Download Weather Associated with Air Mass

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Science 421 Weather Project-Part I The Hydrosphere Name:
Instructions
Read the assigned sections in the text book and answer the following questions. When defining terms it is to take
them from the chapter reading rather than the glossary at the end of the book. This will be your study guide for the
final exam.
Text Section 13.1 A Closer Look at the Earth. Read page 502.
a. Explain the difference between weather and climate.
b. List the main components of the Earth that influence weather.
Text Section 13.2 Earth’s Energy Balance. Read pages 504-505
a. Using old notes or your glossary, define energy.
b. The source of energy on the Earth is the
.
c. Thinking back to the Ecology section, state three uses of energy.
d. Define the following terms, all of which explain how energy is moved about the Earth.
i. radiation
ii. conduction
iii. convection
iv. advection
e. State why these methods of energy transfer are important to the Earth and living things.
f. Label the diagram. (from page 506).
What does the diagram show?
g. Define the following terms:
i. albedo
ii. heat sink
iii. heat capacity
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h. Circle the item in each pair that has the higher albedo:
i) clean snow or black soil
ii) dark ocean water or the ice floating on it.
i. State an example of a good heat sink and an example of a poor heat sink.
Good heat sink
Poor heat sink
j. Circle the item in each pair that has the higher heat capacity
i) a poor heat sink or a good heat sink
ii) water or rock.
Text Section 3.8. The Hydrosphere Read pages 522-523
a. Define hydrosphere.
b. Is the water in the hydrosphere salt water, fresh water, or both?
c. Refer to Figure 3 on page 522. Look at the far left (green) pie chart. Is most of the water in the hydrosphere salt or
fresh?
What percent of all water on the Earthis freshwater?
Refer to the top right (blue) pie chart. Most (87%) of the Earth`s fresh water is found in
shows that most of the Earth`s surface freshwater occurs in
.
. Figure 3
.
d. Do living things require fresh or salt water to survive?
e. List the three possible states of water. i.
ii.
iii.
f. When matter such as water changes from one state to another we call it a “phase change”. Identify the following
phase changes.
i. liquid water → ice (solid)
ii. ice → water vapour (gas)
iii. ice → liquid
iv. liquid → water vapour
v. water vapour (gas) → liquid
g. It takes energy to change liquid water to water vapour and to melt ice. State the source of energy that allows this
this to happen.
h. In what state do we find most of the Earth’s fresh water?
i. When salt water evaporates, what happens to the
salt?
j. Label the following water cycle diagram. Refer to Fig.
4 on page 523.
k. Thinking back to the definition of heat capacity,
would the land or water of the Earth take the longest to
heat up and cool down?
l. Circle the better heat sink of the Earth:
land or water (Hydrosphere)
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Science 421 Weather Project-Part 2 Clouds
Name:
Text Section 3.11 Clouds and Fog Refer to text page 530-533 to answer these questions.
a. Why is it important to study clouds?
b. As the sun warm the water in lakes rivers and oceans, the liquid water evaporates and turns into
which
to higher elevations in the atmosphere. At
higher elevations the temperature is
and the pressure is
results in the water vapour (gas)
which
and turning back into liquid water
droplets again. Sometimes the temperature is so cold that instead of water droplets forming,
form. The collection of “floating” ice crystals or water droplets is called a
.
c. Explain why rain or snow doesn’t fall from all clouds.
d. All clouds form from warm air cooling and forming water vapor droplets. There are three main
categories of clouds
i. When the air just above Earth`s surfaces such as the oceans, land, lakes, pavement, etc.becomes
heated by the sun, the air becomes less dense, rises carrying water vapour with it and forms a
cloud when it reaches cooler areas in the atmosphere.
ii. When two large masses of air that are at different temperature (one hot and one cold) meet
clouds are formed. This is because the
(warmer /colder) air mass has more water vapour which condenses when it comes into contact
with the air mass of
iii.
(lower /higher) temperature.
clouds are formed when warm air at the base of a mountain,
rises up the mountain, cools and the water vapour condenses into droplets.
e. As air moves west to east across British Columbia over the Rockies, clouds are formed. These type of
clouds are
clouds.
f. Warm dry winds called Chinooks are common in Alberta which is on the east side of the Rocky
Mountains. Explain why these winds are warms and dry instead of being filled with rain. Refer to Figure 4
on page 531 to help answer this question.
g. Explain how fog forms.
h. There are two basic cloud shapes:
i.
clouds are a rounded shape like “heaps” of whipped cream.
This type of cloud means
(stable/unstable) weather. They are often called
“thunderheads” by local people.
ii
clouds have a flattened, layered shape.
This type of cloud means
(stable/unstable) weather.
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i. Clouds are given prefixes to indicate how high they are in the sky and how much water they hold:
i. Low-level clouds start (with/without) a
prefix.
ii. Medium-level clouds start with the prefix
.
iii Higher-level clouds start with the prefix
which means curly lock of hair.
iv. The highest clouds, like the lowest clouds have no prefix and are simply called
v.
is the word used to describe a dark rain cloud.
j. A cloud that is mid-level in the sky and very flattened would be called
type of cloud would mean
k.
.
.This
(stable/unstable)weather.
