Atmosphere
This tool is used to measure air pressure. For double score, also name the units it measures air pressure in.
Barometers measure air pressure in millibars.
What is an air mass?
A large body of air that has relatively similar temperature and humidity.
Heat always does this in a convection current.
Rises.
This is the calmest part of a hurricane.
The eye of the storm.
Name all of the oceans.
Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern.
Where in the atmosphere is the densest air found?
At or near sea level, because all the air of the entire atmosphere above it is pressing down on it.
Clear, sunny skies are often the result of this type of air pressure system moving over an area.
High pressure system.
Explain how the convection current in a boiling pot of soup works.
The stove heats the water at the bottom of the pot. Warm water rises up from the bottom of the pot, cools at the surface of the pot, and falls back down into the bottom of the pot to heat back up again.
Please rank the following from weakest to strongest:
Tropical Storm
Hurricane
Tropical Depression
Tropical Depression (wind speeds up to 38 MPH)
Tropical Storm (wind speeds up to 73 MPH)
Hurricane (Anything above 74 MPH)
Why is Spain warmer than Massachusetts even though they are found at the same lattitude?
Spain is warmed by warm ocean currents that come up from tropical areas. Massachusetts is cooled by cool ocean currents coming down from Canada.
Name the layer of the atmosphere where almost all weather occurs.
Troposphere.
How would you show a cold front on a weather map? What direction would the shapes face, and what color would they be?
Blue triangles on a line across the edge of the front, and the triangles would point in the direction the front was going.
Where do the convection currents in the ocean flow?
Warm water heads from the Equator to the poles. Cool water flows from the poles towards the Equator.
Storm surges are the most dangerous part of a hurricane. Why?
Water causes more damage than air because it carries heavy debris and leaves millions of gallons of water in residential areas.
What is the relationship between warm ocean water and warm air over the ocean?
The ocean water is warming the air above it through conduction.
Winds are caused by what phenomenon?
Unequal heating of the earth's surface. For example, rising warm air on a beach during the day causes a sea breeze as the cooler ocean air is pulled in to replace it.
Tim has experienced several days of clear skies, but the weather forecast is calling for heavy rain tomorrow. Describe what is happening in terms of air fronts or air masses.
A high pressure system has been over Tim for the past several days, but as it leaves the area it is being replaced by a warm front.
Hurricanes are assigned a category between these two numbers and based on this specific metric.
1-5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale based on wind speed.
The difference between a seamount and a volcanic island.
Seamounts are entirely beneath the ocean surface, and volcanic islands rise above sea level.
Explain the journey a drop of water would take on its way through the entire water cycle, starting in the ocean.
Stationary fronts are caused by two air masses colliding and being unable to push the other away. Typically this results in several days of light rain.
Occluded fronts are caused by two cold air masses converging on a warm air mass, pushing it up and over the cold air masses. This often leads to thunderstorms followed by clear skies.
A sea breeze is cool air coming in off the ocean to replace the warm air rising off the land during the day.
A land breeze is the cool air from the land blowing out to sea to replace the warm air rising off the ocean at night.
Name four of the five things a hurricane needs to form.
1) It needs to form over the ocean
2) The temperature needs to be warm (at least 80 degrees)
3) Air pressure needs to be low
4) Latitude needs to be close to (but not ON) the Equator
5) Wind Shear at high levels of the atmosphere needs to be low
What causes the movement of oceanic crust?
Convection currents in the mantle bringing molten rock close to the surface at mid-ocean ridges. This pushes the oceanic crust away from the ridge and towards the continental plate.