Name__________________________
Unit 4: WEATHER
Lesson 1 pages 269-279
Define the Following Terms:
atmosphere____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
weather_______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
air pressure____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
convection current______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
prevailing wind_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Directions: Use this outline as you read through this lesson. The outline follows directly along with the
book. Please scan through a section of the outline, and then read the section of the book that discusses that
material. For example, the first paragraph of this outline deals with the heading labeled “The
Atmosphere” in your book. All of this first paragraph should be filled after you have read through
this section. If you missed one from this paragraph, go back and find it. IT IS IN THERE. You
should be able to fill in all of the blank spaces, in order, as you read through the lesson. Become an
investigative reader and find those necessary details. Spelling does count. Have fun!
The _________________ is made up of several layers and surrounds
Earth. Most of Earth’s weather happens in the layer of the atmosphere
called the ___________________. ________ is all around us, and we know
this because every time the wind blows we can feel it on our skin. _______
_________________(2 words) refers to the weight of a given area of air in
our atmosphere. It is greatest near sea level due to gravity and
___________________.
This is the second paragraph, so it correlates with the second heading of this lesson “Air Pressure”
By measuring the air pressure around you at a certain place, you can
determine how far above sea level you are. The more pressure you measure
the ___________ ____ sea level you are. By using a balloon we can see
that air doesn’t just push downward due to gravity, but it pushes in all
_______________. Cold air affects the amount of pressure as well. Cold air
is more _____________, so it sinks toward Earth’s surface. In contrast,
warm air is less _________________ and has a tendency to rise. As it rises,
it begins to _________ causing it to drop back down toward the surface.
The _________ energy is what powers all of the wind and weather we
see and feel. Earth absorbs some of this solar energy, but not evenly over its
surface. _______, or earth, heats up faster than ___________. This results
in air over either of these two areas being warmer and cooler respectively.
Since this occurs, we have air that is less dense (warm air) and will _______
due to cooler, denser air pushing on it. This upward and downward
movement of air is called _______________ _______________. The
horizontal, side to side, movement of air at Earth’s surface is called
___________. Winds that result from a local difference in temperature are
called _________ ___________. These winds often occur near large bodies
of water. If you were at the beach, during the day you would feel _______
________________, wind coming from the ocean, and at night you would
feel a _________ _______________, or wind blowing toward the water.
A ______________ _________ is a global wind that almost always
blows in the same direction. These winds are caused by the ____________
heating of the Earth’s surface. Areas closer to the ____________ are
warmer than areas farther from the ______________ due to the amount of
direct sunlight received throughout the year. The cold, dense air above the
poles moves toward the equator because warmer, less dense air is rising
from these areas near the equator. But this doesn’t work out as a direct line
from the equator toward the poles. Some of the warm air rising from the
equator ________ and sinks back to Earth before reaching the poles. Also,
the Earth’s __________________ causes these winds to move in a curved
path. Winds moving north curve to the _________ and winds moving south
curve to the __________. This is because our planet rotates from
_________ to ___________ (This is not directly in the book, but it give it a
try). Our weather systems in the United States move from west to east due
to the ______________ _________________.
Divide the space below in half. In one half, draw a picture of winds at the beach during the day, and in the
other half winds at the beach during the night. Use these terms to label your pictures: warm, less dense air,
cooler, denser air, solar energy, ocean, land, sea breeze, land breeze, and arrows to show direction.