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Weather Unit Study Guide
Directions:
Prepare the definitions for the following terms:
Air mass – large amounts of moving air.
Air pressure – air pressing down on the Earth’s surface.
Anemometer – the instrument that measures wind speed.
Atmosphere – a blanket of air surrounding the Earth.
Barometer – the instrument that measures air pressure.
Beaufort Scale – a scale that shows wind speed values.
Cirrus clouds – thin, feathery high altitude clouds.
Climate – the average weather of an area for many years.
Cold front –cold air mass moves into an area occupied by
warmer air.
Condensation – gas turns to liquid when temp drops.
Cumulus clouds – puffy, white middle altitude clouds.
Evaporation – liquid turns to a gas
Weather Gr. 5 Voc key lined
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Fog – a cloud that forms close to the ground when the
temperature of the air is colder than the temperature of
the ground.
Front – the place where two air masses meet.
Groundwater – water that has seeped into the ground, filling
empty spaces in rocks and soil below the Earth’s
surface.
Jet stream – a narrow band of high-speed (+/- 200 m.p.h.)
winds found 7-9 miles above the Earth’s surface.
Meteorologist – a scientist who studies weather.
Precipitation – water that falls from clouds.
Rain – water droplets large enough to fall from clouds.
Relative humidity – the comparison of water vapor present in
the air to the amount of water vapor air can hold.
Revolution –Earth orbiting the Sun that causes the seasons
to change.
Sleet – frozen raindrops.
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Snow – flakes of ice formed by the freezing of water vapor in
clouds.
Solar energy – a form of energy from the Sun.
Stratus clouds – flat layers of low altitude clouds.
Warm front – occurs when a warm air mass moves into an
area occupied by colder air.
Water cycle –water evaporates, condenses into clouds in the
atmosphere, falls back to the Earth’s surface as
precipitation and returns to the ocean in rivers.
Weather – day to day changes in temperature, air pressure,
humidity, precipitation, wind speed, and wind direction.
Wind – moving air over the Earth’s surface caused by
heating of the air by solar energy.
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