Earth Science Weather Session Sheet





Online Discovery Education Sections:
Energy Transfer and the Water Cycle
Meteorology
Extreme Weather
Climate and Factors that Affect It
Earth, absorb, action, aquatic, barometric pressure, biome, biosphere,
carbon cycle, circulate, climate, cloud, condense, convection (weather), cycle, deforestation,
dew point, distribute, drought, energy (physical), energy transfer, evaporation, global
warming, heat, humidity, latitude, meteorology, nitrogen cycle, ocean
current, precipitation, recycle, salt water, surface, transfer, tropical depression, typhoon,vapor, water
cycle, water vapor, weather, Antarctic, Arctic, air,
air pressure, atmosphere, barometer, celsius, cirrus cloud, cumulonimbus cloud,
cumulus cloud, desert, forecast, freezing point, front, funnel
cloud, hail, hurricane, predict, rain, taiga, temperature (weather), theory,thermometer
(weather), thunder, thunderstorm, tornado, tropical, tundra, waterspout,
Energy Transfer and the Water Cycle Lesson Questions:

How is the sun’s energy transferred around the globe?

What is the water cycle and why is it important?

How does the water cycle influence weather patterns?

How do winds form?
Meteorology Lesson Questions:

How do meteorologists study and predict weather?

How does the movement of air masses affect weather?

How do clouds and rain form?
Extreme Weather Lesson Questions:

What are some types of extreme weather?

How do thunderstorms form and what are their effects?

How do tornadoes form and what are their effects?

How do hurricanes form and what are their effects?

What happens when weather patterns produce too much or too little precipitation?
Climate and Factors that Affect it Lesson Questions:

How is climate different from weather?

What factors affect the climate of a region?

How do the oceans affect climate?
Types of Clouds
There are four basic cloud categories observed in our atmosphere:
Cirro-form
Nimbo-form
Cumulo-form
Strato-form
High-level clouds which form above 20,000
feet (6,000 meters) and are usually
composed of ice crystals. High-level clouds
are typically thin and white in appearance,
but can create an array of colors when the
sun is low on the horizon. Cirrus generally
occur in fair weather and point in the
direction of air movement at their elevation.
Nimbus comes from the Latin word meaning
"rain". These clouds typically form between
7,000 and 15,000 feet (2,100 to 4,600
meters) and bring steady precipitation. As
the clouds thicken and precipitation begins to
fall, the bases of the clouds tend to lower
toward the ground.
Clouds look like white fluffy cotton balls
or heaps and show the vertical motion or
thermal uplift of air taking place in the
atmosphere. The level at which condensation
and cloud formation begins is indicated by a
flat cloud base, and its height will depend
upon the humidity of the rising air. The more
humid the air, the lower the cloud base. The
tops of these clouds can reach over 60,000
feet (18,000 meters).
"Stratus" is Latin for layer or blanket. The
clouds consist of a feature-less low layer that
can cover the entire sky like a blanket,
bringing generally gray and dull weather. The
cloud bases are usually only a few hundred
feet above the ground. Over hills and
mountains they can reach ground level when
they may be called fog. Also, as fog "lifts" off
the ground due to daytime heating, the fog
forms a layer of low stratus clouds.
By convention, clouds are vertically divided into three étages (levels); low, middle, and high. Each étage is defined by the range of
levels at which each type of clouds typically appears. The types of clouds are...



Cirrus (Ci), Cirrocumulus (Cc), and Cirrostratus (Cs) are high level clouds. They are typically thin and white in
appearance, but can appear in a magnificent array of colors when the sun is low on the horizon.
Altocumulus (Ac), Altostratus (As), and Nimbostratus (Ns) are mid-level clouds. They are composed primarily of water
droplets, however, they can also be composed of ice crystals when temperatures are low enough.
Cumulus (Cu), Stratocumulus (Sc), Stratus (St), and Cumulonimbus (Cb) are low clouds composed of water droplets.
Please study all in class notes
Please also be able to label the layers of the atmosphere
There will not be a word bank for the layers of the atmosphere, but I will provide a word bank for the matchable information like what
is found in the layer, temperature, altitude(distance), etc….