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Project-Based Inquiry Science It’s About Time

Weather Watch What’s the Big Challenge?

Stop and Think p. 5–6

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. The video showed several types of severe weather. List at least two. What are some effects of these types of severe weather?

2. Make a list of types of severe weather than can occur in your region. For each type, what do you think you could do to protect yourself, your family, and your property?

3. Were there any types of severe weather events in the video that could not happen where you live? Why do you think it could not happen?

4. If you have lived or traveled in a different region, you may have come across different types of severe weather. What types of severe weather have you or other group members experienced that do not occur in your region? What are the effects of these types of severe weather?

5. Why do you think different kinds of severe weather occur in different regions? What factors affect the weather that occurs in different places?

6. Which types of severe weather events do you think are related to a specific season? Which of these events do you think could occur during any season?


Weather Watch Section 1.1

Stop and Think p. 20

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What is weather? What factors do meteorologists measure to describe weather?

2. What is climate? How do climatologists determine climate?

3. What else do you need to know about weather and climate to predict weather and prepare for severe weather?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How are the tools you have built like the weather tools meteorologists use? How are they different?

2. How do you think the measurements you are making are similar to those meteorologists make? How are they are different? Why?

3. One of the important reasons for recording weather data is to predict the weather. Describe one time when knowing what the weather would be made life easier for you. What measuring tool do you think would have been the most helpful for making this prediction?



Reflect p. 50

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What accurate information do you think would help you make better weather predictions?

2. Earlier in the Unit, you were asked to describe the difference between weather and climate. Now that you have compared weather data to climate data, how would you describe the difference between weather and climate?



Reflect p. 51

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How do the climates of different regions compare to one another in summer with respect to precipitation and temperature? How do they compare in winter?

2. During the 2 four-day periods you studied, describe any severe weather events in the United States. How do you think the types of severe weather that occur in a region depend on climate?

3. What other data would you need to predict severe weather events?



Reflect p. 54–55

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How do your data compare to the published data from a weather service? What are the differences, and why do you think there are differences?

2. Suppose you were able to use your weather instruments to collect data before and during a severe weather event and during calm weather. How do you think the observations would differ?

3. What changes in the atmosphere right before and during severe weather? How quickly does the atmosphere change during a period of severe weather compared to a period of calm weather?

4. How did weather in areas close to yours help you understand why the weather was changing where you live? Why do you need to pay attention to the weather in nearby regions when predicting the weather?

5. Assume that you know nothing about the climate in your region. Would you be able to describe the climate using only the data you collected? Why, or why not?

6. Why do climate data alone not provide enough information for predicting when severe weather will occur in your area?

7. Think about the severe weather that was shown in the video at the beginning of this Unit. Make a list of severe weather events that you think are likely to occur in your region and a list of severe weather events that are not likely to occur in your region.

8. In many regions of the United States, there are severe weather events that generally occur in specific seasons. How do you think these seasonal events are related to the climate of the region?

9. With your class, discuss what additional information you may need so that you can identify the causes of severe weather in your region.


Weather Watch Back to the Big Challenge

Reflect p. 59

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Why are rapid changes in the atmosphere an indication of possible severe weather?

2. Climate data alone cannot be used to predict when a severe weather event will occur. Why, then, is it useful to have information about the climate of a region?

3. When you first looked at the weather maps, you could track the movement of fronts. What is the relationship between fronts and changes in temperature? Fronts and changes in precipitation? Fronts and changes in air pressure?

4. Based on your investigations, what more do you think you need to learn about how the movements of fronts are related to weather changes to be able to predict severe weather?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What is the relationship between temperature and kinetic energy of particles?

2. How is thermal energy transferred between particles of matter?

3. Use what you know about energy transfer to describe why your hands feel cold if you go outside without gloves when it is 32°F outside? Assume that your body temperature is 98.6°F.




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What two energy transfers occur when the liquid in a thermometer becomes warmer in warm air?

