Friday, April 29, 2016
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Chapter 11 Test on Friday, April 29th & Layers of the Atmosphere Posters Due on Monday, April 25th
Chapter 11 Study
Guide
What
is weather?
Answer: Weather is the condition of Earth’s
atmosphere at a particular time and place.
What
is the Earth’s atmosphere?
Answer: The Earth’s atmosphere is the envelope of
gases that surrounds the planet.
What
does the Earth’s atmosphere consist of?
1)
Nitrogen
2)
Oxygen
3)
Carbon
Dioxide
4)
Water
Vapor
5)
Other
Gases (plus particles of liquids and solids)
What
is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere, and how much of the air we breathe
is this gas?
Answer: Nitrogen is the most abundant gas. It makes up a little more than ¾ of the air
we breathe.
True
or False???
Nitrogen
occurs in all living things.
TRUE!!!
True
or False???
Nitrogen
makes up 3% of the weight of the human body.
TRUE!!!
What
is the second most abundant gas in the atmosphere, and how much of the air we
breathe is this gas?
Answer: Oxygen is the second most abundant gas in the
atmosphere. It makes up only about 21%
of the volume.
How
do plants and animals use oxygen?
Answer: Plants and animals take oxygen directly from
the air and use it to release energy from their food.
Is
carbon dioxide essential for life?
Answer: Yes, it is!
Why is carbon
dioxide essential for life?
Answer: Plants must have carbon dioxide to produce
food, and the cells of animals break down food and give off carbon dioxide as a
waste product.
How
much of the atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide?
Answer: Less than 1% of the atmosphere is made up of
carbon dioxide.
What
is argon?
Answer: Argon
is the remaining gases (trace gases) that make up the 1% of the atmosphere’s
dry air. Oxygen and nitrogen make up the
other 99%.
Is
air dry?
Answer: No, air contains water vapor—water in the
form of a gas.
How
is the atmosphere a system?
Answer: The atmosphere interacts with other Earth
systems, such as the ocean. The
atmosphere has many different parts.
Some of the parts can be seen-like clouds. Other parts cannot be seen-like air, wind,
and energy.
True
or False???
Energy
from the sun drives the motions in
the atmosphere. TRUE!!!
Does
air have mass?
Answer: Yes!
It consists of atoms and molecules which have mass.
What
properties, other than mass, does air have?
Answer: Air has density and air pressure.
Why
doesn’t air pressure crush us?
Answer: The molecules in air push in all
directions---down, up, and sideways.
What
instruments measure air pressure?
Answer:
1)
A
barometer is an instrument that measures air pressure.
The two types of barometers are:
a)
Mercury
Barometer—It consists of a long glass tube that is closed at one end and open
at the other. The open end rests in a
dish of mercury. The closed end of the
tube is almost a vacuum---the space above the mercury contains very little
air. Air pressing down on the surface of
the mercury in the dish is equal to the pressure exerted by the weight of the
column of mercury in the tube. When the
air pressure increases, it presses down more on the surface of the
mercury. Greater air pressure forces the
column of mercury higher. So, the level
of the mercury in the tube shows you the pressure of the air that day.
b)
Aneroid
Barometer---It is an airtight metal chamber sensitive to changes in air
pressure. When air pressure increases,
the thin walls of the chamber are pushed in.
When air pressure decreases, the thin walls bulge out.
True
or False???
Most
weather reports for the general public use inches
of mercury. TRUE!!!
BUT----the
National Weather Service maps indicate air pressure in millibars.
The
pressure of the atmosphere is equal to one
bar.
One
inch of mercury is equal to about 33.86 millibars.
What
is altitude?
Answer: Altitude is elevation, or the distance above
sea level.
True
or False???
Air
pressure decreases as altitude increases.
As air pressure decreases, so does density. TRUE!!!
True
or False???
Since
the air is less dense at a high altitude, each cubic meter of air you breathe
has fewer oxygen molecules than at sea level.
So, you would become short of breath more quickly at a high altitude. TRUE!!!
What
are the four main layers of the atmosphere?
Answer: 1) the troposphere
2)
the stratosphere
3)
the mesosphere
4)
the thermosphere
What
two layers make up the thermosphere?
Answer: The ionosphere and the exosphere are the two
layers of the thermosphere.
What
does ‘tropo’ mean?
Answer: ‘Tropo’ means turning or changing.
What
occurs in the troposphere?
Answer: Weather occurs in the troposphere.
What
is the altitude of the troposphere?
Answer: The altitude is 0-12 km.
What
does ‘strato’ mean?
Answer: ‘Strato’ means layer or spread out.
What
is contained in the stratosphere?
Answer: The ozone layer is contained in the
stratosphere.
What
is the ozone layer?
Answer: The ozone layer is a form of oxygen that has
three atoms in each molecule instead of the usual two. When ozone absorbs energy from the sun, the
energy is converted into heat, warming the air.
The ozone layer protects living
things from ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
What
is the altitude of the stratosphere?
Answer: The altitude is 12-50 km.
What
does ‘meso’ mean?
Answer: ‘Meso’ means middle, so the mesosphere is the
middle layer of the atmosphere.
