Climate
What is climate?
Climate is the average weather conditions in a place over a long period of time, usually 30 years or more.
Which of the following is NOT part of weather?
Population
What number planet is Mars from the Sun?
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.
What is it called when two tectonic plates move toward each other?
Convergent boundary
How long does it take Earth to rotate once on its axis?
24 hours
How is climate different from weather?
Weather is what’s happening in the atmosphere right now or over a short period of time, while climate is the average of those conditions over many years.
What is precipitation?
Precipitation is any form of water that falls from the sky, such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
What is Mars often called?
The Red Planet
What happens at a divergent boundary?
Plates move away from each other and new crust forms, often creating mid-ocean ridges or rift valleys.
What causes day and night on Earth?
Earth's rotation on its axis causes day and night.
Which human activity is the biggest source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Burning fossil fuels
What causes wind?
Wind is caused by air moving from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, often due to the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun.
Why does Mars look red?
Mars looks red because its surface is covered in iron-rich dust that has rusted.
What happens at a transform boundary?
Plates slide past each other, often causing earthquakes.
When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, what season is it in the Southern Hemisphere?
Winter
Name two effects of a warming climate.
Melting glaciers and ice caps
More extreme weather like hurricanes and droughts
What tool is used to measure wind speed?
An anemometer
What is the name of the tallest volcano in the solar system, located on Mars?
Olympus Mons
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed about 250 million years ago?
Pangaea
What causes the phases of the Moon?
The Moon’s phases are caused by how much of the sunlit side of the Moon we can see from Earth as it orbits.
What is one thing people can do to help reduce climate change?
Use less energy by turning off lights, biking instead of driving, or using renewable energy like solar or wind.
If you notice dark clouds, falling air pressure, and increasing winds, what kind of weather might be coming?
A storm or rain is likely coming.
How long does it take Mars to orbit the Sun?
687 Earth days
If South America and Africa look like they fit together like puzzle pieces, what might that tell us about Earth's past?
It suggests that the continents were once joined together and have since moved apart due to plate motion.
If Earth had no tilt on its axis, how would that affect the seasons?
There would be no seasons—every place on Earth would have about the same weather all year.