Download Warm front - Holmes Middle School

Name ____________________________________________ Date ____________________ Hr________
Weather and Climate Study Guide
The following are the big ideas you will responsible for knowing on the final exam which will
cover the Weather Unit. Our suggestion is that you use this information to make note cards
to use to study for the final. 3 X 5 cards work well for note cards but cutting paper into
squares will work too. You have been given the study guide well in advance so please be sure
to ask if you are unsure of any of the concepts. Use your binder and all your activities and
handouts to study. We will be playing review jeopardy the first part of the exam session
before taking the test, but you should not use that as your only review. Good Luck!
Know the following:
 The reason for the seasons (The tilt of the earth on its axis) and how the
seasons are opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres because
of the tilt and rotation of the earth (When winter in northern hemisphere it
is summer in southern hemisphere) *****Look at the reason for the
seasons worksheet
 The difference between a low pressure system (cold dense air sinking) and
a high pressure system (warm less dense air rising) *** Look at the map
with the isobars
 What an air mass is (large body of air with similar temperature and
moisture throughout)
 The difference between the 4 main types of weather FRONTS (warm, cold,
stationary and occluded) and know the type of weather associated with
them ***Look at your front drawings and also know what symbols are used
for the fronts on a weather map
Warm front- when warm air mass meets a cold air mass and moves
above it slowly bringing light drizzly precipitation that may last for
days
Cold front- when a cold air mass meets a warm air mass and forces it
up quickly bringing heavy precipitation and possible thunderstorm
conditions
Stationary front – warm and cold air mass meet with little
movement and you get light drizzly precipitation over longer periods
of time
Occluded Front –fast moving cold air mass moves in till it meets a
cool air mass and forces warm air up bringing lots of precipitation
and cold temps at the surface
 Know what condensation (changing a gas to a liquid) and evaporation
(changes a liquid to a gas) are
 Relationship between temperature and pressure and elevation (as you go
up in elevation, temperature and pressure decrease and as you get closer
to the surface, temperature and pressure increase) ***Look at picture with
Mt. Everest on it and understand the concept!!!
 The composition of the atmosphere (nitrogen is the most abundant gas in
the atmosphere, followed by oxygen and then trace gases) ***Look at the
pie chart we made and the gas chart in the journal
 What convection is and what convection currents are (warm air/water
rising and cold air/water sinking) *******Think of smoke in the fish tank
example or the red and blue water in the divider tank
 What humidity is (the amount of water vapor in the air) and examples of it
(hair frizzy, shirts feel wet, water on the outside of a glass, bulletin board
paper all bumpy)
 Know what groundwater is (water that moves underground in spaces
between the particles of different types of earth materials) and that the
main source of groundwater is precipitation
 How temperatures of the oceans can affect climates in an area (The
oceans can store large amounts of heat and as they move they warm the
air above it which moves over the nearby land) ***Look over Bill Nye
oceans and ocean current notes
 The different stages of the water cycle (Be able to label where
condensation and evaporation and cloud formation and run off, etc. are in
a diagram) and how water moves from one area to another (moves
underground by infiltration, moves up from the ground by being pumped
from a well or coming through a spring, etc) ***Look over diagram on page
48 in your binder
 How wind is formed (differences in pressure caused by the uneven heating
of the earth by the sun. Warm air rises and colder air moves in to take its
place).
 Wind moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Lines
of equal pressure are called isobars. The closer the isobars, the stronger
the wind. ***Look over Surface Pressure Map and Notes on Lesson 5
 Difference between weather (day to day changes in temperature, pressure,
cloud coverage, and precipitation) and climate (the average year to year
weather conditions and patterns in a region)
 KNOW THE DEFINITIONS TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS
Wind
Humidity
Condensation
Front
Groundwater
Barometric Pressure
Precipitation
Convection
Precipitation
Aquifers
Dew Point
Air Mass
Evaporation
Transpiration