4th Grade Weather Study Guide – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
What do you call scientists who forecast the weather?
answer
Meteorologists
question
What is the name of the instrument used to measure air temperature?
answer
thermometer
question
What is the name of the instrument used to measure air pressure?
answer
barometer
question
What is the name of the instrument used to measure how much precipitation has fallen?
answer
rain gauge
question
What is the name of the instrument used to measure humidity?
answer
psychrometer
question
What is the name of the instrument used to measure wind speed
answer
anemometer
question
What is the name of the instrument used to measure the direction the wind is coming from?
answer
wind vane or sock
question
Within what part of the atmosphere does weather occur?
answer
troposphere
question
What starts the "water cycle"?
answer
energy from the sun
question
First, the heat from the sun causes what?
answer
evaporation
question
Second, when the water vapor rises higher in the troposphere, it reaches colder air and does what?
answer
condenses
question
Third, as the water droplets cling together (including dust particles), they form what?
answer
clouds
question
Fourth, as the clouds grow with more water particles, gravity pulls the moisture back down to Earth in the form of what?
answer
precipitation
question
Last, the rain, snow sleet or hail does what in ponds, lakes, oceans, rivers, etc. before the cycle begins again?
answer
accumulates
question
What is the type of cloud that occurs in the upper levels of the troposphere and are wispy, thin clouds made of ice crystals?
answer
cirrus
question
What is the type of cloud that are the fluffy, piled clouds that look like cotton balls?
answer
cumulus
question
What is the type of cloud that are the layered, blanket type of clouds?
answer
stratus
question
What is the Latin word for rain?
answer
nimbo
question
What is the Latin word for "mid-level"?
answer
alto
question
What is the type of cloud that has high level blanket of wispy clouds?
answer
cirrostratus
question
What is the type of cloud that has mid-level fluffy clouds?
answer
altocumulus
question
What is the type of cloud that has low, layered rain clouds?
answer
cumulonimbus
question
What is the type of stratus cloud that is very close to the Earth's surface (sometimes touching the ground)?
answer
fog
question
What do meteorologists do to help them forecast weather?
answer
observe clouds
question
What type of clouds usually bring clear, sunny weather?
answer
cirrus clouds
question
What type of clouds may bring rain?
answer
stratus clouds
question
What do you call a measurement of the amount of heat in a given area or object?
answer
temperature
question
What instrument do meteorologists use to measure temperature?
answer
thermometer
question
What are the names of the two scales of temperature measurement commonly shown on thermometers?
answer
fahrenheit and celsius
question
What temperature is the boiling point of water in both fahrenheit and celsius scales?
answer
212 F and 100 C
question
What temperature is the freezing point of water in both farhenheit and celsius scales?
answer
32 F and 0 C
question
How do the different types of surface areas on the Earth affect how the Sun heats the Earth's surface?
answer
The Earth is unevenly heated
question
When the Earth's surface is unevenly heated, how does this affect its pressure systems?
answer
different pressure systems are created
question
How do air molecules affect the Earth's pressure?
answer
they create the pressure
question
What type of air molecules create less pressure on the Earth?
answer
fast moving air molecules
question
What type of air molecules create more pressure on the Earth?
answer
slow moving, densely packed, colder air molecules
question
Low pressure systems tend to bring what kind of weather?
answer
precipitation
question
High pressure systems tend to bring what kind of weather?
answer
clear weather
question
What is created by a combination of the different pressure systems and also by the way the Earth spins on its axis?
answer
wind
question
True or False: there are different predictable wind patterns on Earth.
answer
True
question
In the United States, winds tend to move in which direction?
answer
from the west to the east
question
Wind direction is always reported based on the direction from which it is coming or going?
answer
from which they are coming
question
What is the name of the storm with winds of 73 MPH or faster?
answer
hurricanes
question
What is the term used to describe the amount of moisture in the air?
answer
humidity
question
What do you call the amount of moisture the air is holding compared to the amount it CAN hold?
answer
relative humidity
question
What do you call the "front lines" of big masses of air or the boundary between two air masses?
answer
weather fronts
question
What are two things that fronts can do to the weather?
answer
1. bring a change in temperature 2. bring in humid air, making precipitation more likely
question
Name two of the most common types of fronts.
answer
cold fronts and warm fronts
question
What do you call a front which occurs when the air mass is not moving?
answer
stationary front
question
What do air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, relative humidity, cloud covering, and typical precipitation levels have in common?
answer
they are all types of data that meteorologists gather to forecast weather
question
What can help meteorologists be more correct in their predictions in the future?
answer
new technologies being developed
question
What do you call the study of the Earth's air or the movements and events that cause weather?
answer
meteorology
question
What do you call the result of studying air movements, air temperature, and air pressure, as well as observing clouds and monitoring rain and snowfall?
answer
weather predictions or forecasts
question
What do meteorologists use to help them determine what is happening in the atmosphere or troposphere?
answer
temperature data
question
What do you call the force with which air presses against surfaces (like blowing up a balloon)? Or, the weight of air over a given spot?
answer
air pressure
question
What do you call a large volume or body of air that has about the same characteristics, that is, temperature and humidity throughout?
answer
air mass
question
What do you call how cold it feels when the wind is blowing stronger?
answer
wind chill factor
question
What is the name for a violent, and often short-lived, windstorm which has winds that may be blowing as fast as 300 MPH?
answer
tornado
question
What is the name for a violent storm that develops over tropical water that has winds of at least 74 MPH (its "eye" is a calm region at its center)?
answer
hurricane
question
What is caused by the movement of rapidly rising air, in turn causing electrical charges to build up inside a cloud? Hint: These charges can jump from one cloud to another or they can jump to the ground.
answer
lightning
question
What do you call an area of air that is often made of dry, cold air?
answer
a high pressure area
question
What exerts more pressure on the Earth because its molecules are densely packed with warm, moist air?
answer
cold air
question
What exerts less pressure on the Earth because its molecules have spaces between them?
answer
warm air
question
The interaction of what two areas creates wind and clouds?
answer
high and low pressure areas
question
What can be produced by great differences in temperatures and humidities of fronts that move close to each other?
answer
thunderstorms and tornadoes
