SC.E.7.3

Which answer 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 through 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?

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

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

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

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

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 kinds of deserts. Warm rain during the day produces warm breezes in the desert. Cooler rains at night draw warm air away from the desert.

Different environments experience different amounts of yearly precipitation. 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?

• They always contain very large rivers or lakes.

• They 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.