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Classwork #1 Latitudes
Name ___________________________
PSI Middle School Science
Fill in the Blank. Fill in each blank with an appropriate term from the word bank. Not each term will
be used.
direct
latitude
Word Bank
electromagnetic
indirect
polar
temperate tilt
infrared
tropical
1. Horizontal lines that represent different climate zones are called ____________________.
2. Solar radiation, or ____________________ waves, travel from the sun to the Earth.
3. The ____________________ latitude receives direct sunlight year round.
4. When the sun’s energy hits an area at an angle, it is called ____________________ sunlight.
5. The Earth’s ____________________ is responsible for creating the seasons.
6. As the Earth heats up, it emits ____________________ radiation.
7. The ____________________ latitude receives indirect sunlight year round.
Determine whether each description is an example of climate or weather.
8. _____________________ Today’s high is 85 with a 20% chance of showers.
9. _____________________ Charleston has an average temperature of 66⁰F.
10. _____________________ The humidity right now is 70% but it is expected to fall
later in the day.
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Homework #1 Latitudes
Name __________________________
PSI Middle School Science
Label each description with the type of latitude in which it is located.
1. _____________________ The climate of Rio de Janeiro is sunny and wet year
round. The average temperature fluctuates from 25⁰C to 30⁰C.
2. _____________________ The Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica is cold and dry. It has
an average high temperature of 10⁰C.
3. _____________________ Paris, France has a mild and moderate climate. The
average summer temperature is 25⁰C and the average winter
temperature is 2.5⁰C.
4. The image below shows a simple depiction of energy that enters and leaves the Earth.
a. Label the orange arrows to show the type of energy this is. From where does this
energy come? _______________
b. Label the green arrows to show the type of energy this is.
5. Referring to the image above, describe how Earth is warmed?
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Classwork #2 Seasons
Name __________________________
PSI Middle School Science
1) Seasons are caused by…
a) the Earth being closer to the sun in summer.
b) the tilt of the Earth’s axis.
c) the orbit of the Earth around the sun.
d) both b and c
2) The North Pole is tilted __________ the sun during the Southern Hemisphere summer.
3) The South Pole is tilted __________ the sun during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
4) What happens when an area of the Earth is tilted away from the Sun?
a) The light in that area is concentrated.
b) The light in that area is spread out over a greater area.
c) It depends what season it is.
d) It depends where the Moon is.
5) What is the relationship between the equinoxes and the solstices?
6) What is the relationship between daylight and nighttime on an equinox?
7) Why does the amount of daylight and nighttime vary throughout the year?
8) During an Equinox, the Earth’s axis of rotation is…
a) pointed away from the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere.
b) pointed away from the Sun in the Southern Hemisphere.
c) pointed toward the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere
d) not point toward or away from the Sun in the Southern Hemisphere or Northern
Hemisphere.
9) Seasonal climates are more stable__________ the equator.
10) The Earth’s rotational axis is tilted ___________degrees.
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Homework #2 Seasons
Name ___________________
PSI Middle School Science
1. Name the four seasons
2. Are the Earth's seasons caused by the differences in the distance from the Sun throughout the
year or the tilt of the Earth's axis?
3. What is the tilt of the Earth's axis (in degrees)?
4. During which season do the Sun's rays hit the Earth at the most direct angle
5. During which season are the days the shortest?
6. What is the name of the shortest day of the year (and the beginning of winter)?
7. What is the name of the longest day of the year (and the beginning of summer)?
8. What is the name of a day in which the day and night are of equal duration?
9. How many times each year do we have days in which the day and night are of equal duration?
10. What are the names of each of these days?
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Classwork #3 Prevailing Winds
PSI Middle School Science
Name________________________
1) Air blows at the base of circulation cells from a _______ pressure to a _____________ pressure.
2) The global winds blow in the direction of
a) The top of the atmospheric circulation
cells.
b) The rotation of the Earth.
c) The base of the atmospheric circulation
cells.
d) None of these.
3) Sinking air
a) Has lower pressure.
b) Causes evaporation.
c) Has lower temperature.
d) All of these.
4) Winds are named for the direction they are going.
a) True
b) False
5) Rain is common in _______ pressure regions due to rising air.
6) The variable weather of much of North America and Europe is caused by
a) The meeting of warm moist air from the south and cold, dry air from the north.
b) The meeting of warm dry air from the south and cold wet air from the north.
c) The meeting of the polar jet stream and the sub-tropical jet stream.
d) The meeting of the sub-tropical jet stream and the tropical jet stream.
7) In both the northern and southern hemispheres, the Trade Winds blow from east to west.
a) True
b) False
8) The Jet Stream (the one meteorologists talk about)
a) Is formed by the large temperature difference between the Polar Cell and the Ferrell Cell.
b) Is found at the boundary of the troposphere and stratosphere.
c) Move seasonally south in the winter and north in the summer.
d) All of these.
