Name ____________________
Period _____________ Date ____________
Science Test Review #2
Weather/Climate, Earth Science
(1) Weather: the condition of the atmosphere at a specific place or time
(2) Atmosphere: layer of gases that surround the Earth
-Composition of the atmosphere:
 Nitrogen
 Oxygen
 Carbon Dioxide
 Water Vapor
 Other Gases
 Particles (liquids and solids)
*nitrogen and oxygen most abundant
Question: What would conditions be like without the atmosphere?
Life could not exist.
(3) Pollutants: harmful substances that enter the air, water, or soil
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Other Gases
(4) Acid Rain: when level of acidity outweighs the pure properties of rain water
(5) Sources of Air Pollution: burning of fossil fuels
Question: How do natural processes and human processes combine to cause issues with
pollution? Human activities (ex: power plants) cause natural processes to become
polluted (ex: acid rain)
(6) Properties of Air:
 mass
 density
 pressure
(7) Density: the amount of mass an object has
(8) Pressure: the forced exerted on an object
(9) Air Pressure: the force exerted on an object by air (columns of air)
(10) Barometer: used to measure air pressure
mercury
aneroid
Name ____________________
Period _____________ Date ____________
(11) Altitude: elevation, of the distance above sea level
Questions: As altitude increases, describe what happens to density and air pressure.
Density and air pressure both decrease
(12) Four main layers of the atmosphere:




Troposphere: where we live; where weather primarily occurs
Stratosphere: contains the ozone layer
Mesosphere: where most meteoroids “burn up”
Thermosphere: very hot
Question: How are layers of the atmosphere classified?
According to temperature (and height)
(12) Object used to measure wind direction: Wind Vane
(13) Four steps of the water cycle:
 Evaporation: sunlight causes liquid water to change to water vapor
 Condensation: water vapor in the atmosphere forms clouds
 Precipitation: clouds return water to the Earth in liquid/solid form
 Surface Runoff: precipitation finds in way back into a body of water
Name ____________________
Period _____________ Date ____________
A: Evaporation
B: Condensation
C: Precipitation
D: Surface Runoff
(14) Humidity: the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere
(15) Three main types of clouds:
 Cumulus: fluffy clouds
 Stratus: layered
 Cirrus: feathered wisps
Cumulus
Stratus
Cirrus
Question: How are clouds formed?
Water vapor condenses within the atmosphere
(16) Precipitation: when water vapor returns to the Earth in the form of a liquid/solid
(17) Common types of precipitation: rain, snow, sleet, hail, etc.
(18) Air mass: body of air with similar temperature, humidity, and air pressure
Name ____________________
Period _____________ Date ____________
(19) Types of air masses:
 Tropical: warm; low pressure
 Polar: cold; high pressure
 Maritime: air mass that occurs over oceans
 Continental: air mass that occurs over land
(20) Types of Storms: thunderstorms, tornados, etc.
(21) Techniques to observe geological time:
 Radioactive dating: using half-lives of unstable substances to date
 Rock cycle
 Fossils
(22) Half-life: the amount of time it takes for an unstable element to go through a decay
(23) Type of rocks/formations, etc.:
 Sedimentary: layered
 Metamorphic: crystalline
 Igneous: sponge-like
Sedimentary (coal)
Metamorphic (marble)
Igneous (pumice)
(24) Sequential Dating: using a sequence (written list) to determine age; examples
include Paleozoic, Mesozoic, etc.
(25) Numerical Dating: dating based on numbers; examples include 251-65.5 million
years in place of the Mesozoic era
(26) Plate Tectonics: large scale motion of Earth’s surface; plates literally float on top of
aesthenosphere (fluid); causes of fault lines, earthquakes, land formations.
(27) Convergent Plate Boundary: when plates come together or collide with one another;
causes mountain formations
Name ____________________
Period _____________ Date ____________
(28) Divergent Plate Boundary: when plates move apart or divide
(29) Convection: circular motion within the mantle that causes hot air from Earth’s core
to make its way to the surface
(30) Age of Earth: 4.6 billion years; determined by scientists using geological dating
processes (radioactive dating, rock cycle, fossils)