Download Atmosphere WS 3.1, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6

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The Air Around You
The Air Around You
Earth’s atmosphere once contained almost no oxygen, but as the planet changed, so did
the atmosphere. Read the following passage. Then answer the questions that follow on
a separate sheet of paper.
Understanding Main Ideas
If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
How Earth’s Atmosphere Got Its Oxygen
When Earth’s atmosphere first formed, it contained little, if any, oxygen. How, then, did our oxygenrich atmosphere come about? The answer is life, which first appeared in the form of bacteria about
3.5 billion years ago.
1.
More than three fourths of the air we breathe
is oxygen.
2.
Argon is the second most abundant gas in air.
3.
Plants need carbon dioxide to produce food.
4.
Without nitrogen in the air, a fire will not
burn.
5.
When fuels such as coal and gasoline are
burned they release nitrogen into the air.
6.
Condensed water vapor in the atmosphere
forms clouds.
7.
By 700 million years ago, the oxygen concentration had reached about ten percent of the current level,
and organisms made up of many cells had evolved. By 450 million years ago, the ozone level was getting
close to its present value. Soon after that land plants evolved. Land animals followed about 380 million
years ago. Both oxygen and ozone reached their current levels about 300 million years ago. By then
there were many different kinds of complex land plants and animals living on Earth.
1. How did life influence the development of Earth’s atmosphere?
2. What role did ozone play in the evolution of life on Earth?
3. What do you think Earth’s atmosphere would be like today if life had
not evolved on Earth?
Energy from the wind drives the motions in
the atmosphere.
Building Vocabulary
On a separate sheet of paper, write a definition for each of these terms.
8. atmosphere
9. water vapor
10. weather
By about 2.5 billion years ago, oxygen-producing organisms, called cyanobacteria, had evolved. Evolution
is the process by which organisms change to give rise to new organisms over time. The cyanobacteria
took in carbon dioxide and water and produced oxygen as a waste product. Over time, the oxygen they
produced accumulated in the atmosphere. Some of this oxygen was converted to ozone by the sun’s
energy. This was important later for the development of life on land because as ozone increased, it
protected Earth’s surface from too much ultraviolet radiation.
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Layers of the Atmosphere
Layers of the Atmosphere
Earth’s weather occurs in the troposphere, and air pressure is an important factor in
weather. Use the data on air pressure in the table to make a graph showing how air
pressure changes as you move upward in the troposphere. Then answer the questions
below on a separate sheet of paper.
Understanding Main Ideas
Fill in the blank to complete each statement.
Air Pressure in the Troposphere
1. The middle layer of Earth’s atmosphere is the
.
2. The upper region of the stratosphere is warm because energy
from the sun is absorbed by the
.
3. The exosphere is the outer layer of the
4. The
atmosphere.
5. The
poles.
0 (sea level)
.
contains almost all the mass of the
is thicker over the equator than over the
6. The lower layer of the thermosphere is the
Altitude
(m above sea level)
.
Building Vocabulary
Average Air
Pressure
Altitude
(m above sea level)
Average Air
Pressure
1013.2
5,500
505.4
500
954.6
6,000
472.2
1,000
898.8
6,500
440.8
1,500
845.6
7,000
411.0
2,000
795.0
7,500
383.0
2,500
746.9
8,000
356.5
3,000
701.2
8,500
331.5
3,500
657.8
9,000
308.0
4,000
616.6
9,500
285.8
4,500
577.5
10,000
265.0
5,000
540.5
On a separate sheet of paper, write a definition for each of these terms.
1. Describe the relationship between altitude and air pressure shown in
the graph.
7. stratosphere
2. Estimate the average air pressure in a hole 500 meters below sea
level.
8. thermosphere
3. If you were flying in a plane at an altitude of 1,500 meters, what
would the air pressure outside the plane be? When you fly that high,
why might your ears “pop”?
