Download Part I: Due Monday, Use Journal Pages

Part III: Ocean, Atmosphere and Weather
Due: Thurs., 5.22
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/basic2.html
http://www.edheads.org/activities/weather/
Conduction-Pan touching burner or flame
Convection-water boiling
Radiation-gas coming up and heating the pan and water
6. Label the four main types of air masses that affect the U.S. below:
1. What layer of the atmosphere do humans interact with the most?
Explain two of these interactions.
Troposphere- where weather occurs, where birds fly, and most planes.
2. What causes atmospheric pressure?
Atmospheric pressure is caused by the weight of the air on the surface of
the earth. Air pressure is greatest closest to the Earth’s surface. Air
pressure is greatest at (cold weather) high pressure systems where air is
falling.
3. Why is the ozone layer important to life on Earth?
The ozone layer prevents us from being burned by the UV rays from the
sun.
4. The three types of heat transfer are:
Radiation – transfer of thermal energy through waves.
Conduction – transfer of thermal energy when particles come into
contact with each other.
Convection – transfer of thermal energy from the flow of matter.
Use the information from questions #4 answer the questions below.
5. Label & describe the three types of heat transfer used in heating a pot of
soup on the stove.
Remember an air mass is a large body of air that has properties similar to
the part of Earth’s surface over which it develops.
7. Nobody ever expects warm winters in Alaska, but sometimes conditions
are even more severe than usual. This was particularly true in late January
and early February of 1999, when a prolonged period of extreme cold
produced the worst cold snap in a decade. Galena, in the northern part of
the state, just missed an all-time low temperature when the reading dipped
to -53 °C (-64 °F) in February. Conditions were so extreme that the city
government officially closed down. Needless to say, the air was also
extremely dry, as is always the case under cold conditions.
a. What type of air mass affected Alaska? Continental Polar
Contrast those conditions with those experienced in Texas half a year
earlier. College Station, by way of example, had its warmest May, June, and
July average temperatures ever, as maximum temperatures exceeded 38 °C
(100 °F) 51 times between May 31 and September 3. The heat was further
compounded by high humidity and unusually sparse rainfall throughout the
period.
b. What type of air mass affected Texas? Continental Tropic

Warm Front- forms when lighter, warmer air
advances over heavier, colder air.
Use the information from questions #12-14 to answer the
questions below.
8. High and low pressure systems:
High pressure system- a weather pattern resulting in winds blowing away
from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. This is known as
an anticyclone; ROTATE CLOCKWISE.
Low pressure system- a weather pattern resulting in winds blowing into an
area of low pressure from an area of high pressure. This is known as a
cyclone, ROTATE COUNTERCLOCKWISE.
9. Label the picture to show the type of weather associated with each
pressure system. Explain what is happening in each picture.
Clouds, Rain
Clear, Dry Weather
12. Which city just had a cold front pass through?
A
13. Which city would have warmer temperatures? City C or City B?
14. The “L” on the map stands for a low pressure system. Explain why low
pressure systems are associated with fronts.
Low pressure systems are associated with clouds and rain. Clouds and rain
occur along fronts.
Low Pressure
High Pressure
10. What is a “front?”
A front is a boundary between 2 air masses.
11. What are the differences between a cold front and a warm front?
(NOTE: Make sure to include symbols from weather map)
 Cold Front- the cold air advances & lifts up the
warm air. The warm air condenses & forms clouds.
15. What type of front is shown above? Cold
16. Water heats up and cools more slowly than land. If water covers about
75% of Earth, explain how water helps to regulate atmospheric
temperatures.
Water moderates the temperatures of nearby areas keeping summers and
winters mild. The oceans store and transfer more heat than the
continents.
http://www.ourplanet.org.uk/how-wind-is-formed-video.asp
18. Which of these best explains why the oceans have a great impact on the
weather over the continents?
a.
Ocean waves move more easily than continental rock.
b.
The oceans contain a wider variety of organisms than on the
continents.
c.
The oceans store and transfer more heat than the continents.
d.
Ocean water contains more salt than most continental lake water.
19. The transfer of carbon that results from burning fossil fuels will most
likely affect the Earth in the future by----a.
b.
c.
d.
raising the average global temperature
reducing evaporation rates of ocean water
decreasing the total mass of plant life
making air transparent to ultraviolet light
20. Which of the following is the primary energy source that causes warm,
moist air to rise over the tropical oceans?
a. The Sun’s rays
b. Melting icebergs
17. The picture above compares land and sea breezes. Explain what is
happening to create these types of local winds.
A land breeze occurs when cold air from the land pushes warm air from
the sea causing it to rise which creates a breeze moving from the land to
the sea. These occur at night.
A sea breeze occurs when cold air from the sea pushes warm air from the
land causing it to rise which creates a breeze moving from the sea to the
land. These occur during the day.
c. Earth’s rotation
d. Heat from the Earth’s core
Use the Diagram Below for Questions 21-22
24. The Coriolis Effect is the tendency for any moving body on or
above the Earth’s surface to drift sideways from its course because of
the Earth’s rotation. Given this information, answer the following:
A. Which directions are objects deflected in the Northern
hemisphere? Deflect to the right
B. Which direction are objects deflected in the Southern
hemisphere? Deflect to the left
21. Locate the California current and outline in purple. Explain what is
happening with the water associated with this current.
Cool water moving towards the equator
22. Locate the Gulf Stream current and outline in orange. Explain what is
happening with the water associated with this current.
Warm, water moving from the equator towards the poles
23. How do ocean currents (warm and cold) affect the climate regions near
the coast?


California gets cold currents = cooler, less humid weather
East Coast gets warmer currents= warmer, more humid weather