Group Review Questions (from 3/4/2010)
1) How does Earth’s atmosphere help keep the planet warm? What happens to
atmospheric pressure as elevation increases?
a. Through the greenhouse effect. The Earth’s atmosphere helps retain the solar
power, heat, which is generated by the sun. As elevation increases the
atmospheric pressure decreases, making the temperature very cold. Think
Mount Everest.
2) Why are temperature ranges greater for places in the interior of continents than they
are for places near oceans? Give examples.
a. The Ocean helps to regulate temperatures for landmasses close to them. The
reason being that the Ocean doesn’t change temperatures as fast as land. So an
example would be San Francisco and Kansas City. While they are on the same
latitudinal coordinate, they have very different ranges of temperatures between
summer and winter.
3) How do high elevations and mountains influence weather and climate? Illustrate and
example with labels for all features.
a. As elevation increases temperatures decrease. At a rate of 3.5 degrees per 1000
feet in elevation. Mountains effect temperature though the Orographic Effect.
The windward side receives a lot of rain and fair weather. The Leeward side is
impacted by the Rain Shadow cast and becomes a desert.
4) What are the four common forms of precipitation? In which latitude zone is
precipitation the highest?
a. Rain, snow, sleet, hail. The middle latitudes have the highest precipitation levels.
5) How do storms in the tropics differ from storms in the middle latitudes? (Severity, types,
etc.)
a. Storms in the middle latitudes are more violent and sudden. They are this way
because of the cold fronts that exist in the areas. Tropics lack cold fronts and are
therefore really only rain storms.
6) How is wind direction related to differences of air pressure? What are winds called that
blow in the same direction all the time? What zone along the equator is calm with no
prevailing winds?
a. Wind is created by traveling from High to Low Pressure zones. Winds that blow
in the same direction all the time are called prevailing winds. The zone along the
equator that is calm and has no prevailing winds is called the doldrums (or Horse
Latitudes).
7) What are the two micro-climates found in the Tropics? How do they differ? What do
we call their landscapes?
a. The two micro-climates of the Tropics are, Tropical Wet and Dry & Tropical
Humid. They differ in the fact that Wet and Dry has two seasons and Humid only
has one. The vegetation for humid region is Rainforest while Wet and Dry has a
savanna.
8) What types of micro-climates are found in the middle latitudes? What are the two
types of forests found there? What types of extreme storms form here?
a. Mediterranean, Marine West Coast, Humid Continental, Humid Sub Tropic. The
two forests that are typically found in the middle latitudes are coniferous and
deciduous forests. Extreme storms that happen here are tornadoes, Hurricanes,
and Typhoons.
9) How does latitude relate to climate? Create a visual that demonstrates this
relationship?
a. Latitude is related to climate inversely. As latitude increases you will generally
see temperatures decrease and climate becomes more frigid. (Draw a globe,
mark out high, middle and low latitudes).
10) What is the difference between erosion and weathering? What are the three types of
erosion? How can weathering and erosion work together?
a. Weathering is the slow breakdown of rock into sediment. Erosion is the physical
process of moving actual land and/or changing the shape of land. The 3 types of
erosion are wind, water, and waves. They can work together by weathering
breaking down the rock and making it easier to erode.
11) Why do you think farming and raising cattle may lead to erosion? What farming
techniques can be used to help slow the erosion process?
a. Farming and livestock can erode land through soil exhaustion. They can over
work the soil and make it more fragile and easier to destroy. Two farming
techniques that can help slow the process of erosion are contour farming and
crop rotation.
12) What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy resources? Give
examples of each.
a. Renewable are able to be re-used and or are never depleted. Non-renewable
can only be used once and they are done. Two example of renewable resources
are solar and hydroelectricity. Two examples of non-renewable resources are
coal and oil.