The Water Cycle
The process of liquid water turning into a gas from the sun's heat.
What is evaporation?
This instrument measures the temperature of the air.
What is a thermometer?
Puffy, white, cotton-like clouds that you see on a fair, sunny day.
What are cumulus clouds?
A report that says, "It will be 85°F and sunny in Augusta today."
What is weather?
The spinning of the Earth on its axis, which causes day and night.
What is rotation?
The process of water vapor in the air getting cold and turning back into a liquid to form clouds.
What is condensation?
This instrument is used to measure the amount of rainfall.
What is a rain gauge?
Thin, wispy, and feathery clouds that are found very high in the sky.
What are cirrus clouds?
A statement that says, "South Carolina generally has hot and humid summers."
What is climate?
The journey the Earth takes around the Sun, which lasts about 365 days.
What is revolution?
Any form of water—like rain, snow, or sleet—that falls from clouds.
What is precipitation?
This instrument, often with spinning cups, measures how fast the wind is blowing.
What is an anemometer?
Clouds that look like flat, gray sheets or layers covering the sky.
What are stratus clouds?
The name for a scientist who studies and forecasts the weather.
What is a meteorologist?
The path an object, like the Moon, takes around another object, like the Earth.
What is an orbit?
In our "Cloud in a Jar" experiment, the ice on the lid caused water vapor to do this.
What is condense?
This instrument shows which direction the wind is coming from.
What is a wind vane?
Adding this word to a cloud's name, like in cumulonimbus, means it brings precipitation.
What is nimbus?
Last July was much drier than the average July. The dry conditions describe the month's...
What is weather?
This invisible force keeps the Moon in its orbit around the Earth.
What is gravity?
The complete journey of water from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back again.
What is the water cycle?
A falling reading on this instrument, which measures air pressure, often signals a storm.
What is a barometer?
A tall, dark, and towering cloud that produces thunderstorms.
What is a cumulonimbus cloud?
The long-term pattern of weather in a specific area, averaged over 30 years or more.
What is climate?
We always see the same side of the Moon because its speed of rotation matches this.
What is its speed of revolution?