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Test Review and Study Guide for Catastrophic Events Lessons 1-5
We have learned a lot of basic but important concepts about the way our atmosphere, earth and the sun
come together to form our weather. See how you can do with this guide.
1. Study over the graded quiz for lessons 1-3. Make sure you know the key vocabulary terms.
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Forces that cause vortices to form---Gravity, uneven heating and Corialis Effect cause vortices to
form
How are areas of high and low pressure created?---Uneven heating
How does soil heat differently than water?---Soil heats and cools faster than water
What affect does uneven heating at the surface have on the air above the surface?---Hot surfaces
tend to heat the air above them where as cold surfaces have less affect on the air above them
 Explain how a tornado is different than a hurricane.—Tornadoes are fast moving storms that are
no more than one mile in diameter occurring on land while hurricanes are huge storms that can be
several hundred miles in diameter and occur over warm tropical waters.
 What do you need to do to be safe in a tornado? ---- Move to basement or storm shelter if available
– otherwise move to the lowest floor and but as many walls between you and the outside as
possible
 If you are in a low lying coastal town and a hurricane is headed your way how can you be safe?—
Evacuate – if you cannot evacuate move up several floors in a strong building
 How are storms tracked?—radar, satellite and aircraft
 What are two different types of satellite orbits? --- GOES, POES
 How are these different satellite orbits used? Geostationary view one spot for 24hr a day while
Polar satellites view the whole world in a day.
 Since water and soil heat and cool so differently, how would the climate of a town near the ocean
differ from a town near the center of the continent? Towns near a large body of water have more
moderate climates while towns in the center of the continent have more extreme temperstures.
2. Layers of the atmosphere. Study the diagrams you made and the readings assigned form the text. Bill
Nye may be helpful here.
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Layers of the atmosphere—Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere (includes
Ionosphere and Exosphere)
Characteristics of each layer—Weather occurs in the Troposphere, Ozone layer in the
Stratosphere, meteorites burn up mostly in the mesosphere, Aurora Borealis in the Ionosphere, and
satellites orbit in the Exosphere
Composition of the atmosphere--- 78% Nitrogen, 21%Oxygen, 1% other gases
Heat absorption and reflection of the atmosphere---approximately 25% is reflected by clouds and
dust and another 20% is absorbed by the gases of the atmosphere.
Green house effect — Certain gases in the atmosphere trap the heat and allow the temp. to remain
within a range that allows for liquid water in most places on earth.
Ozone layer—Layer in the Stratosphere responsible for Absorbing and reflecting most of the
harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
3. Investigating the temperature of air, inquiry 4.1. We investigated how the containers of hot and cold
water at the surface affected the temperature of the air above.
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How does this relate to air masses? ---Masses of air can take on the humidity and temperature of
surface conditions. Heat tends to rise and affect the air above where cold surfaces do not affect the
temperature of the air above as much.
Does this have anything to do with air pressure?--- Warm air has less air pressure, cold air has
higher air pressure
What did you notice about the warm water and the condensation? --- Warm air can hold more
water and tends to loss water vapor to condensation as the air cools and contracts.
Does this have anything to do with cloud formation?--- as warm moist air rises the water vapor in
the air condenses as the air cools down due to lower temperature of the higher altitude.
4. Know the different kinds of scientist we were introduced to.
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What kind of scientist is James Spann? ---meteorologist
Name three sources that weather information is gathered from and used to predict the weather. --Various weather stations, weather balloons, aircraft, radar and satellites.
What are two areas of technological improvements that have allowed more accurate weather
predictions? ---More powerful computers, advanced radar and satellites
Give three types of data that are indicated by symbols on a weather map.---- temperature, High
and Low areas, air pressure, temperature, precipitation, fronts
5. Look at the sheet Inquiry 4.2, Investigating How Warm Air and Cool Air Move.
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Heavy dense air will sink while less dense air will rise.
As a result when cold air masses and warm air masses meet the boundary area will become
unstable possibly resulting in what type of weather?--- Stormy weather
What do we call the massive pockets of air that result from taking on the temperature and
humidity of the surface it is over? ----Air masses
What do we call the boundaries between these large pockets of air? ----fronts
What is the term for the process of a liquid changing into a gas?---- evaporation
The term for the process of a gas changing to a liquid.---- condensation
6. Look at the sheets Air Masses and Weather Fronts and refer to you diagram of air masses.
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Name the four types of air masses affecting the US. ----Continental polar, continental tropical,
maritime polar, maritime tropical
Identify the characteristics of these air masses.--- CP = dry and cold, CT = dry and hot, MP = wet
and cold, MT = wet and hot
Describe how these air masses affect the weather.--- As these large bodies of air move over an
area they bring their weather conditions to the area, where two different areas meet a front is
formed often bringing a weather change
List four types of fronts and describe the type of weather that may occur with the fronts.------ Cold
front - stormy weather followed by cool clear weather; Warm front- may be rainy or cloudy for
several days, followed by warm and humid; Stationary front- may bring many days of clouds and
precipitation; Occluded front- cooler temperatures, clouds may rain or snow.
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Where do the different air masses form? ---Generally over large surface areas where the air can
stay around for a few days such as parts of the ocean or on vast plains.
What does Tornado Alley have to do with air masses and fronts? In the US where these cold dry
and warm moist air masses meet
7. Look at Inquiry lesson 5.
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Describe what happens in convection current? ---Hot fluids rise while cooler more dense fluids
move in to take the place of the rising fluids. This movement is called convection current.
How are land and sea breezes related to convection currents? ---These breezes are caused by hot
air rising and cooler air moving in to take the place.
What causes land and sea breezes? --- Land breezes are cause when cooler air above the land
moves over the water to replace rising warm air.
Explain why hot air rises and cold air sinks. ---- As air heats it expands and becomes less dense
than the surrounding air and as a result of the density it begins to rise or float.
Why does warm air hold more water than cold air? --- Warm air expands giving it a greater
volume and thus a greater capacity for holding water.
What does warm air and cold air have to do with rain? --- When warm moist air comes in contact
with cool air the warm air contracts and is unable to hold as much moisture causing condensation.
What are global wind patterns? --- winds that blow from specific directions over long distances,
such as the Trade winds and Prevailing Westerly.
What is a jet stream? ---- Small relatively narrow band of fast moving global wint in the upper
Troposphere. Jet streams have an influence on air mass movement