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Unit E Weather and C
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Term | Definition |
---|---|
Air | The mixture of gases found in Earth’s atmosphere. Dry air is primarily nitrogen (N2 = 78%) and oxygen (O2 = 21%). |
Altitude | The elevation above sea level. |
Atmosphere | The gases that surround a planet or moon. On Earth, the air. |
Climate | The average weather for a place over a long period of time (usually at least 30 years). |
Clouds | A visible collection of water droplets in the atmosphere. Clouds usually form hundreds of meters above Earth’s surface but fog is a cloud formed near Earth’s surface. |
Condensation | The process of change in state from gas to liquid, or the droplets of liquid formed from this process. |
Energy | The ability to cause motion. Energy comes in many forms and is measured in joules |
Evaporation | The process of change in state from a liquid to a gas. |
Exosphere | The uppermost layer of the earth’s atmosphere. |
Freezing | To change from a liquid to a solid state. |
Front (Cold, Warm) | A boundary where a mass of air meets another air mass of a different temperature. |
Gulf Stream | A strong ocean current that flows on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico to northwestern Europe. |
Humbity | The amount of water vapor in the air. |
Hypothesis | A possible explanation of some phenomena, based on observations, and which suggests a means of being tested. |
Landform | A feature of the earth’s surface such as a lake, stream, valley, canyon, hill, ridge, or mountain. |
Latitude | The distance in degrees of a location north or south of the equator. |
Melting | To change from a solid to liquid state. |
Mesosphere | A layer of the earth’s atmosphere where temperature decreases with altitude; between the stratosphere and thermosphere. |
Meteorologist | A scientist who studies the weather. |
Ocean Current | Regular movements of large amounts of water in the ocean. |
Precipitation | The movement of water, in solid or liquid form, from the atmosphere back to the surface of the earth. Rain, snow, sleet, and hail are examples. |
Pressure (High, Low) | A force applied to a surface. It is measured in a force unit per area, such as psi (pounds per square inch) or millibars (100 newtons per square meter). |
Prevailing Wind | The most common wind direction for a region. On the earth, the direction of the prevailing winds are related to the latitude of the region. |
Stratosphere | The region of Earth’s atmosphere between the troposphere and mesosphere. |
Thermosphere | The region of the atmosphere above the mesosphere in which temperature steadily increases with altitude. |
Troposphere | The lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere, where people live and most weather occurs. |
Water Cycle | The movement of water from one state to another as it circulates through the earth’s crust, oceans, and atmosphere. |
Water Vapor | Water in a gaseous state. |
Weather | The condition of the atmosphere, including temperature, precipitation, and cloud cover, at a particular time and place. |
Wind | The horizontal movement of air from areas of higher pressure toward areas of lower pressure. |