Fill in the table using the hints in each cell
Three categories of clouds
Prefixes used to indicate cloud
based on how they form
height or amount of rain in
them
i. warm and cold air mass
i. high-level
meet
ii. heated surfaces
ii. mid-level
iii. rising up mountains
iii. highest and lowest
Two classes of clouds based
on shape and the weather
they predict.
i. billowing,
type of
rounded
weather
ii. flattened
type of
weather
iv. contains rain
l. Use Figure7 on page 533 to label the following.
Cloud Type:
Cloud Type:
m. Identify the cloud types in A-D. Which
represents the most unstable weather ?
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Science 421 Weather Project-Part III North American Weather Systems
Name:
Text Section 14.2 North American Weather Systems. Read page 546 and refer to Figure 1.
a.
b.
c.
An air mass is a
of
which has the same temperature of air and
has the same amount of
.
When air moves over large bodies of water, such as the oceans on the east and west coasts of North
America, it picks up water vapour and becomes moister. The name of moist air masses found along
coastlines begin with the word
(begins with m).
When air moves over land, such as in the centre of North America, it does not pick up more moisture.
The name of dry air masses over the centre of North America start with the word
(begins with c).
There are 4 types of air masses over North America. Complete the table matching the description given
with the name of the type of air mass and the weather associated it with each description. The first one is
completed for you.
Description of Air
Mass
Cool, moist air
Name of Air Mass
Maritime Polar
Location where air masses
develop
i. North Pacific Ocean (West
coast of Canada)
ii. North Atlantic Ocean (East
Coast of Canada)
Weather Associated with Air
Mass
wet, stormy weather
Cold, dry air
Warm, moist air
Dry Warm Air
d.
Label the Diagram showing the location of the development of the North American Weather Masses
A.
B.
C.
D.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
Winds that affect major areas of the Earth are called prevailing winds. Air masses are moved about by
and
.
When air masses come in contact they create w
s
.
A weather system is a set of
,
,
, and
conditions that
for a
period of
.
Warm air is less dense and
(rises away from/ sinks towards) the ground. This movement of
air results in a decrease in pressure.
Cold air is denser and
(rises away from / sinks towards) the ground. This would
result in an in
(increase or decrease) in pressure.
If an increase in pressure is described by meteorologists as a “high pressure” a decrease in pressure would
be called a
.
Describe the weather associated with a low pressure air mass
.
Describe the weather brought in by a high pressure weather system
.
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Weather Fronts and Low Pressure Systems.
a.
Refer to Handout
Order the events that take place during the formation of a low-pressure system by placing a number in the
blank.
The air masses swirl in a counter-clockwise direction.
Cold air catches up with the cold front and occludes it.
The storm weakens.
Air rushes in to the low pressure area created by rising warm air.
As air continues to rise and condense, clouds form and precipitation occurs.
A high pressure system moves in and the weather clears.
At the two meeting fronts, warm air rises and there is a reduction in air pressure.
b.
Match the number of the weather front with the following descriptions and characteristics.
1. occluded front
2. warm front
3. cold front
4. stationary front
i.
a warm air mass is leading and pushes into a cold front.
ii.
a cold and warm air mass meet but neither is strong enough to overcome the other and they both
stop moving.
iii.
slow moving front
iv.
indicated on a weather map by red semicircles.
v.
results in the formation of cumulus clouds and often severe weather like thunderstorms.
vi.
often see high cirrus clouds with it
vii.
indicated by blue triangles
viii.
a cold front pushes in behind a warm front and overtakes it.
ix.
fast moving front.
c.
A low-pressure system that rotates counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and brings bad weather
is called a
.
d.
A high-pressure system that rotates clock-wise and bring bad weather is called a
e.
Identify the type of front.
i
ii
iii
.
iv
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Science 421 Weather Project-Part IV Extreme Weather Events –Chapter 15
Name:
Fill in the blank with the following terms:
See the following pages in the text: 582, 584, 589, 594-596, 598-599, 605 for definitions
typhoons
blizzard
eye
weather watch
wind chill
drought
i.
tornado
thunderstorm
weather advisory
flood
hurricane
storm surge
weather warning
tropical storm
is a storm with lightening, thunder, heavy rain and sometimes hail.
ii.
means that severe weather, likely to cause local problems and
inconveniences , is predicted for your areas.
iii
hurricane and is pushed on shore.
a huge amount of water that is piled up by intense winds during a
iv
when reporting the temperature.
a calculation that takes the cooling effect of the wind into account
v
Australia.
is a tropical cyclone that develops in the Indian Ocean or around
vi
soak up anymore water.
is an excess of water from rain, rivers or oceans over land that cannot
vii
means that conditions are present for extreme weather to occur in
your area, so you should pay attention to further updates.
viii
may already be happening.
means that extreme weather is highly likely to arrive in your area or
ix
a severe component of a thunderstorm in which a rotating funnel of air
extends from the base of the clouds to the ground.
x
a severe snow storm with strong winds and low temperatures.
xi
a cyclone that develops in the Pacific Ocean or the China Sea.
xii
is a long period with much less rainfall than average.
xiii
the central core of a hurricane where the air is calm and the sky clear.
xiv
Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico.
a severe cyclone that occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean, the