9) The basic model of global atmospheric circulation shows
a) One atmospheric circulation cell from the North Pole to the South Pole.
b) Three circulation cells in the Northern Hemisphere and three in the Southern Hemisphere.
c) Six atmospheric circulation cells in the Northern Hemisphere and six in the Southern
Hemisphere.
d) Random motion of atmospheric circulation.
10) Air in atmospheric circulation cells should blow north to south or south to north, but it doesn’t
because:
a) It must travel around the jet streams so it goes northwest to southeast or vice versa.
b) It is deflected left (Northern Hemisphere) or right (Southern Hemisphere) by Coriolis Effect.
c) It is deflected right (Northern Hemisphere) or left (Southern Hemisphere) by Coriolis Effect.
d) None of these.
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Homework #3 Prevailing Winds
Name____________________________
PSI Middle School Science
La Nada
[Figure1]
January 2014 brought a string of brutal winter storms to the Midwestern, Eastern and mostly
surprisingly even the Southern United States, but no snow to the mountains of California. The culprit
could have been La Nada.
Why It Matters
January 18, 2014 there was almost no snow in the mountains of California [Figure2]
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When conditions in the Pacific Ocean are not in an El Niño or a La Niña they are ENSO neutral or
La Nada (nada means nothing in Spanish). Extreme weather has been linked to these conditions.
 ENSO neutral conditions dominated from December 2010 until after June 2011.
 ENSO-neutral conditions began in April 2012, with no indication of a change through spring 2014
and maybe beyond.
 The Southern U.S. gets little or no snow, but snow in the winter 2013-2014 shut down cities all
across the south.
Can You Apply It?

With the links below, learn more about ENSO-neutral conditions. Then answer the following
questions.

ScienceAtNASA, ScienceCasts, Wild Weather
(video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9MWcAq3SnU
 NASA, JPL, ‘La Nada’ Climate Pattern Lingers in the Pacific
(webpage):http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-272
1. What happens to the jet stream during a La Niña?
2. What happens to the jet stream during an ENSO-neutral time and why?
3. Why did La Nada conditions produce so many killer tornadoes?
4. What is the difference between ordinary thunderstorms and super cells?
5. If you did the California Drought RWA, do you think it’s possible that the 2013-2014 (and on?)
drought is caused by a La Nada and why or why not?
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Classwork #4 Ocean Currents
Name ___________________________
PSI Middle School Science
1. You walk into class to see your teacher at the front of the room about to do a demonstration.
She has one container of ice water, dyed blue, and one container of hot water, dyed red.
a. Explain what will happen if she pours the red liquid on top of the blue liquid? Why?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
b. Explain what will happen if she pours the blue liquid on top of the red liquid? Why?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
2. On a hot summer day, you and your friends decide to go on a trip to the beach. As you park in
an asphalt parking lot, you realize that you forgot to wear shoes! In order to get to the cool,
ocean water, you first have to walk across the asphalt and then the sand. As a brilliant science
student, you remember that asphalt has a heat capacity of 0.920 while sand has a heat
capacity of 0.835.
a. Which surface will feel hotter to your bare feet? Explain your answer.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
b. Even though the sun is shining equally on the asphalt, the sand and the ocean, the
ocean will feel cool while the sand and asphalt will feel hot. Explain this.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
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Homework #4 Ocean Currents
Name ___________________________
PSI Middle School Science
1. Look at the map of prevailing winds below. Locate one country that receives prevailing winds
that carry a lot of moisture. Put a red dot on this country. Locate one country that receives
prevailing winds that are very dry. Put a green dot on this country.
2. Some air masses are warm while others are cold. Describe how each type of air mass can
carry different amounts of moisture with them.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
3. Oceans are an important aspect of regulating Earth’s climate and weather.
a. Describe how oceans regulate climate.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
b. Describe how oceans affect weather.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
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Classwork #5 Altitude
Name ___________________________
PSI Middle School Science
1. For every 1,000 feet increase in altitude, temperature drops by about 4⁰F. If the temperature at
the base of a mountain is 75⁰F, what is the temperature 10,000 feet higher at the top of the
same mountain?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2. You are sunbathing on the beach on a warm, summer day. Describe the type of breeze you
will probably feel. Why does this breeze form?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________
3. You are camping in a valley beside a hill. During the night, what type of breeze will you
probably feel? Why does this breeze form?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________
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Homework #5 Altitudes
Name ___________________________
PSI Middle School Science
Listed below are pairs of locations. Describe how the weather or climate would differ between the two
locations.
