Earth Systems & Patterns 7.3

Which correctly explains the difference between sleet and hail?

• Sleet is usually part of a thunderstorm, and hail comes from thin layers of rain clouds.

• Sleet is smaller than hail and usually falls in the winter, while hail usually falls in the summer.

• Sleet and hail are the same except that sleet usually falls in summer and hail usually falls in winter.

• Sleet is snow that forms as it falls though cold air, and hail is rain that freezes when it hits the ground.

As the weather gets colder, the air pressure usually goes up. Why does this happen?

• As the temperature drops, the air takes up more space and presses down harder on the ground.

• Colder weather makes the air denser, and the increased weight of the air means that there is more air pressure.

• Cold weather causes Earth to cool, and the heat that leaves Earth pushes against the increase pressure.

• When the weather is colder, the clouds weigh more as ice begins to form. The heavier clouds increase the air pressure.

Deserts in the temperate zones can be extremely hot in the afternoon and below freezing at night. Which answer best explains why this happens?

• Temperate deserts are found at high elevations, where the Sun and the wind are much stronger. This creates more extreme temperature changes.

• Temperate deserts lack trees and grass. With no trees, the Sun shines directly down and causes it to get hot in the day, and with no grass, the heat escapes at night.

• Temperate deserts have very little cloud cover and no humidity. This means that more energy from the Sun reaches the desert in the day, but that heat can escape quickly at night.

• Temperate deserts have higher rainfall than other kids of deserts. Warm rain during the day produces warm breezes in the desert. Cooler rains at night draw warm air away from the desert.

Which answer choice correctly lists environments from most dry to least dry?

• desert, tundra, grassland, rainforest

• grassland, rainforest, desert, tundra

• tundra, rainforest, grassland, desert

• rainforest, grassland, tundra, desert

Many rainforests are found in the tropics, but only a few are found in cooler temperate zones. What makes a forest a rainforest?

• The always contain very large rivers or lakes.

• The produce more oxygen than normal forests.

• They have a canopy of trees and a great deal of precipitation.

• They have a large variety of animals that are not found elsewhere.

If you examine a piece of hail, it might have visible layers like an onion. Which best explains why this is true?

• As hail falls, it picks up layers of dust and dirt from the air.

• Hail forms layers because it melts as it falls toward the Earth.

• Air pressure increases while the hail falls and it causes ice layers to form.

• Hail builds up ice layers as it travels through updrafts in a storm before it falls.

The sun shining on the surface of a lake can heat up the air just above the water. What happens if this air gets warmer than the air above it?

• The amount of waves on the surface of the lake will increase.

• The warm air will evaporate and condense into rain above the lake.

• The movement of air will decrease above the lake as the warm air rises.

• The warmer air will rise and increase the movement of air across the lake.

Which climate zone experiences the greatest variety of weather with the seasons of the year?

• polar

• tundra

• temperate

• tropical

Which answer choice lists the weather conditions that most likely result in snow?

• warm temperature, light winds, low humidity

• low humidity, freezing temperatures, light clouds

• freezing temperatures, light clouds, heavy winds

• freezing temperatures, heavy clouds, high humidity

Which type of cloud is associated with thunderstorms?

• cirrus

• cumulonimbus

• cumulus

• stratus