Download Weather and Climate Study Guide

Weather and Climate Study Guide
Test Date: Tuesday, March 3rd
Meteorologist – scientist who studies the weather
Atmosphere – layer of air around the Earth
Condense – to change from a gas to a liquid
Water vapor – when water evaporates it turns into water vapor
Precipitation – falling water, such as rain, sleet, hail, or snow
Students will need to know how a cloud forms.
 Clouds are formed when water is heated by the sun.
 The water evaporates and changes to water vapor.
 Then, the water vapor in the air rises up in the sky and cools.
 Next, water vapor condenses on dust particles, forming a cloud.
 If the water droplets in the cloud get large and heavy enough, they fall back to the earth
as precipitation.
Students will need to explain in their own words how wind affects the weather.
 Sudden changes in wind strength and direction can signal a change in the weather.
Weather changes are often accompanied by increasingly cloudy skies.
 Wind carries weather from one place to another. So, if the wind is blowing from west to
east, the east may soon have weather conditions similar to those in the west.
 Wind is created when air is heated, rises, and is replaced by cooler air. Temperature
changes over the course of the day. Wind direction changes when air temperature
changes.
 Wind from extreme weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, thunder storms) can
cause massive destruction.
Students will need to explain in their own words the difference between weather and climate.
Weather
Climate
 what is going on outside in a particular place  describes an area’s pattern of weather over
at a specific time
a long period of time
 what it is like outside now
 what it is usually like outside
 changes from day to day
 tells us what the weather has generally
been like for many years
 can change quickly
 does not change from day to day
Students will need to be able to identify the three main cloud types
and tell what type of weather they typically bring.
Cirrus
Cumulus
Stratus
Picture
Description
Weather
 white, feathery, wispy
curls high in the sky
 white, puffy, or billowy
heaps
 look like cotton balls
 may mean rain or snow is
on the way
 bring fair and sunny
weather
 low layer grayish white
clouds that cover the
whole sky, making it look
dreary
 stratus clouds near the
ground are called fog
 bring overcast weather
with mist or light drizzle
usually
Students will need to be able identify a climate zone by its characteristics.
Polar
Climate
Characteristics
Temperate
Climate
Tropical
Climate
 very cold and dry all  does not have
 located close to the
year
extreme
equator
temperature or
 found in the tundra
 very hot and humid
rainfall
and ice cap areas
all year
 stays below freezing  weather can change  get a lot of rainfall
quite often
all year
 has all four seasons
Dual Scale Thermometer
 Students will need to be able to read a dual
scale thermometer and know that Celsius
and Fahrenheit are two temperature scales.
 Student will need to be able to color in a
given Fahrenheit temperature and give the
corresponding Celsius temperature.
Wind Strength
 Beaufort Wind Scale is a system to rate
the strength of the wind.
 Students will need to be able to look at
a picture and rate the wind strength
using the Beaufort Wind Scale.
Wind Direction
 Students will need to be able to
determine the name of a wind, given
the direction from which it blows.
 Winds are named for the direction
from which they blow.
 Example: A south wind is a wind that
blows from south to north.