Quiz #4 Study Guide 2016

Weather & Climate - 6th Grade Science – Miss Fox

*Refer to SEPUP Book (online) and your Science Journal - review lab activates and for weather & climate.

Scientific Method:is a series of steps used to investigate a problem

  • Purpose: is the reason for the experiment
  • Hypothesis:is an educated guess
  • Materials: is the list of supplies needed for the experiment
  • Experiment/procedures: are the step by step instructions to conduct the investigation

Variable: any factor that can be changed in an experiment

Independent variable: is typically the variable representing the value being manipulated or changed.

Dependent variable: is the observed result of the independent variable being manipulated.

Constant: factors that will need to be kept constant/the same in an experiment.

Control: Control is the portion that you are not performing experiments on and is used for comparison.

  • Analysis: is the organization of the collected data into graphs and explanations
  • Conclusion: at the end of a scientific investigation a conclusion interprets the results. It is the claim, evidence and reasoning summary of what resulted. Was your Hypothesis correct?

Properties/characteristics of air

  • Air: is a mixture of gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Air is composed mostly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%) and 1% other gases.
  • Air is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, takes up space and has pressure.

Air pressure: the measure of the force with which air molecules push on a surface. Air pressure deceases as altitude increases.

  • Air Pressure is affected by altitude and temperature.
  • Altitude: height above sea level
  • Air temperature: changes as altitude increases. The temperature changes result mainly from the way solar energy is absorbed as it moves through the atmosphere. Some parts of the atmosphere are warmer because they contain a higher percentage of gases that absorb solar energy.

Wind: is the movement of air caused by differences is air pressure.

Prevailing winds: are winds that blow mainly from one direction during a given period.

How Wind Develops(refer to you science journal)

  • Caused by a difference in air pressure due to unequal heating of the atmosphere.

Winds are created by….

  • Heating the air, decreases pressure (warm air rises creating a low pressure)
  • Cool air rushes into replace the warm air (cooler dense air, produces high pressure)
  • As air goes from high to low pressure, winds form.

Types of Local Winds

  • Sea Breezes
  • Land Breezes
  • Mountain Breezes
  • Valley Breezes

Land and seabreezes are caused bydifferent temperatures over sea and land. Duringa summer day in CT, the air is cooler over the Long Island Sound and warmer over land.