Riding the Water Cycle
The process where liquid water turns into water vapor (a gas) due to heat energy from the Sun.
What is evaporation?
This essential weather tool is used to measure the temperature of the air.
What is a thermometer?
This liquid precipitation falls when the air temperature from the clouds all the way down to the ground is completely above freezing.
What is rain?
If a meteorologist says, "It is currently 82°F and raining in Orlando," they are describing this short-term condition.
What is weather?
This is the safest place to go immediately if you hear thunder or see lightning while playing outside.
What is indoors? (Accept: Inside a sturdy building or a car).
The process where water vapor cools down and turns back into liquid water droplets, forming clouds.
What is condensation?
This spinning weather tool features small cups that catch the wind to measure wind speed.
What is an anemometer?
This solid form of precipitation drops when the air temperature is 32°F (0°C) or below all the way from the sky down to the ground.
What is snow?
If a textbook states, "Florida generally features hot, humid summers and short, mild winters," it is describing this long-term pattern.
What is climate?
This massive, swirling storm forms exclusively over warm ocean waters and brings heavy rain, high winds, and flooding to Florida coastal areas.
What is a hurricane?
This massive body of water covers over 70% of Earth's surface and provides most of the water vapor for the entire global water cycle.
What is the ocean?
This is the scientific term used to describe the amount of water vapor currently present in the air.
What is humidity?
This type of winter precipitation starts as rain but freezes into solid, tiny ice pellets as it falls through a deep layer of freezing air right before hitting the ground.
What is sleet?
Most weather occurs in the troposphere, which is the lowest level of this.
What is the atmosphere?
You should check and restock this collection of supplies—containing water, non-perishable food, flashlights, and a first aid kit—well before hurricane season begins.
What is an emergency/disaster preparedness kit?
Water that falls to Earth as precipitation but does not soak into the ground, instead flowing over the land into rivers, lakes, and oceans.
What is runoff?
A barometer is used to measure this weather factor, which typically drops right before a rainy or stormy front arrives.
What is barometric pressure? (Accept: Air pressure).
These large chunks of ice form inside intense summer thunderstorms when strong updrafts of wind repeatedly push raindrops high into freezing clouds.
What is hail?
This is the climate zone located closest to the equator, characterized by warm temperatures and heavy rainfall year-round.
What is the tropical zone?
In a family disaster plan, this is a predetermined location your family agrees to meet at if you are separated or forced to leave your home quickly.
What is an emergency meeting place? (Accept: Evacuation location).
To go from water vapor in the atmosphere back into liquid cloud droplets, water molecules must experience this specific change in heat energy.
What is losing heat? (Accept: Cooling down).
If a weather vane is pointing directly to the West, it means the wind is blowing from this specific direction.
What is the West?
This is the main difference between how sleet and hail form.
What is sleet freezes while falling through the air, but hail grows in layers inside a thunderstorm cloud?
Name two major geographic factors that can completely change a region's climate.
What are latitude, elevation (mountains), or proximity to the ocean? (Accept any two).
This is the difference between a weather "Watch" and a weather "Warning" issued by meteorologists.
What is a watch means a severe storm is possible, while a warning means the storm has been spotted and is happening right now?