2. Why does the height of the liquid in the tube of a thermometer give you a measure of the liquid’s temperature?

3. Why is the temperature of a thermometer the same as the temperature of the surroundings?

4. Why do you think the marks on a thermometer are evenly spaced?

5. Why do you have to leave a thermometer in a substance for some amount of time to get an accurate measurement of the substance’s temperature?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Describe the processes of conduction and convection. Both processes help transfer energy. How are the two processes alike? How are they different?

2. Describe the process through which Earth’s surface is warmed by sunlight.

3. How is the air near Earth’s surface warmed on a sunny day?



Reflect p. 75

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Why does energy always transfer from a warmer object to a cooler object?

2. When you place a thermometer in ice-cold water, the level of liquid in the thermometer starts to drop. Why should you wait until the thermometer reading is steady before recording the temperature?

3. If two areas of Earth’s surface receive different amounts of sunlight, what will be the effect on the temperature of the atmosphere in those areas?

4. What areas of Earth do you think have the highest average temperatures? What areas do you think have the lowest average temperatures? Give your reasoning.

5. How do you think a strong wind might affect air temperature?

6. In most places, the average temperature in summer is higher than the average winter temperature. From this observation, what can you conclude about the amount of the Sun’s solar energy that strikes Earth’s surface in summer and winter?



Reflect p. 82

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What does the flashlight in the model represent? What do the blocks at different angles represent?

2. Which area on Earth do you think receives sunlight in a way similar to the model with 90° angle?

3. Which area on Earth do you think receives sunlight in a way similar to the model with the 150° angle?

4. Which angle in the model do you think best represents the way in which the city assigned to your group receives sunlight?



Reflect p. 85

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which parts of Earth do you think receive the greatest amount of direct sunlight during an entire year? Why? Which parts of Earth do you think receive the least amount of direct sunlight during a year? Why?

2. How does a change in the amount of sunlight striking each square meter affect Earth’s local surface temperature? Use what you know about conduction to answer this question.

3. What do you think happens to the amount of solar energy striking each square meter of Earth’s surface as light becomes more indirect?

4. How does the shape of Earth affect the temperature at different places on its surface?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Rotation and revolution are two different movements a planet makes. Describe the movement of Earth when it rotates. Now, describe the movement of Earth when it revolves. Which of these movements is responsible for the length of a day?

2. What happens to the direction of Earth’s axis as Earth revolves around the Sun?

3. Below are some ideas students had about how Earth’s tilt may affect surface temperatures. As you are reading, think about your response to each student’s idea. What would you say to each student? What ideas do you need to investigate further to know how accurate each response is?

Sasha: “The Equator is always hot, so I do not think the tilt changes surface temperatures much.”

Lakiska: “Australia is hot sometimes and cold sometimes. Australia’s seasons are opposite of the Northern Hemisphere. The tilt may actually be the reason for this. Sometimes Australia is tilted toward the Sun and sometimes not.”

Madison: “I don’t think tilt changes anything. The North and South Poles are both cold. If tilt was a factor, one pole would be cold and the other would be warm.”

Troy: “I think the tilt causes days in Alaska to be short. I heard that Alaska has days en the Sun comes up and then sets a few hours later. Less sunlight means less solar energy and lower temperatures.”



Reflect p. 101

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. A friend tells you Earth’s distance from the Sun varies a little, and Earth is closest to the Sun in December. You check the NASA.gov Web site and find that this is accurate. Your friend claims that winters in the Northern Hemisphere should be milder than winters in the Southern Hemisphere. How would you respond? Draw a picture as part of your response.

2. Imagine that a new planet called QV16Z2 has been discovered. The planet rotates and revolves, but its axis is not tilted. Predict how weather in the planet’s northern hemisphere would compare with weather in its southern hemisphere. Use a drawing to support your conclusions.

3. In northern Alaska in June, the length of daylight can be 24 hours. In Florida, the length of daylight in June is about 13¾ hours. If the Sun is shining for so many more hours in Alaska, why is it on average warmer in Florida in June?

