Sun & Seasons
During spring in the Northern Hemisphere, days become (shorter/longer) and temperatures usually begin to (fall/rise).
Longer; rise
Places near this imaginary line usually receive more direct sunlight than places near the poles.
What is the equator?
This is the side of a mountain where moist air rises, cools, and is more likely to produce precipitation.
What is the windward side?
Air generally moves from areas of (high/low) pressure toward areas of (high/low) pressure.
High; low
These large movements of ocean water can carry warm or cold water from one region to another.
What are ocean currents?
The Northern Hemisphere experiences summer when it is (tilted toward/closest to) the Sun because it receives (more/less) solar energy.
tilted toward; more
As elevation increases, this usually happens to temperature.
What is temperature decreases?
This side of a mountain is usually drier because much of the moisture has already fallen.
What is the leeward side?
This type of pressure is usually connected with sinking air and clearer weather.
What is high pressure?
This primarily helps drive surface ocean currents.
What is wind?
Explain why this is false:
“Summer is warmer because Earth is much closer to the Sun.”
What is the hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and receives more direct sunlight and longer daylight?
Two cities are at the same latitude. One is at sea level and one is high in the mountains. Predict which will usually be cooler.
What is the city high in the mountains?
Moist air rises up a mountain. Predict what happens to the air as it rises.
What is it cools and turns into clouds?
Low-pressure systems are more likely to produce clouds because the air does this.
What is rises and cools?
A warm ocean current begins flowing past a cool coastline. Predict one likely effect.
What is the nearby coast may become warmer?
Location A receives direct sunlight.
Location B receives sunlight at a low angle.
Predict which location will generally be warmer and explain why.
What is Location A, because direct sunlight concentrates more solar energy in a smaller area?
Location A is near the equator at low elevation. Location B is near the poles at high elevation. Which would most likely be warmer, and give two reasons.
What is Location A, because it receives more direct sunlight and is at a lower elevation?
A farmer needs a location with more precipitation. Should the farmer choose the windward or leeward side of a mountain?
What is the windward side?
Place A has high pressure. Place B nearby has low pressure. Predict the direction the wind will move.
What is from Place A toward Place B?
City A is along the ocean. City B is far inland at the same latitude. Which city will usually have milder temperatures?
What is City A, the coastal city?
Explain the cause-and-effect chain:
Earth’s tilt → change in sunlight → ?
What is changes in temperature and seasons?
The Sahara Desert in northern Africa and the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico both exist at the approximately the same latitude.
What explains why two regions so far apart would have the same dry climate?
What is they both exist in a high pressure zone north of the Tropic of Cancer?
Explain this chain:
Moist air rises → air cools → precipitation falls → leeward side becomes ________.
What is drier / a rain shadow?
Explain how two high pressure systems colliding creates a low pressure system.
What is the air is forced to rise into the air, forming clouds and precipitation?
Explain why coastal locations often have less extreme temperatures than inland locations.
What is water heats and cools more slowly than land, so the ocean moderates nearby temperatures?