What
is the altitude of the mesosphere?
Answer: The altitude is 50-80 km.
What
occurs in the mesosphere?
Answer: Meteoroids are burned up in the mesosphere,
thus the Earth’s surface is protected.
What
is the thermosphere?
Answer: The thermosphere is the outermost layer of
the Earth’s atmosphere.
What
occurs in the thermosphere?
Answer: Auroras happen here. Even though the temperature is up to 1800
degrees Celsius, it doesn’t feel
warm because molecules are far apart.
What
does visible light include?
Answer: Visible light includes all of the colors that
you see in a rainbow: red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, and violet.
What
colors have the longest wavelengths?
Answer: Red and orange light have the longest
wavelengths.
What
colors have the shortest wavelengths?
Answer: Blue and violet light have the shortest
wavelengths.
Is
infrared radiation visible by humans?
Answer: No, it is not visible by humans, but can be
felt as heat.
True
or False????
Clouds
act as mirrors, reflecting sunlight back into space. TRUE!!!
What
is scattering?
Answer: Dust-size particles and gases in the
atmosphere disperse light in all directions.
What
percentage of the energy that reaches Earth’s surface is absorbed by land and
water and changed into heat?
Answer: 50%
What
is the greenhouse effect?
Answer: The sun’s energy reaches Earth. Earth’s surface is heated. Some heat is radiated into space. Some radiated heat is absorbed by gases in
the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect
keeps Earth’s atmosphere at a temperature that is comfortable for most living
things.
What
is temperature?
Answer: Temperature is the average amount of energy
of motion of each particle of a substance.
What
unit is temperature measured in?
Answer: Temperature is measured in degrees.
What
are the two scales used to measure temperature?
Answer: Celsius and Fahrenheit are the two scales
used to measure temperature.
What
is the freezing point of Celcius?
Answer: 0 degrees C
What
is the boiling point of Celcius?
Answer: 100 degrees C
What
is the freezing point of Fahrenheit?
Answer: 32 degrees F
What
is the boiling point of Fahrenheit?
Answer: 212 degrees F
Name
three ways heat is transferred from a hotter object to a cooler one.
Answer:
1) convection 2)
conduction 3) radiation
What
is convection?
Answer: Convection is the transfer of heat by the
movement of a fluid.
What
is conduction?
Answer: Conduction is the transfer of heat between
two substances that are in direct contact.
What
is radiation?
Answer: Radiation is the direct transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves. Most
of the heat you feel from the sun travels to you as infrared radiation. You can’t see it, but you can feel it.
True
or False?????
Radiation,
conduction, and convection work together to heat the troposphere. TRUE!!!
Heat
is transferred mostly by what within the atmosphere?
Answer: Heat is transferred mostly by convection
currents within the atmosphere.
What
are convection currents?
Answer: The upward movement of warm air and the
downward movement of cool air form convection currents.
What
is wind?
Answer: Wind is the movement of air parallel to Earth’s surface.
What
causes the air to move?
Answer: Differences in air pressure cause movement in
the air.
What
causes most differences in air pressure?
Answer: Most differences in air pressure are caused
by unequal heating of the atmosphere.
How
is wind speed measured?
Answer: Wind speed is measured with a tool called an
anemometer.
What
is an anemometer?
Answer: An anemometer has three or four cups mounted
at the ends of spokes that spin on an axle.
The force of the wind against the cups turns the axle. A meter connected to the axle shows the wind
speed.
What
is the windchill factor?
Answer: The increased cooling that a wind can cause
is called the windchill factor.
What
are local winds?
Answer: Winds that blow over short distances are
called local winds.
True
or False?????
The
unequal heating of Earth’s surface within a small area causes local winds. TRUE!!!!!
What
are two types of local winds?
Answer: A sea breeze and a land breeze are two types
of local winds.
What
is a sea breeze?
Answer: A sea breeze or a lake breeze is a local wind
that blows from an ocean or lake.
What
is a land breeze?
Answer: The flow of air from land to a body of water
forms a land breeze.
What
are global winds?
Answer: Global winds are winds that blow steadily
from specific directions over long distances.
What
is the Coriolis Effect?
Answer: The way the Earth’s rotation makes winds
curve is called the Coriolis Effect.
Name
the global wind belts.
1)
Doldrums-a
calm area where warm air rises (occurring at the equator).
2)
Horse
Latitudes-two calm areas of sinking air. At about 30 degrees north and south
latitudes, the air stops moving towards the poles and sinks.
3)
Trade
Winds-blow from the horse latitudes toward the equator.
4)
Prevailing
Westerlies-blow from west to east, away from the horse latitudes.
5)
Polar
Easterlies-blow cold air away from the poles.
Friday, April 15, 2016
'Layers of the Atmosphere'
The students in 6th grade Earth Science will be creating a 'Layers of the Atmosphere' poster next week! Students will bring white poster board, and will begin by illustrating and coloring the Earth. Next, they will draw the layers of the atmosphere based on their sizes. The layers will be labeled, and students will illustrate the different activities that may occur within each layer. Students will also list pertinent information about each layer, for example the altitude of each.
We are all very excited to know all we can about the world in which we live!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)