Name: ______________________________
Flt: _______
Date: ___________
Bellwork Chapter 2, Lesson 2: Weather Elements
A. Multiple Choice
1. How do bodies of air adopt the temperature and moisture traits of their source region?
a. by remaining over the area long enough
b. by warming in a low-pressure system
c. by cooling over lakes and mountains
d. by moving quickly over a geographic region
2. What areas make ideal source regions?
a.
b.
c.
d.
mountainous areas where the temperature remains cold for long periods
oceans and lakes with rapid temperature changes
flat, uniform areas where the temperature and moisture don’t change rapidly
forested areas where vegetation creates additional humidity
3. What does the “c” in the air mass category represent?
a. cavernous
b. common
c. continental
d. cumulus
c. mA
d. mP
4. Which is not a category of air mass?
a. cA
b. cT
5. What happens when air masses meet other air masses of different temperature and moisture
characteristics?
a. This contact creates high winds.
b. This contact creates fronts.
c. This contact creates precipitation.
d. This contact creates high temperatures.
6. What outside factors shape air masses?
a.
b.
c.
d.
the level of air pollution and the season
dew point and barometric pressure
source region, the qualities of the surface over which air masses travel, and season
solar variation, strong winds, and surface quality along with land temperature
7. What is the process called when an air mass drifts away from its source region and adopts new
temperature and moisture traits from the land or water surfaces it passes over?
a. convection
b. dew point
c. lapse rate
d. modification
8. What happens when an air mass passing over a warmer surface is warmed from below?
a. It produces updrafts.
b. It produces a downdraft.
c. It creates a tornado.
d. It creates high winds.
9. What can summer temperatures do to an otherwise cold, dry (cP) air mass traveling south from a northern
region?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They can cause a reaction among water vapors that results in a hailstorm.
They can warm and inject moisture into an otherwise cold, dry air mass.
They can bring about a sudden and early change in seasons.
They can produce a front that pushes the air mass back north.
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10. Why does air flow from areas of high pressure into areas of low pressure?
a.
b.
c.
d.
because air is dense and will sink to a lower area
because air always seeks out lower pressure
because air lifts under pressure
because air molecules attach to carbon molecules
11. What do air pressure, temperature changes, and the Coriolis force work together to create?
a. rainstorms
b. tornadoes
c. low stratus clouds
d. motion in the atmosphere
12. What is wind the result of?
a. an incoming high-pressure front
b. air currents rising and falling
c. a low-pressure area next to a high-pressure area
d. low-altitude shearing
13. What type of circulation takes place in the Northern Hemisphere when the flow of air from areas of high to
low pressure swerves to the right to produce a clockwise circulation around a high-pressure area?
a. anticyclonic
b. Coriolis force
c. cyclonic
d. tornado
14. Why do low-pressure systems often bring in bad weather with increasing cloudiness and precipitation?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Air flowing into a low-pressure system to replace rising air tends to be unstable.
Low pressure systems trap moisture and clouds under an atmospheric ceiling.
The drier air is more dense and volatile.
The clouds brought in by low-pressure systems create precipitation.
15. What are two factors that can change wind direction and speed close to Earth’s surface?
a. air currents and anticyclonic circulation
b. local conditions and land features
c. air masses and fronts
d. air mass modification and water sublimation
16. What happens when high- and low-pressure systems meet in fronts?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The temperature drops at least 12 degrees.
The high-pressure system absorbs the low-pressure system.
They produce the most hazardous flying conditions.
Their winds move in opposite directions where they make contact.
17. What type of front produces the most dramatic wind shift?
a. cold fronts
b. low fronts
c. warm fronts
d. moist fronts
18. What clouds are you likely to see after the passage of a warm front?
a. cirrus
b. cirrocumulus
c. cumulonimbus
d. stratocumulus
19. What type of front sticks close to the ground and acts like a snowplow by sliding under warmer air, forcing
less dense air to rise?
a. warm front
b. cold front
c. low front
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d. moist front
20. What direction do cold fronts normally take in the Northern Hemisphere?
a. northeast to southwest
b. east
c. southwest to northeast
d. west
21. How does terrain influence weather?
a. The ground can heat or cool wind.
b. The shape of the land can force air masses in new directions.
c.
Ground temperatures can complicate wind shear.
d. Formations on land can create fog.
22. How do mountains affect weather?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The lack of air at high altitude increases winds.
The sun is closer and warmer temperatures result.
The high altitude produces snow and the cold front rides up and over the warm front.
The land’s upward slope pushes the air up where the water vapor cools and condenses into clouds.
23. What is the result of a cold air mass passing over a warmer body of water?
a. lake effect snow
b. sea breeze
c. land breeze
24. Which of the following heats up faster during the day?
a. air masses
b. land
c. low-pressure fronts
d. water
25. What factors create a land breeze?
a.
b.
c.
d.
water cooling faster than land with air then rushing toward land
daytime coupled with temperatures above 75 degrees F (24 degrees C)
air seeking a high-pressure region
land cooling faster than water and air seeking a low-pressure region
B. Short Answer
1. Explain how the flow of air in the Northern Hemisphere produces circulation.
2. Explain how lake effect snow occurs.
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d. hurricane
C. Matching
1.
2.
3.
4.
____ cold, dry air mass
____ warm, moist air mass
____ warm, dry air mass
____ extremely cold and dry air mass
a. cA
b. mT
c. cT
d. cP
e. mP
D. True/False
1. A stable air mass always produces low stratus clouds and fog.
a. True
b. False
2. When flying from west to east, a pilot would find favorable winds on the northern side of a low-pressure
system.
a. True
b. False
E. Fill-in-the-Blank
1. Scientists classify air masses according to where they form. They refer to these areas as ________
regions.
2. Pilots must be familiar with currents and wind because they affect _______, _______, and ________.
3. A __________ front can lead to flooding because the system doesn’t move for days.
4. As air reaches a mountain’s peak and starts down its _________ side, it warms up, and rain and snow
slow or stop.
F. List or Describe
1. List the four types of fronts.
2. Describe how the formation of a sea breeze and a land breeze differs.
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G. Case Study
1. A meteorologist observes stratocumulus clouds commanding the sky with rain showers possible. Visibility
improves but conditions seem to be remaining hazy. The wind is blowing from the south-southwest. As the
temperature climbs, the dew point also rises and then levels off. Finally, the barometric pressure rises just
slightly only to fall again.
What type of front and what stage of that front has the meteorologist just observed?
a. During passage of a warm front
b. After passage of a warm front
c. Before passage of a cold front
d. During passage of a cold front
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