Atmospheric Layers
This is the layer where weather occurs.
What is the troposphere?
This type of heat transfer occurs through direct contact.
What is conduction?
Air moves naturally from this type of pressure to this type.
What is high to low pressure?
Incoming solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface.
What is insolation?
The region where solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.
What is the magnetosphere?
This layer contains the ozone layer and increases in temperature with height.
What is the stratosphere?
This type of heat transfer happens through moving air or water.
What is convection?
These winds blow from east to west near the equator.
What are trade winds?
The point in Earth’s orbit when it is closest to the Sun.
What is perihelion?
The stretched-out portion of this region that points away from the Sun.
What is the magnetotail?
This is the coldest layer of the atmosphere.
What is the mesosphere?
This type of heat transfer does not require matter.
What is radiation?
This apparent bending of winds is caused by Earth’s rotation.
What is the Coriolis effect?
This term describes how much sunlight a surface reflects.
What is albedo?
These doughnut-shaped belts trap charged particles around Earth.
What are the Van Allen radiation belts?
This boundary separates the troposphere from the stratosphere.
What is the tropopause?
When air rises, expands, and cools without heat exchange, this process occurs.
What is adiabatic cooling?
These calm, low-pressure regions are found near the equator.
What are the doldrums (ITCZ)?
Water heats at this rate compared to land.
What is slower?
Radio waves can travel long distances because they do this off the ionosphere.
What is reflect/bounce?
This is the outermost atmospheric layer where particles can escape into space.
What is the exosphere?
DAILY DOUBLE
All three types of heat transfer occurring when cooking over a campfire.
(Students must name and briefly explain all three.)
What are conduction, convection, and radiation?
In the Northern Hemisphere, air around a low-pressure system rotates in this direction.
What is counterclockwise?
In July, this hemisphere receives more direct sunlight because of Earth’s tilt.
What is the Northern Hemisphere?
Auroras are most commonly seen near these regions of Earth.
What are the poles (high latitudes)?
FINAL JEOPARDY:
This three-cell circulation model explains large-scale wind patterns between the equator and the poles. Name the three cells and describe how air moves in one of them.
What is the Hadley Cell (0–30°), Ferrel Cell (30–60°), Polar Cell (60–90°); rising air at equator, sinking at 30°