4. In Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, the days with the most hours of daylight and the most direct sunlight occur in June. Why do you think the hottest days usually occur two months later, in August?

5. For any place in the United States, the length of daylight and directness of sunlight are about the same in September and March. Why is the weather colder in March than in September?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which of Earth’s motions determines the length of the day? Which motion determines the length of the year?

2. Why are there more daylight hours in the United States at the summer solstice than at the winter solstice?

3. What are two reasons that the incoming solar energy is greater at the summer solstice than at the winter solstice?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which city in the table has the most variation in day length? Why?

2. Which city has the least variation in day length? Why?

3. Why is it hard to determine the time of the equinoxes using the data in the table for Quito, Ecuador?



Reflect p. 106

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which state in the United States experiences the greatest number of daylight hours, and when? This state also has the coldest temperatures all year. Why is this so? Which state experiences the fewest number of daylight hours, and when?

2. Miami, Florida, has little variation in temperature and experiences warm weather year-round. It has a maximum of 13.5 hours of daylight. Chicago, Illinois, experiences cold winters, hot summers, and warm spring and fall temperatures. Chicago’s longest period of daylight is about 15 hours, and its shortest is about 9 hours. Why are Miami and Chicago so different?

3. Which city in the data table is in the Southern Hemisphere? In what month does the summer solstice occur in this city? When does the winter solstice occur?



Reflect p. 116

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

Refer back to the maps of January and July average United States temperatures at the start of this section and answer the questions below.

1. Why is the air over land warmer during the day than air over water?

2. Your friends moved from Gainesville, Florida to Tucson, Arizona, near the Sonoran Desert. They told you that summer days are much hotter in Tucson than in Gainesville. You notice that Tucson is at a higher latitude than Gainesville. How do you think different heating of water and sandy soil cause the temperature difference?

3. Your friends also observed that the difference between daytime temperature and nighttime temperature is much greater in Tucson, Arizona than in Gainesville, Florida. What reasons would you give to your friends for the greater temperature change in Arizona?

4. In winter, the average temperatures in the United States are much lower than the summer temperatures. What part of the country has the greatest change in temperature between July and January? Why do you think the temperature change there is much greater than the temperature change at other areas with the same latitude?



Reflect p. 118

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Why do people who want to stay cool on a hot summer day wear white clothing?

2. What Earth surfaces do you suppose reflect the greatest amount of solar energy? What Earth surfaces do you suppose absorb the greatest amount of solar energy?

3. Why does sand heat faster than water? Give two reasons. Which reason do you think has the greater effect? Why?

4. Why does a blacktop driveway or street heat faster than the grass? Give two reasons.

5. Why do you think the air above a blacktop driveway or street is warmer than the air above a white sidewalk?



Reflect p. 121

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. You take a canoe out on the water at 10 A.M. on a bright, sunny day. Before leaving the sandy shore, you measure the air temperature and find that it is 75°F. You measure the temperature again when you are about 500 m from shore. How do you think the second reading will compare to the first? Why?

2. At sunset, you paddle your canoe from the middle of the lake to the sandy shore. When you left, the temperature in the middle of the lake was 65°F. You take another reading when you reach the shore. How do you think these temperature readings will compare to each other? Why?

3. How do you think shore and offshore temperature readings taken at 2 P.M. will compare with each other? Why?



Reflect p. 124

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What differences in average temperatures occur within your region?

2. How do differences in latitude affect average temperatures within the region?

3. How can the average temperatures in your region be accounted for by the presence or absence of a large body of water nearby?

4. How large are the temperature changes in your region during the course of a year? How does latitude affect the types of seasonal changes seen in your region? How can the tilt of Earth’s axis account for these differences?

5. Are any areas in your region much cooler or much warmer than nearby areas at the same latitude? Which ones? Do you think these temperature differences are based on the presence of nearby bodies of water? Why or why not? If not, what other reasons might there be for these differences?



