Cells & Energy in the Body
Ms. Davis told the class that eating food alone is not enough for the body to get everything it needs to function properly. Does she mean that cells also need molecules from the air to work correctly?
A. Yes, the body only works when cells get molecules from food and molecules from air.
A town has an average spring temperature of about 15°C. Where does most of the energy that causes this temperature originally come from?
The Sun
One city is closer to the equator than another city. Which city would most likely have cooler air temperatures, and what causes that difference?
The city farther from the equator because it receives less direct sunlight.
Students create a model of the water cycle to understand how water moves on Earth. What force or process causes rain and snow to fall back down to the ground?
Gravitational force
In which direction does air always move: from high pressure to low pressure, or from low pressure to high pressure?
Air moves from high pressure to low pressure.
During PE, a student notices that it is very hard to keep running when they are struggling to breathe. Why would having trouble breathing make exercise more difficult for the body?
Cells do not work well when oxygen levels are low.
Two objects start at different temperatures and then touch each other. After they have been touching for some time, how will energy move between the two objects?
Energy transfers from warmer to cooler until temperatures balance.
Students are building a model to show how ocean currents help move energy around Earth and affect climate. Which option best shows how energy flows through this system?
Sun → Ocean → Air → Land
An air parcel had rain on one day but not on another, even though the amount of water vapor stayed the same. What change in the air parcel could explain why rain formed on one day but not the other?
The air parcel was warmer and lost energy.
Strong winds push ocean water toward the west. A city on the west coast feels the ocean current first. Why does the water reach the west coast first, and why can’t the water move through the land?
The wind pushes the water west so it reaches the west coast first. The water can’t go through land so it has to move around it.
A doctor checks a patient’s cells and finds that oxygen levels are normal, but glucose and amino acid levels are low. Would this person likely have enough energy to exercise normally?
No, glucose must react with oxygen to release energy.
Two gears touch and transfer energy, but one gear is much larger and has more molecules than the other. After energy spreads out, which gear will end up cooler, and why?
The larger gear will be cooler because the energy spreads across more molecules.
Two coastal cities are the same distance from the equator.
City A is located next to an ocean current that brings warm water from near the equator.
City B is located next to an ocean current that brings cold water from near the polar regions.
Which statement best explains how the air temperature near each city will compare?
City A will have warmer air because warm ocean water transfers energy to the air above it.
Two storms formed in the same area but started at different surface temperatures. Storm 1 was 31c and storm 2 was 15c. Which storm would likely produce more rainfall, and what explains the difference?
Storm 1 — warmer air lost more energy as it rose.
Why is it usually colder at the top of a mountain than at the bottom?
There’s less air and lower pressure at high elevations, so less heat is trapped and it’s colder.
Steam from hot water underground heats up the nearby ground. When the ground becomes warmer, what happens to the energy of the particles in the soil?
The energy of the molecules increases.
Two storms formed in the same area but started at different surface temperatures. Storm 1 was 31c and storm 2 was 15c. Which storm would likely produce more rainfall, and what explains the difference?
Storm 1 — warmer air lost more energy as it rose.
Two coastal cities, Harborview and Northport, are the same distance from the equator.
Harborview is next to an ocean current that carries warm water from the equator.
Northport is next to an ocean current that carries cold water from the polar regions.
Winds blow from the ocean toward the land in both cities.
How will the ocean currents most likely affect the air temperature over each city?
Harborview’s air will be warmer because warm ocean water transfers energy to the air.
One storm produced much more rain than another storm in the same location. What starting conditions could explain why the first storm had heavier rainfall?
Warmer starting air temperatures that allowed more energy loss.
One city is closer to the equator than another city. Which city would most likely have cooler air temperatures, and what causes that difference?
The city farther from the equator because it receives less direct sunlight.
Two towns have different air temperatures even though they are in the same region. What is the most likely reason one town has warmer air than the other?
More solar energy warmed the ground and air in one town.
One storm produced much more rain than another storm in the same location. What starting conditions could explain why the first storm had heavier rainfall?
Warmer starting air temperatures that allowed more energy loss.
Strong winds push ocean water toward the west. Why would a city on the west coast feel the ocean current first, and why can’t the water move through the land?
The wind pushes the water west, so it reaches the west coast first. The water can’t go through land, so it has to move along the coast instead.
A town has an average spring temperature of about 15°C. Where does most of the energy that causes this temperature originally come from?
The Sun
Two gears touch and transfer energy, but one gear is much larger and has more molecules than the other. After energy spreads out, which gear will end up cooler, and why?
The larger gear will be cooler because the energy spreads across more molecules.