Atmosphere
Moving Air
Precipitation
Predicting weather
Severe Weather
100
The very top layer of the atmosphere with very thin air that is first to be struck by the sun.
What is the thermosphere
100
What causes the moving of air on Earth?
What is the uneven heating of the planet which creates convection currents
100
Describe the steps of the water cycle
What is water evaporates from water bodies and transpires from plants and goes up into the atmosphere as water vapor. As it rises, it cools and condenses. Over time, that turns into precipitation which falls back to Earth.
100
Name some tools for predicting weather and what they do.
What is thermometer: temperature rain gauge: measures rainfall anomometer: wind speed barometer: air pressure
100
Describe how thunderstorms form.
What is warm air moves upwards rapidly, the cloud builds into a cumulonimbus cloud, and strong winds and electrical activity build up and are released.
200
This is the mixture of the gases that causes weather.
What is atmosphere
200
What is a valley breeze?
What is during the day, air heats up in a valley, rises up the sides of the mountain, goes higher into the atmosphere, cools, and falls into the valley
200
Explain how hail forms?
What is rain freezes in a cloud and starts to fall to Earth. As it falls, strong updrafts pick it up, and thrust it back into the cloud where another layer of ice forms around it.
200
What determines air masses?
What is where they come from. They are based on temperature and moisture
200
What causes flooding?
What is long sustained periods of rain with little break, oversaturated land, and rivers that are filling past their banks.
300
The mass and weight of air exerted in every direction.
What is air pressure
300
What is a mountain breeze?
What is as night falls, the warm air that had collected into the valley is pushed out of the valley by cool, dense air that is moving down the sides of the slope. As the warm air rises from the valley, it makes its way up into the atmosphere, cools and pushes down the sides of the mountains.
300
Which two types of clouds typically indicate rain is coming?
What is stratus and cumulonimbus clouds
300
Compare and contrast continental tropical masses with maritime polar masses.
What is they are both air masses that bring a certain amount of humidity to an area and affect temperature. Continental tropical move/come from continental regions and are usually warmer and dryer. Maritime polar usually come move/come from water regions and are usually colder and more moist.
300
How does a hurricane form?
What is a low pressure system moves in over a warm, tropical body of water. At the eye or center of the system, the warm air moves up fairly quickly, and then the heat from the water body (thermal heat) creates heavy winds that cycle around at extreme speeds.
400
Why are there different areas of temperature and pressure all over Earth?
What is the uneven heating by the sun
400
What is a sea breeze?
What is during the day, the land heats up under the sunlight which leads to rising air. As that air leaves the mountains, the cool sea breeze moves inland from the water.
400
Compare and contrast hail and sleet.
What is both are forms of precipitation that are icy. Hail forms in clouds as ice and is pushed back up into the clouds to continue to gain more layers of ice. Sleet is rain that falls to Earth and goes through a freezing layer of air and freezes along the way.
400
Compare and contrast warm fronts and cold fronts.
What is they both involve the movement of air which affects the weather. In cold fronts, cold air moves into an area, pushes the warm air out, it rises, and creates heavy rains. Warm fronts are different because instead of cold air moving in, it is warm and it will be bring steady rains.
400
What are blizzards?
What is storms that form similarly to thunderstorms with low pressure systems and bring cold temperatures, high winds, and extreme amounts of snow.
500
How does low pressure affect weather? (be specific)
What is dense air falls, warm air rises, cools, condenses Unsettled weather
500
What is a land breeze?
What is as night falls, land is cooling rather quickly with no sunlight, and as it cools, it gets dense and moves down the mountain towards the sea. It pushes the remaining warm air that is left over the water up into the atmosphere, and that air cools as well.
500
Describe cirrus clouds and what they usually indicate.
What is they are thin, wispy, icy clouds that are usually out on nice days.
500
What kind of weather would you expect if a low pressure system came in with a cold front?
What is cold, stormy weather
500
What is a drought?
What is a long period of below-normal rainfall.