Reflect p. 138

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Use the diagram of the demonstration setup on the bottom half of the Water-Cycle Diagram page to sketch how the water changed. Draw arrows to show the order in which the water changed.

2. Where did the water on the underside of the lid come from? What caused it to be there?

3. You know that the water in the container represents water on Earth and the light bulb represents the Sun. What does the ice above the lid of the container represent?

4. What does the ice do in the model? Why is it important? What do you think would happen if the ice was not in the model?

5. Based on what you saw in the demonstration, make a claim about what causes rain.

6. Return to your drawing of why it rains. Compare this diagram to the sketch you made of the demonstration model. Label the parts of the model that match the parts of your diagram.

7. What else do you need to know to make a full explanation of why it rains?

8. You usually do not see the Sun on a rainy day. How do you think the Sun is involved with making rain?



Reflect p. 140

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How does each of the changes in water you observed in the demonstration match observations you have made in the real world? These are the ways the model and simulation you observed match the real world as well.

2. What changes in water have you experienced in the real world that you did not observe in the demonstration?

3. What do you still need to know to better understand the water cycle?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Liquid water looks very different from ice. Water vapor is not even visible. How can you be sure that the three states of water are the same substance?

2. How does the movement of the particles of a substance differ in a gas, a liquid, and a solid?

3. Why can liquids and gases flow, but solids cannot?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Describe how you know that water molecules in ice have less thermal energy than do water molecules in liquid water.

2. Describe what happens to substance at its melting point. Describe what happens to a substance at its boiling point.

3. What causes water molecules to change from the liquid state to the gas state? From the gas state to the liquid state?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Draw a picture to show how water from a puddle gets into the atmosphere. Label liquid water and water vapor.

2. Name some sources of water in the atmosphere.

3. Update the diagram that you made of the water cycle. Add arrows and descriptive words to the picture. You may need to start with a new page.

4. What else do you need to know to more completely understand the water cycle?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

Describe the changes in energy that are needed for water vapor to enter the atmosphere, form clouds, and then form precipitation.



Reflect p. 151–152

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which part of the demonstration simulated evaporation of water from Earth’s surface? What caused the evaporation?

2. Which part of the demonstration simulated condensation in clouds?

3. Which part of the demonstration simulated precipitation from the atmosphere?

4. What parts of the water cycle were not represented in the simulation?

5. What do you think would happen in the simulation if you turned off the lamp?

6. The simulation you observed used a model—a representation of the water cycle in the real world. Why might scientists use a model like this to investigate the water cycle?

7. What could you change in the model to make the simulation more accurate?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Why there is generally more water vapor in the air in the summer than in the winter.

2. Why are people uncomfortable when the relative humidity is close to 100 percent?



Reflect p. 154

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. When does the water cycle stop?

2. Imagine that you see a raindrop on a leaf, and then you follow its path through the water cycle. What will happen as the water changes state? Make sure you describe what happens to the water through more than one part of the water cycle.

3. Now, imagine a drop of rain that has fallen on the back of a dinosaur. How is the process of that raindrop changing states different from the one you described for the raindrop on a leaf?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What areas in the United States receive more than 102 cm (40 in.) of rain?

2. What areas in the United States receive less than 38 cm (15 in.) of rain?

3. What is the relationship between areas that receive more than 102 cm (40 in.) of rain and the location of large bodies of water?



Reflect p. 159

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Earlier in this Learning Set you described the seasonal variations in one region of the country. If there are variations, why? If there aren’t variations, why not?

2. In what parts of the United States is precipitation heaviest in the fall and winter? Why?

3. In what parts of the United States is precipitation heaviest in the spring and summer? Why?

4. Why is there little seasonal variation of precipitation in the northeastern United States?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What happens when a mountain chain is in the path of an air mass moving eastward? How does the movement of air affect weather to the east of the mountain chain?

2. What happens when a single mountain is in the path of an air mass moving eastward? How does the movement of air affect weather to the east of the mountain?

