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NAME: ________________________ Class: _____Test Day: __________________
Earth Science Chapter 11 Study Guide: Weather and Climate
1. What is precipitation?
When water droplets in a cloud combine, become too heavy, and fall to the
ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail (in either liquid or solid form).
2. What is evaporation?
Liquid water turns into gas form.
When the Sun’s energy turns water from liquid form to water vapor gas.
3. What is condensation?
Water vapor gas turns back into liquid form.
4. Give the names of the 4 types of precipitation.
RAIN, SNOW, SLEET, HAIL
5. The interaction of air, water, and the SUN caused weather.
6. How does each one of the following form:
a. Rain: precipitation that reaches Earth’s surface as droplets of water.
b. Snow : forms when the air temperature is below freezing and water vapor changes
directly to solid.
c. Sleet: forms when raindrops pass through a layer of freezing air near Earth's surface,
forming ice pellets
d. Hail : a form of precipitation that can break windows and destroy crops.
7. What type of gas has to condense in order for clouds to form and then
later precipitate?
WATER VAPOR
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NAME: ________________________ Class: _____Test Day: __________________
8. Areas of low pressure usually have what type of weather?
CLOUDY WEATHER
9. Why does areas of high pressure usually mean good weather?
The air masses sink, making it difficult for clouds to form
10. What influences climate?
Ocean waters, ocean currents, human influences, large cities, etc.
11. Define Air Mass.
A large body of air that has the same properties as the Earth's surface over
which it develops.
12. Define Relative Humidity
A measure of the amount of water vapor that air is holding compared to the amount
needed for saturation at a specific temperature.
13. What is a front?
The boundary between cold and warm air masses
14. Define Dew Point.
The temperature at which air is saturated and condensation forms
15. Why does water form on grass in the early morning when the air clear?
the air near the ground cools to its dew point
16. When air contains as much moisture as possible at a specific temperature,
it is both at its _DEW POINT_ and also becomes __SATURATED_.
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NAME: ________________________ Class: _____Test Day: __________________
17. Where do the rays of Sun strike Earth most directly?
EQUATOR
18. Define Temperature (when it is related to the air).
Temperature measures how fast air molecules are moving (how much Kinetic
Energy they have).
19. List the factors that influence weather.
Temperature and cloud coverage, wind speed and humidity, air
pressure and wind direction.
20. Define Humidity
It is the amount of water vapor per unit volume of air.
21. Seasons are caused by:
the tilt of the Earth as it revolves around the Sun
22. During __EL NINO_ oceans temperatures increase off the coast of Peru.
23. Where does El Nino start?
El Niño is a climate event that starts in the tropical Pacific Ocean
and sets off changes in the atmosphere
24. Differentiate between weather and Climate.
Climate is the average of weather patterns over a long period of time. Weather
changes more frequently.
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NAME: ________________________ Class: _____Test Day: __________________
25. Differentiate between Latitude and Longitude.
Latitude: The distance in degrees north to south of the equator.
Longitude: the distance in degrees east to west of the prime meridian.
26. How do clouds form?
They form when millions of water droplets become suspended in air and collect
around small dust particles.
27. What type of cloud is fog?
Fog is a stratus cloud that forms when air condenses near the ground.
28. When air descending, we get areas of ___HIGH_ pressure.
29. We get areas of _LOW_ pressure when areas of less dense, warm air can
be forced upward.
30. __RELATIVE HUMIDITY_ is given as a % indicating how much water
vapor is in the air on a certain day.
Also know:
 Violent storms generally form by cold fronts.
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