Avg. Air Pressure Vs. Altitude
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
Altitude (m)
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
0
0
1000
10. mesosphere
Average Air Pressure
9. troposphere
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Heat Transfer
Heat Transfer
Read the following passage and examine the figure. Then answer the questions below
on a separate sheet of paper.
Understanding Main Ideas
If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
1.
In the troposphere, heat is transferred mostly
by conduction.
2.
Conduction works best in some solids.
3.
Air temperature is usually measured with a
barometer.
4.
The upward movement of warm air and the
downward movement of cool air form a convection current.
5.
The farther apart the molecules in a substance
are, the better they conduct heat.
6.
In the Fahrenheit temperature scale, water
freezes at 0° and boils at 100°.
Building Vocabulary
On a separate sheet of paper, write a definition for each of these terms.
Heat and Human Health
Extremely hot weather can be dangerous to human health. During a heat wave, the body struggles to
maintain a healthy temperature of about 37°C. Heat stress may set in before the air temperature exceeds
this mark, however, because the body also produces heat when it does work. The figure shows how the
brain and body respond to excessive heat.
The additional stress this response places on the heart and blood vessels can trigger heart and other
medical problems, especially in the elderly. Because of this, death rates often rise when a heat wave
strikes.
1. The brain detects when
the body is too warm
and stimulates other
body parts to respond.
3. Sweating increases
and evaporation of
the sweat helps cool
the body’s surface.
2. Blood vessels expand
and the heart beats
faster to increase
blood flow to the
body’s surface.
7. heat
8. conduction
9. thermal energy
10. convection
1. Heat can be lost from the body in the same ways that heat is lost
from Earth’s surface. Based on what you know about heat transfer
from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere, describe how the body can
lose heat in each of these ways.
2. The body also loses heat by the evaporation of sweat. How is a tea
kettle boiling similar to the evaporation of sweat from the body?
3. Why are you more likely to become dehydrated in hot weather?
4. The body
becomes
dehydrated if
the fluid lost
in sweat is not
replaced.
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Winds
Understanding Main Ideas
Answer the following questions in the spaces provided.
1. How does heating air affect its density and pressure?
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Winds
In cities, large buildings and other obstacles can change the direction of the wind
and make it difficult to tell from which direction the wind is blowing. To get the true
direction of the wind over a city, it is better to observe how the clouds are moving. You
can make a simple device, called a nephoscope, to track cloud movement. Follow the
directions given. Then answer the questions below on a separate sheet of paper.
Using Clouds to Measure the Wind
2. What are two types of local winds?
3. Describe the movement of air over two nearby land areas, one of
which is heated more than the other.
4. What causes local winds to form?
5. Identify where the sun’s rays strike Earth most directly and least
directly.
With a large mirror and a grease pencil or marker that will write on glass, go outside in an open area on
a day with some wind and clouds. Place the mirror face up on the ground. (CAUTION: Handle the mirror
carefully so it does not break.) Use a compass to determine the four directions and mark them on the
four sides of the mirror. Now your nephoscope is ready to use.
To measure cloud direction, watch the mirror for cloud reflections to appear. Put an X in the reflection of
a cloud as it appears on the edge of the mirror. As the reflection of the cloud moves across the mirror,
plot its course by putting more Xs along its path. After the cloud’s reflection has passed across the
mirror, join the Xs with a line and use the line to determine the overall direction of the cloud.
Building Vocabulary
On a separate sheet of paper, write a definition for each of these terms.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
wind
anemometer
windchill factor
sea breeze
Coriolis effect
1. What wind direction did your nephoscope indicate? How does
that direction compare with the direction based on on-the-ground
indicators, such as wind vanes, flags flying, or smoke drifting? If the
directions are different, what do you think is the reason?
2. Why is a nephoscope a more accurate indicator of wind direction
over a city than a wind vane on the ground?
3. Can you think of any disadvantage in depending on a nephoscope to
measure wind direction?