this 13 page article a key for physics fans everywhere.
The Florida State University Meteorology Department designed this lesson plan to show how climate patterns are related to many factors on earth. Using links and downloadable data, students explore the Coriolis Effect with sites such as the
Bad Science Page which addresses the “toilets draining in the opposite direction” myth.
My NASA Data is a wonderful set of in-depth lessons on a range of topics using real-time data sets. This lab activity is aimed at older groups of students and includes an answer key for the questions. Materials and supplies are fairly easy to get, and the lesson shows the basics of the effects of Coriolis on winds and ocean currents across Earth.
Wind power and windmills are one way to learn about wind energy! This tutorial will take you through questions such as “Why does the wind blow?” and “What is a Windrose?”. Over 13 pages of in depth information and diagrams will have everyone understanding wind energy on earth!
An applet program will run on your computer in this link from the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia. The computer simulation will show the balance of frictional, pressure gradient, and Coriolis forces. Another
Coriolis simulation which is very similar is also available.
A great tutorial on the Coriolis effect, this lesson is easy to follow and use.
This is a wonderful lesson for even younger students to understand why the wind blows.