3. In which parts of the United States is precipitation most affected by mountains?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What factors affect the type of precipitation that forms?

2. What is the role of condensation in the water cycle?



Reflect p. 165

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Why do areas to the east of the mountains along the west coast not have strongly defined seasonal patterns of precipitation?

2. How would the weather of Florida be different if the Gulf of Mexico were land instead of water?

3. Why is the general flow of air from west to east important in influencing the amount of precipitation in regions of the United States?

4. Why do you think the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern part of the country have a smaller effect on precipitation than the mountains in the western parts?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What differences in average annual precipitation occur within your region?

2. How can the average precipitation in your region be accounted for by the presence or absence of a large body of water nearby?

3. How can the average precipitation in your region be accounted for by the presence or absence of mountains nearby?

4. How do differences in latitude affect the kind of precipitation likely to occur within the region?

5. How large are the precipitation changes in your region during the course of a year? How does latitude affect the types of seasonal changes in the amount of precipitation in your region?

6. Which areas in your region, if any, are much wetter or much drier than nearby areas at the same latitude? How might these precipitation differences be based on the presence of nearby bodies of water? On the presence or absence of mountains nearby? What other reasons might there be for these differences?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. In what direction do trade winds blow?

2. Why was finding and using trade winds important?

3. Why was Franklin’s map of the Gulf Stream so important?

4. How did Franklin find out what he needed to make the map?

5. Is the Gulf Stream a warm or cold current?

6. Why were the discoveries of the winds and ocean currents important to the survival of sailors?



Reflect p. 173

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. There are currents that flow south from the Arctic, at the North Pole. What would you expect that the temperature of these currents would be compared to the Gulf Stream?

2. How do you think a warm ocean current might affect the weather and climate of an area?

3. The average yearly temperatures of England and Ireland are warmer than most other places at such high latitudes. Why do you think this is the case?

4. England and Ireland receive a lot of rain. Think about what you know about oceans, precipitation, and wind to give reasons why.

5. In addition to ships, what else might be carried along by an ocean current?

6. Benjamin Franklin’s cousin was a captain of a fishing vessel in Massachusetts. Why would the Gulf Stream be important to him and those who fished for a living?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. When you add air to a container, what happens to the air pressure inside the container?

2. When you blow on the paper in the neck of the bottle, some air moves past the paper and enters the bottle. How does this affect the air pressure inside the bottle?

3. When you blow air into the bottle, how does the air pressure inside the bottle compare with the air pressure outside the bottle?

4. When you blow on the paper, you exert a force that pushes the paper toward the inside of the bottle. If the paper does not move in this direction, there must be an equal or greater force pushing the paper out of the bottle. What force could be pushing the paper out of the bottle?

5. The paper in the opening of the bottle represented a particle that makes up air. How do the particles that make up air move when there is a difference in air pressure?



Reflect p. 176

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Now that you have looked at the results from all of the groups, what can you conclude about the relationship between air pressure and wind?

2. Develop one or more claims about what causes wind.

3. What else to you think you need to know to explain what causes wind?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How is warm air different from cool air?

2. How are collisions of air molecules with the walls of a balloon related to air pressure?

3. What are two reasons why an area would have high air pressure?

4. Why does air move from areas with higher air pressure toward areas with lower pressure?

5. Why is warm air less dense than cool air?

6. Why do land breezes and sea breezes move in opposite directions?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Now think about what is happening to air in Earth’s atmosphere. How do variations in sunlight received by different part of Earth’s surface affect air temperatures near Earth’s surface?

2. What do you think happens to air over warmer parts of Earth’s surface?

3. What do you think happens to air over cooler parts of Earth’s surface?

4. What do you think happens to an air mass at a high altitude if it is no longer being heated by Earth’s surface? Why?



Reflect p. 185

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How well do the lines you drew match the direction of the summer weather changes you observed earlier in this Learning Set?

