Weather vs Climate
This describes the day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, such as rain, temperature, and wind.
What is weather?
This gas makes up about 78% of Earth’s atmosphere.
What is nitrogen?
This is the lowest layer of the atmosphere, where weather happens and where we live.
What is the troposphere?
This type of storm has funnel-shaped clouds, very strong winds, and often forms during severe thunderstorms.
What are tornadoes?
This is a well-tested explanation of natural events, supported by evidence, that can change if new evidence is found.
What is a scientific theory?
This describes the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time, usually 30 years or more.
What is climate?
This gas, which makes up about 21% of the atmosphere, is essential for humans and animals to breathe.
What is oxygen?
This layer contains the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
What is the stratosphere?
This powerful storm forms over warm ocean water, has strong winds and heavy rain, and is measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
What are hurricanes?
This describes a pattern in nature that happens the same way every time under the same conditions, often using math.
What is scientific law?
This type of pressure system usually brings clear skies and calm weather because air is sinking.
What is high-pressure system?
The ozone layer, found in the stratosphere, protects life on Earth by blocking most of this harmful radiation from the Sun.
What is ultraviolet (UV) radiation?
This outermost layer gradually fades into space, and satellites orbit here.
What is the exosphere?
This winter storm includes heavy snowfall, strong winds, and low visibility, making travel dangerous.
What are blizzards?
The x-axis on a graph; this is what is changed by the experimenter.
This type of front happens when warm air slowly rises over cold air, bringing steady rain and cloudy skies.
What is warm front?
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and water vapor help keep Earth warm by trapping this.
What is heat (infrared radiation)?
The northern and southern lights (auroras) are found in this atmospheric layer and is the hotest layer.
What is the thermosphere?
These sudden, short-lived storms are caused by intense thunderstorms and can cause flooding in a matter of minutes.
What are flash floods?
When someone else does your experiment.
What is replication?
Meteorologists look for these narrow bands of fast-moving wind in the upper atmosphere because they help guide weather systems across the globe.
What is jet streams?
They usually burn up from friction with gases, protecting Earth’s surface from being hit.
What are meteroids/meteors?
This is the coldest layer of the atmosphere, and it’s where most meteors burn up.
What is the mesosphere?
When warm, moist air rises and collides with cold, dry air, it can create these violent storms that produce thunder, lightning, hail, and sometimes tornadoes.
What are severe thunderstorms?
Scientists use these simplified representations to help explain, study, or predict natural phenomena, such as the solar system or an atom.
What are scientific models?