Jet Streams and Wind

How Air Moves 2 Study Guide

Featuring Global Wind Patterns

with a Unit Review

^{The Earth's climate contains tropical zones that stay very warm throughout the year. These areas cause large masses of warm air to rise. After the warm air rises, it will cool and then move farther north or south of the tropical region before falling back toward Earth's surface.}

This movement creates huge convection currents. These large convention currents combine with the spinning of the Earth to create a pattern of winds over different regions on Earth.

For example, the wind pattern over the United States blows from west to east. This wind pattern also causes weather to mostly move across the U.S. from west to east as swell.

Multiple Select

The convection currents formed between the tropical and non-tropical regions of Earth are ________.

• strong enough to create weather patterns over large areas

• huge and cause patterns of wind across whole continents

• not strong enough to impact weather

• too small to cause an impact

Multiple Choice

The Earth has _______ major convection currents.

• one

• three

• six

• eight

Multiple Choice

Click on the image at left to enlarge, then answer this question.

The region marked Point A on the globe would most likely have _______ flowing wind pattern.

• an east to west

• a west to east

Multiple Choice

Which path shows the most likely way a storm system would travel across the United States?

Jet streams occur high above the ground between the six large convection currents of Earth. A jet stream is a strip of very fast wind. Jet streams form due to the difference in temperatures between the massive convection currents covering the Earth.

A jet stream's path can bend and curve between convection currents, but the wind of a jet stream still follows a generally forward-moving path around the earth. Despite being very high in the atmosphere, jet streams still affect the temperature, winds, and precipitation on Earth's surface.

Multiple Choice

A jet stream is the same as a breeze or land breeze.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Can a jet stream affect weather?

• No, winds like the jet stream do not move weather.

• Yes, but only if the jet stream drops to Earth's surface and becomes a sea breeze.

• Yes, jet streams can impact wind, precipitation, and temperature.

• No, it is too high to affect weather.

Multiple Select

Where would a jet stream form?

Multiple Choice

What is wind?

• rising and sinking of gases, liquids, or solids in a circular path

• the movement of air across Earth's surface

• the condition of the atmosphere at a given time and place

• a mixture of gases that surrounds a planet

Multiple Choice

What is a convection current?

• rising and sinking of gases, liquids, or solids in a circular path

• a mixture of gases that surrounds a planet

• the condition of the atmosphere at a given time and place

• force that air exerts on an area

Multiple Choice

A jet stream is ________.

• a fast moving band of wind that forms between convection currents high in the atmosphere

• force that air exerts on an area

• rising and sinking of gases, liquids, or solids in a circular path

• a mixture of gases that surrounds a planet

Multiple Choice

What would you expect to be heavier?

Multiple Select

Where can a convection current form

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best represents a jet stream?

Multiple Choice

Which circumstance will cause wind?

• an area of high pressure next to an area of high pressure

• an area of high pressure next to an area of low pressure

• an area of low pressure next to an area of low pressure

• all of the above

Multiple Choice

Where would you expect wind to be able to blow the fastest?

• a hilly area

• a grassland

• a rainforest

• a mountain range

Multiple Choice

Which type of convection current is shown in the image shown at left. (click to enlarge)

• jet stream

• land breeze

• sea breeze

• none of the above

Multiple Choice

Which diagram correctly labels a jet stream?