Weather

Water Cycle

100

Nature’s way of recycling water.

What is the water cycle?

200

The process of water changing into an invisible gas called water vapor

What is evaporation?

300

Amount of water vapor in the air

What is humidity?

400

The process of water vapor turning into water droplets

What is condensation?

500

Rain, snow, hail or sleet.

What is precipitation?

Clouds

100

Gray clouds that cover the lower part of the sky; rain or snow falls from them

What are stratus clouds?

200

White, puffy clouds that look like piles of cotton; they are known as fair-weather clouds

What are cumulus clouds?

300

Thin, feathery clouds that appear high in the sky; they are a sign that rain or snow is on the way

What are cirrus clouds?

400

The movement of air in the atmosphere.

What is wind?

500

Tall, dark clouds that mean thunderstorms with heavy rain and strong winds

What are cumulonimbus clouds?

Weather Vocabulary

100

The outside conditions right now

What is weather?

200

Scientists who study weather

Who are meteorologists?

300

Instrument that shows wind direction

What is a wind vane?

400

Measures wind speed

What is an anemometer?

500

Average weather conditions in a place over many years (30 years)

What is climate?

Seasons

100

Sunny, hot and humid.

What is summer?

200

Sunny, rainy and plants begin to grow.

What is spring?

300

Cold, icy and/or snowy

What is winter?

400

Leaves change colors, cooler and windy.

What is fall/autumn?

500

Earth's tilt.

What causes seasons?

Extreme weather

100

Forms when a tropical storm keeps growing.

What is a hurricane?

200

When a warm front from the south meets a cold front from the north and forms a funnel shape.

What is a tornado?

300

When there is lots of snow and wind.

What is a blizzard?

400

A severe shortage of rain.

What is a drought?

500

These storms happen mostly in the United States.

What is a tornado?