5th Grade Science Study Guide
Chap. 8
Test Date: ________________
Weather:
1. The sun is the basic cause of all weather.
2. Warm air is lighter than cool air.
3. A meteorologist is a scientist who studies weather.
4. Different seasons occur because of the tilt of the earth’s axis.
5. The air we live in receives most of its warmth from the ground.
6. Winds are produced by temperature differences on the earth.
7. The axis is the imaginary line running through the earth from North Pole to South Pole.
8. The earth’s surface spins at over 1,000 miles per hour.
Wind Systems:
1. Be able to label the wind systems on a diagram of the earth.
2. Know that the prevailing westerlies are the two areas of the earth that experience the most
changes in weather.
Precipitation:
1. Sleet is falling ice crystals that melt into raindrops, refreeze and land on earth as tiny pieces of
ice.
2. Wet snow is when falling ice crystals melt slightly. Stick and freeze together into snowflakes.
3. Freezing rain is when falling ice crystals melt, hit the earth as liquid rain, and refreezes soon as
they land.
4. Hail is a tiny piece of ice tossed up and down inside a cloud, forming several layers of ice, until it
is too heavy and falls to the earth.
5. Rain is when an ice crystal in a cloud becomes too heavy, falls, melts and lands on earth as liquid
water.
6. Frost is when water vapor condenses and forms frozen water on the ground.
7. Dew is water vapor that condenses to form liquid water on the ground.
8. Condensation is the process in which water vapor leaves the air and changes into liquid water.
Atmosphere:
1. The amount of water vapor that the air can hold is called relative humidity.
2. Air is saturated when the humidity of the air is 100%.
3. Dew point is the lowest possible temperature at which air is able to hold all of its water vapor.
Clouds:
1. Cumulus: puffy, bulgy clouds
2. Stratus:
a. layers of flat clouds
b. sheets of clouds that often produce rain
3. Cirrus:
a. wispy, curly clouds that are very high in the atmosphere
b. clouds that are made up of very small ice crystals
4. Cumulonimbus: also known as “thunderhead”
5. Nimbus: a cloud from which rain is falling
6. The broad, flat top of a cumulonimbus cloud is called an anvil top.
Weather:
1.
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7.
When opposite electrical charges build up in very tall clouds, lightning is produced.
Thunder: the quick expansion of superheated air causes shock waves that we hear.
Tornado: the type of storm that packs the most destructive power into the smallest space.
Tornado warning: is issued by meteorologists if a tornado has been spotted
Eye: the calm region of very low pressure in the center of a tornado.
Step leader: the thin channel of charged air through which a lightning bolt can travel
Sheet lightning: lightning bolts that do not come in contact with the ground but remain
within the cloud
8. Front: the boundary between two air masses
9. Squall line: the row of thunderheads that builds up in the front of advancing cold air
Discussion:
1. Be able to write a paragraph describing five precautions you should take during a
thunderstorm
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2. Read the selection and be able to discuss:
“In Pensacola, Florida, the temperature is 75 degrees F and the relative humidity is 100%. In
Albany, New York, the temperature is 40 degrees F and the relative humidity is 100 %. Is the
amount of water vapor in the air over Pensacola and the air over Albany the same? Why or
why not?” _____________________________________________________________________
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