Catastrophic Event Exam Study Guide: Answer Key
Knowledge of storms: Hurricanes & Tornadoes
See notes and past labs conducted in class
1. A Tornado’s vortex will form when
a. Two different fronts meet
b. Two different air masses meet
c. When water spirals
d. When warm moist air rises over tropical water
2. Place a check next to the true statement for what causes a tornado to form?
a. ___Tropical sea air sweeps in replacing warm rising air
b. ___A low-pressure system rises above warm water.
c. ___Thunderstorms form creating tornadoes, when two air masses of
different temperature and moisture meet over land.
d. ___ None of the above.
3. In what way are tornadoes and hurricanes alike?
a. Both form over land
b. Both form over water
c. Both are around 550 km wide
d. Both contain high winds that spiral
4. The __________ is the main source of heat energy on earth.
a. Air
c. The sun
b. Water
d. Lava
Add this
5. Place a check next to each true statement for how clouds form
a. ___ low pressure conditions help form clouds Unsqueeze the bottle cloud lab
b. ___water vapor rises with rising, warm air
c. ___water evaporates and changes from a liquid to a gas
d. ___Water vapor cools and mixes with dust particles and then
condenses into water droplets forming clouds Add smoke to the bottle cloud lab
6. Every few years, an event occurs in which the Pacific Ocean becomes warmer.
This event causes weather changes worldwide such as droughts, floods,
hurricanes, and tornadoes. This event is called _____El Niño________.
7_Convection current_ is the circulation of air or water from uneven heating.
8. Place a check next to each item that is used to study and forecast weatherrelated events?
a. ___Satellites (TIROS) and satellite images
b. ___Weather maps
c. ___Doppler radar
9. Rising, warm ocean water that forms in the Gulf of Mexico travels past
Florida, and then moves north along the East Coast. How might this effect
weather in Rhode Island (on the East Coast)?
a. Bring cooler temperatures
b. Bring warmer temperatures.
c. Cool the area only at night.
d. Cool the area only during daytime.
10. Which states are most affected by tornadoes in Tornado Alley?
a. Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey
b. California, Washington, Utah
c. Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas
d. North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama
11._Think back to the soil/water heating lab and examine the illustration below.
Study the setup for the “Heating and Cooling Rates of Soil & Water” lab. How
would you change the current setup to make this a fair test?
a. The setup is perfect the way it is.
b. Place the beakers equal distance
heat source.
c. Put equal amounts of soil and water
in each beaker.
d. I would do both B and C.
from the
Water
Soil
Soil
Palm tree is blowing toward
12. What type of wind pattern is shown in each picture?
A
~~~~~~~
~~~~~~
ocean so the wind is coming
FROM LAND= Land breeze
B
~~~~~~
Sea Breeze
Land Breeze
Hint: Look at the direction the palm tree is blowing, and then ask, “Where is the
wind COMING FROM for the tree to blow in that direction?”
a. Wind pattern picture A is a ___sea breeze___
b. Wind pattern picture B is a _____land breeze__
13. Which one of the pictures represents day and which represents night?
Night-time is picture __B____. I know this because ___water____ takes
longer to heat, but it holds the heat longer. The warm air is rising over the
__land______ and moving toward the ___ocean______ where it will cool.
Day-time is picture ___A_____. I know this because ____land___ heats
quicker from the sun’s energy and the heat is rising over the ____land_____
and moving towards the ___ocean____ where it is cooler.
Think about what you know about rising and sinking air. ___Warm __ air
rises and ___cool __ air sinks. The rising and sinking of air warming and
cooling is called a ___convection current __.
Look at the illustration below and read what is taking place.
___________ rises and ___________ air sinks. The rising and sinking
Mrs. Hibbs connects two
of air warming and cooling is called a
cylinder containers, lights
________________________________. Now,
lookand
at blows
the illustration
a match,
it out
below and read what is taking place.
letting the smoke flow
into the cylinder on the
left. You notice
immediately that the
smoke begins to sink and
flow into the container on
the right where it rises
out.
14._Which best describes the setup of the cylinders explaining what caused the
smoke to react this way?
a. She connected two hot containers.
b. She connected two cold containers.
c. She connected one hot container and one cold container and added
__smoke to the top of the cold container.
d. She connected one hot container and one cold container and added
__smoke to the top of the hot container.
Examine the data on the chart below referring to the
Heating and Cooling Lab: 10 minutes with heat source & 10 minutes without heat source
28
What got hot quick
with the lamp, then
cool quick without
the lamp?
27
26
25
24
Substance A
Substance B
23
22
21
20
5 min.
10 min.
15 min.
20 min.
15._How long was Substance B heated before it reached 21.5°C?
a. 5 minutes
b. 7 minutes
c. 15 minutes
d. 20 minutes
16. The substances shown in the graph were heated for 10 minutes with the lamp
on and cooled 10 minutes with the lamp off. On the basis of these data, what type
of Substance is A?
a. A solid (such as sand or soil)
b. A liquid (such as water)
c. Soil or water
d. Not enough data to draw a conclusion
#17 On Back -----------------------------------------------------------------
17. Explain your reason for selecting the answer you did in Question. Write in
complete sentences.
Substance A on the graph represents soil and not water because the
information shows the temperature increasing (getting hotter)
fairly quick with the lamp on and then decreasing (gets cooler)
quickly. I know that land/soil gets hot quick during the day and
loses heat quick at night. Water takes longer to heat up, but it also
stays warm longer. Substance B get warm slowly and then does not
cool down very much.
Think about your prior knowledge with the shore….
1. During day you can hardly walk on sand toooo HOT and at
night sand is really cool. LAND does not hold heat!
2. In June when I go to the shore the sand is hot, but the water is
cold, and in September the water is still really warm even though it
is sometimes cooler during the day. WATER holds heat longer!