2. How well do they match the direction of the winter weather changes?

3. What else do you need to learn to know why the weather was changing as it did on those summer and winter days?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How would you expect winds to travel away from the Equator if Earth were not rotating?

2. How does Earth’s rotation affect the direction of winds traveling away from the Equator?

3. Why do you think global winds move generally west to east across the United States?

4. Why do you think a storm like a hurricane could follow a south-north path?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. If Earth were not rotating, in what directions would you expect global winds to blow?

2. How are air masses moving away from the Equator deflected by Earth’s rotation?

3. How can one factor, the Coriolis effect, cause polar easterlies that travel from east to west, but also cause westerlies that travel from west to east?

4. You read that sailors used the trade winds. What can you infer about the altitude of the trade winds?

5. Look again at the summer and winter maps that you explored in Learning Set 1. In what ways do you think global winds might be causing the weather patterns you observed in the data?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How did the cold blue water move when added to the top of Cup A? Why did it move differently when it was added to the bottom of the cup?

2. Why did the hot red water move differently when it was added to the top and bottom of Cup B?

3. Why do you think the warm green water and hot red water moved differently when they were both added to Cup C?

4. How did the water move differently in Cups D and E? How do you account for the difference?

5. How do the convection trials that you have performed represent different conditions in the atmosphere?

6. How do you think changes in the jet stream might affect weather in different regions?


Weather Watch Section 4.4 More to Learn


Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. In which layer of the atmosphere does weather occur?

2. In which layers of the atmosphere do local winds blow? How high above Earth are these winds?

3. In which layers of the atmosphere do global winds blow? How high above Earth are these winds?

4. Think about each layer of the atmosphere. How would life on Earth be different if that layer did not exist?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Look at 30° North latitude on the west side of the Atlantic (in Florida) and the east side of the Atlantic (in Africa). Why do you think the ocean water off the coast of Africa is cooler at this latitude than the water off the coast of Florida? (Hint: You can you use the fact that water has a high heat capacity, which means it takes water a long time to cool off and a long time to heat up.)

2. The ocean current that moves east across the North Atlantic also moves north. Why do you think this current does not move due east across the Atlantic? (Hint: Look again at the direction in which the westerlies blow.)

3. North of Antarctica, there is an ocean current that completely circles around Earth in the same way that jet streams in the atmosphere circle around the planet. Why do you think there are no similar ocean currents in the Northern Hemisphere?

4. What else do you need to know to understand why Earth’s ocean currents flow as they do?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How are cold fronts and warm fronts alike? How are they different?

2. Why does an occluded front have at least three air masses?

3. Suppose a cold front is moving east, but stops. What kind of front has it become? What kind of front will it become if it starts moving west?

4. Suppose you are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in summer, and a cold front is 500 km (310 mi) to the west in Rapid City, South Dakota. What would you need to know to predict the weather in Minneapolis over the next five days?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. At which time of year, summer or winter, do fronts move faster across the United States? How does this affect how long a storm will last in a given location?

2. Which type of front moves fastest? Which is the slowest-moving type of front?

3. In what directions can fronts move?

4. Under what circumstances would the direction in which a front is moving change?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What factors cause rainstorms and snowstorms?

2. What factors cause damage in a rainstorm?

3. How are blizzards different from snowstorms?

4. How do meteorologists predict that a blizzard is coming?

5. What are three dangers posed by blizzards?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What kinds of clouds are associated with thunderstorms? How do updrafts contribute to the growth of these clouds?

2. Why do thunderstorms produce lightning?

3. What dangers do thunderstorms pose?

4. Under what conditions do tornadoes form?

5. Under what conditions do hurricanes form? How does the formation of hurricanes differ from the formation of tornadoes?

6. How are thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes alike? How do they differ?

7. How do meteorologists know if a thunderstorm, tornado, or hurricane is coming?



Reflect p. 239

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What weather factor is common to all the forms of severe weather?

