Student Sheet 7.1b
Storms Review - Key
Answer these questions to study for Part A:
1. What is a vortex, and what causes it to form?
The movement of liquids and gases in a spiral around a central axis. Causes include uneven heating of earth’s
surfaces and the rotation of the earth.
2. How does air above a heated surface move?
Air above a heated surface rises because it is less dense until it cools and begins to sink – gains energy.
3. How does air above a cold surface move?
Cold air sinks because it is dense – loses energy to the surface.
4. What happens when hot air meets cold air?
When hot air meets cold air clouds form and precipitation is possible.
5. How do hurricanes form?
Hurricanes form over warm tropical water with low air pressure and begin to swirl due to the rotation of the
earth.
To study for Part B, answer these questions:
1. How are hurricanes and tornadoes alike? (Look at the Box & T Chart in which you compared
thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes.)
Both are rotating storms, have high wind speeds and have vortexes.
How are they different?
Tornados are smaller than hurricanes. Tornado wind speeds are faster that hurricanes. Tornados ca form over
land, but hurricanes will weaken.
2. What role does the sun play in the weather on the earth?
The sun provides energy to warm earth’s surfaces. The uneven heating moves both water and air creating
weather.
3. What is a convection current?
Warm liquids or gases rise because they are less dense as the substance rise it begins to cool and sink.
Circulating flow do to temperature.
4. Think about the investigation in Lesson 3 when you heated soil and water. Then answer the
following questions:
A. How did you set up your investigation to make it a fair test?
Same amount of water and soil
Same time interval
Same distance from the heat source
B. Which heated faster: soil or water?
The soil heated faster
C. Which held its heat longer: soil or water?
The water held heat longer.
5. Look at your graph from Lesson 3.
A. What does the soil curve look like? Why?
The soil curve looks like a bell curve because the soil cools almost as quickly as it heats.
B. What does the water curve look like? Why?
The water looks like a gentle slope because the water heats and cools gradually.
C. What was the temperature of your soil after 5 minutes of heating?
Answers will vary
6. Study the illustration of Tornado Alley on page 65. Answer the following:
A. What states make up Tornado Alley?
The textbooks shows mostly Kansas and Oklahoma, but the area is much larger.
B. What causes tornadoes to form in Tornado Alley?
Colliding air masses create wind sheer – Cold dry air from Canada & Warm moist air from the Gulf of
Mexico.
7. Take another look at the illustration of a sea breeze and a land breeze on page 59. What is a sea
breeze, and when does it form?
Land is warmer so air is rising and cool air from the sea moves in to replace the rising warm air. This takes
place during day time.
8. Look at the illustration of the water cycle on page 72. Describe the water cycle and how clouds form.
Water evaporate from a collection basin (energy transfers when cooling). The water vapor rises condenses and
cools. Warming the air and forming clouds and participation forms and falls.
9. Look at the weather maps on page 70.
A. Where is the pressure high? What is the weather like there?
Answers vary based on map
B. Where is the pressure low? What is the weather like there?
Answers vary based on map
C. Find a front. Where is it? What is the weather like there?
Answers vary based on map
D. In what direction is the weather moving across the United States? How can this help
meteorologists?
In general, west to east.
10. Think about the investigation in Lesson 7 in which you modeled ocean currents.
A. How do some deep ocean currents form?
Convection current – uneven heat and salinity.
B. How do winds affect ocean water?
Wind blows surface water away allowing upwelling to occur.
C. How do ocean currents affect air temperatures around the world?
Ocean currents move in a definite direction carrying aither warm equatorial water or cold polar water.
Movement of water’s thermal masses warms or cools the air surrounding the current affecting air temperatures
around the world.