1. The Midwest versus Virginia Beach
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
2. The windward side of a mountain range (the side where wind blows from) versus the leeward
side of a mountain range
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
3. Land directly beside a glacier versus land at the same latitude but with no glacier
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
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Answer Keys
Latitudes Classwork #1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Latitude
Electromagnetic
Tropical
Indirect
Tilt
6. Infrared
7. Polar
8. Weather
9. Climate
10. Weather
Latitudes Homework #1
1. Tropical
2. Polar
3. Temperate
4.
a. Electromagnetic (solar) energy. It comes from the sun.
b. Infrared radiation
5. Electromagnetic energy hits the Earth from the sun. The Earth absorbs this
energy. The Earth emits energy in the form of infrared radiation. Some of the
infrared radiation escapes back into space. The remaining infrared radiation gets
trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. This warms the Earth.
Seasons Classwork #2
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
d
Away from
Away from
b
During an Equinox the Earth’s poles are neither pointed toward or away from the
sun, and during a Solstice one pole is pointed toward the sun (Summer in that
hemisphere) while the other one is pointed away from the sun (Winter in that
hemisphere).
6) The hours of day and night are equal
7) Because the Earth’s rotational axis is tilted with respect to its plane of orbit
8) d
9) closer
10) 23.5
Seasons Homework #2
1. summer, autumn (fall), winter, spring
2. The tilt of the Earth's axis
3. 23.45 degrees
4. summer
5. winter
6. winter solstice
7. summer solstice
8. an equinox
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9. 2 times
10. the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox
Prevailing Winds Classwork #3
1) High; low
2) C
3) B
4) False
5) Low
6) A
7) True
8) D
9) B
10) C
Prevailing Winds Homework #3
1. A normal La Niña pushes the jet stream northward, and pushes the cold arctic air
away from the U.S.
2. The jet stream is not constrained by conditions and so it wanders.
3. The weather pattern became dominated by strong outbreaks of frigid polar air. In
spring, the winds out of the south carried moist warm air from the Gulf of Mexico.
This warm wet air met the cold dry air from the Arctic. The two air masses were
stacked on top of each other, which was very unstable and fueled intense
thunderstorms. These give rise to tornadoes.
4. The extreme contrasts in wind speed and direction of the upper and lower
atmosphere produced by the stack of two masses of very different air on each other.
5. The description of the high pressure that blocks West Coast storms and gives the
Midwest and East Coast punishing winters in the California Drought video matches
well with the pattern described in the Wild Weather video in this RWA.
Ocean Currents Classwork #4
1.
a. If she pours red on top of blue, nothing will happen. Warm water is less dense
and will remain on top of the cold water, which is denser.
b. If she pours blue on top of red, the blue water will sink to the bottom while the
red water rises to the top. Since warm water is less dense, it will rise above
the cold water which is denser.
2.
a. The sand will feel hotter on your bare feet. The sand has a lower heat
capacity than the asphalt. Objects with lower heat capacities heat up faster
than objects with higher heat capacities.
b. Water has a very high heat capacity. This means that it can store a large
amount of heat energy without experiencing a large increase in temperature.
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The other objects, asphalt and sand, have lower heat capacities. This means
that all of the objects absorb the same amount of heat energy but the objects
with lower heat capacities heat up faster.
Ocean Currents Homework #4
1. Answers will vary.
2. Warm air can carry more moisture than cold air. Warm air is less dense than cold
air. This means that the molecules in warm air are more spread out and there is
room to carry water molecules. Cold air is very dense and the molecules are very
close together. There is not much room to carry water molecules.
3.
a. Oceans store a lot of heat and are a source of moisture. As ocean
currents travel around the world, they distribute this heat and moisture,
thereby regulating climate.
b. Oceans are a source of water molecules for evaporation in the water
cycle. The water later condenses into clouds and falls as precipitation. In
this way, oceans contribute to local weather.
Altitudes Classwork #5
1. 35⁰F
2. During the day, the land heats up faster than the ocean. The warm, less dense
air over the land (beach) rises and air from over the ocean moves over to take its
place. You will feel this as a breeze moving from the ocean towards the land.
3. During the night, the hilltop will cool off faster than the valley. The warm, less
dense air over the valley will rise while cool, denser air from the hill sinks into the
valley. You will feel this as a breeze moving from the hill down to the valley.
Altitudes Homework #5
1. The Midwest will be cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer than Virginia
Beach because the ocean at Virginia Beach moderates the temperature.
2. The windward side of a mountain will be wet while the leeward side will be dry.
As air moves up the windward side, the air cools and condenses, causing
precipitation. As it moves over to the leeward side, the air has lost its moisture
and is very dry.
3. The land right next to the glacier will be much cooler. Glaciers reflect sunlight
instead of absorbing it, making the temperature near glaciers cooler.
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