2. How might meteorologists know when severe weather is likely to occur?

3. Describe one experience you have had with severe weather. Were there high winds, lots of precipitation, or thunder and lightning?

4. What types of severe weather occur near where you live? Why?

5. In what ways might a hurricane be less predictable than a snowstorm? In what ways might a hurricane be more predictable than a snowstorm?

6. If a particular type of severe weather event is less predictable, how do you think this should affect the forecasts that the National Weather Service issues?

7. What different types of severe weather would you expect in different seasons? In different areas of the country?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What differences in global winds occur within your region?

2. How can the changes in global winds above your region be accounted for by the presence or absence of a large body of water nearby?

3. How can the changes in global winds in your region be accounted for by seasonal changes in the amount of solar energy received in your region? By seasonal changes in the amounts of solar energy received at different parts of Earth?

4. How do differences in latitude affect the global wind changes likely to occur above your region?

5. What ocean currents are nearest to your region?

6. How can the changes in the ocean currents nearest to your region be accounted for by seasonal changes in the amount of solar energy received in your region? By seasonal changes in the amounts of solar energy received at different parts of Earth?

7. How does latitude affect the ocean currents nearest to your region?

8. How do geographical features affect the types of fronts that pass through your region? What other factors, if any, affect the types of fronts that pass through your region? How do the fronts influence weather in your region?

9. How is weather or climate in your region affected by changes in winds? By ocean current? By the types of fronts that pass through your region?


Weather Watch Address the Big Challenge


Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What role does each character play in preparing for the storm?

2. What kinds of decisions did each character have to make in preparing for the storm?

3. What particular decisions did each make? When did they make these decisions?

4. What are some additional decisions that each character needs to make? What additional information does each character need to make all the necessary decisions?

5. Why can’t the meteorologist give everyone all the information they require? On what information was he basing his predictions? What else did he need to know to make better predictions?

6. If the play were to continue, what continued communication would the characters need to have as the storm approached? During the hurricane? After the hurricane had passed?

7. What information do you think the other characters will need from the meteorologist as the storm approaches? While it is going on? After it passes?

8. What do you think the meteorologist’s role needs to be as the storm approaches? While it is going on? After it has passed?

9. What types of severe weather would require planning and action where you live?


Weather Watch Address the Big Challenge

Reflect p. 266

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which severe weather events are most similar in terms of the responses that your classmates identified? In what ways are these severe weather events similar? How do they differ?

2. Which responses in plans proposed by other groups do you think could also be used to respond to the severe weather event in your region?

3. Why do you think so many different people and organizations need to be involved in preparing for a severe weather event?

4. Which plan do you think would be most effective in protecting people? Why?

5. Which plan do you think would be most effective in protecting property? Why?

6. What planning do you think needs to happen to prepare for and make sure people remain safe during severe weather events where you live? What can your family do to stay safe during a severe weather event where you live?


Weather Watch Address the Big Challenge: More to Learn


Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What is global climate?

2. How is global climate generally measured?

3. What evidence do scientists use to support the claim that climates have changed in the past?

4. What reasons do scientists give for why global climate has changed?

5. How do volcanic eruptions cause short-term global climate changes?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What is the greenhouse effect?

2. Why are greenhouse gases essential to life on Earth?

3. What is the relationship between the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and global surface temperature?




Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How has the global surface temperature changed since the late 1800s?

2. What change in atmosphere do scientists think is responsible for the latest change in global surface temperatures?

3. What do most scientists think is responsible for this latest change in Earth’s atmosphere?



Reflect p. 274

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. An increase in global surface temperatures is responsible for the melting of glaciers and sea ice. What effect do you think the melting ice has on the oceans of the world?

2. Trees use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. What effect would cutting down large amounts of forests have on average global temperature? Justify your answer.

3. Burning fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Write down what you would say to convince your friends and family to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels.

4. What three things could you do to reduce your personal consumption of fossil fuels?

5. Describe some of the effects that global climate change could have on the organisms that live on Earth if the present trends continue?

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