Science
Michael is watching a heavy rainfall begin to erode the edge of a riverbank as rainwater collects and rushes to the river's edge. Which area of the Venn diagram below BEST represents which spheres Michael sees interacting during this rainstorm?
A
Based on this data, which of the following statements is true about elevation and temperature?
As you go up in altitude, the air temperature consistently decreases.
The prevailing winds between the southern tip of South America (56°32'16"S, 68°43'10" W) and the northernmost extremity of Antarctica (63°12'60"S, 57°16'60"W) form a circular pattern. Using the figure below, what BEST accounts for the pattern in this location?
Convection cells move surface winds toward the low pressure belt of 60°S from both the North and the South, while Earth's rotation causes these winds to move in opposite horizontal directions, creating a circular pattern.
Ajit is studying a model of Hadley convection cells. He understands that they cover the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Based on evidence in the model, what MOST LIKELY causes Hadley convection cells to form?
Sunlight hits the equator, resulting in warmer air, which rises and travels toward the poles, where it cools and returns to the equator.
Scientists are studying a major forest fire that burned thousands of acres in California. Many trees and other plants were killed. Which of the following is MOST LIKELY to be a way in which the gases in the atmosphere are affected?
a decrease in the amount of oxygen released into the troposphere by the trees the next year
An energy company is testing new solar panels. They would like to test them in the location that has the most solar energy. Which BEST describes a model they could use to decide where to go for testing?
a model that shows which line of latitude an area is in
Natural hazard experts are writing a proposal for a plan to mitigate severe weather hazards in the United States Midwest. Based on the data shown in the map, what should be included in their proposal?
a plan to text residents to alert them to take shelter underground
Ella and her hiking group are preparing for a hiking trip to Denali. Located in Alaska, Denali has an elevation of 20,310 feet, making it the highest peak in North America. What effects will Ella and the other hikers experience during their climb down from Denali's peak?
ncreasing air density and increasing atmospheric pressure
Not all light from the sun reaches Earth's surface. Ultraviolet light, visible light, and infrared light can reach Earth's surface. But the atmosphere absorbs and reflects some of this light. The ozone layer of the atmosphere absorbs high-energy light that has shorter wavelengths. Which type of light is least likely to pass through the ozone layer to reach Earth's surface?
ultraviolet light
Based on the model above, if water vapor was in the air, at what altitude would it crystallize and freeze? Note: 1 km = 1000 m
1,800 meters
During the week of January 1, scientists tracked a weather pattern in Boston, Massachusetts. Their data is shown below. What is the likely cause of these trends?
A low-pressure system moved into Boston, causing a snowstorm.
Graciela lives in the Dominican Republic and is studying wind patterns in preparation for sailing lessons. What would be the direction of winds in the ocean north of the tip of Colombia, located at ~13°N, and south of the Dominican Republic, located at ~18°N?
In the convection cell between the equator (0°) and 30°N, surface winds head toward the equator and the Coriolis effect makes them appear to blow west.
Maarten Wolsink's research on wind energy has shown that public support for new construction of wind energy is initially high, then drops during the planning and construction phase of the project, and finally increases again after the wind turbines have gone online. Given this information, which of the following might be constraints to solve in order for a new wind farm to be completed?
Initial plans show wind turbines could interfere with natural scenery
Haimanot is studying a model of jet streams. She wants to describe their behavior. Based on evidence from the model, how does sunlight influence the jet streams?
Jet streams form between the cold polar air and the warmer air at the middle latitudes, and the warm air at the middle latitudes and the hot tropical air.
The photograph shows Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. This region is expecting rain in the next few days. A scientist wants to turn this photograph into a model to show how water from Earth's surface can become precipitation. Which modifications can be made to the photograph to model this process?
Label the Sun "Energy Source"; add an upward arrow from the lake to the sky labeled "Liquid to Gas"; add a downward arrow from the clouds to the lake labeled "Gravity."
The instructions for growing peppers suggest that the seeds should be planted after May 10. However, the farmers also know that their peppers will not germinate, or sprout, unless the temperatures are above 13°C. If the data from the model was collected on May 10, who would be able to plant peppers, based on this information? Note: 1 km = 1000 m
Ling, who lives at 400 m.
Little Rock, Arkansas, and Los Angeles, California, are both located at a latitude of 34 degrees north. The map shows the locations of each city. The graph shows the temperature trends for Little Rock during the year. Based on the climate trends of Little Rock, what prediction can be made about the climate in Los Angeles during the year?
Los Angeles will likely have less temperature variation because the ocean heats more slowly and retains heat longer than the land.
Chittagong is a coastal city in Bangladesh, a country in southern Asia. Chittagong has dramatic seasonal fluxes in precipitation, as shown in the graph below. Also below is a map. Anna wants to modify the map to show the system that drives the trend in precipitation in the summer. She will add three modifications to the map: • a text box for the ocean. • a text box for the land. • an arrow showing wind direction . Which describes how Anna should write the modifications to model the trends in precipitation during the summer months in Chittagong?
Ocean: sun heats slower; Land: sun heats faster; Wind Arrow: from ocean to land
When Marcus went to bed in the evening, the grass and the plants outside did not have any visible water on them. When he woke up in the morning, he took this photograph. What changes occurred in the atmosphere to create the weather conditions shown in his photograph?
Relative humidity reached 100 percent, and water vapor in the air condensed.
In order to track the hole in the ozone, data needs to be collected from the ozone layer. Climatologists know that the ozone layer is about 25 km above the surface of Earth. What experiment design would collect the best data?
Sending a weather balloon to collect data into the stratosphere.
Madison lives in Orlando, Florida. On Tuesday morning, the temperature was 22 degrees Celsius, and Madison wore jean pants, a short-sleeved shirt, and tennis shoes as she waited for the school bus. The diagram below shows an air mass that moved through Orlando early Wednesday morning. How will this affect what clothes Madison should wear in the morning to wait for the bus on Wednesday?
She should wear a jacket because the temperature will be much colder than it was on Tuesday morning.
A company is renting out an office building for the month of July in New Orleans, Louisiana. During July, the average maximum temperature in New Orleans is 35 degrees Celsius, and the average minimum temperature is 24 degrees Celsius. The average wind speed is 5 mph, and the average dew point is 24 degrees Celsius. The company needs to develop an air control system to keep their employees at a comfortable temperature and humidity during the month of July. They also want to conserve as much energy as possible. The table below describes the four air control systems they can order. Based on the company's criteria and constraints, which of the following is the BEST solution for the problem?
System 4
What claim best describes the data collected by the class?
The black can absorbed more of the thermal energy than the silver can in the ten-minute interval.
Suppose the class were asked to give advice to a homebuilder on which roof to put on their new home. The homebuilder wants to ensure that the house uses as little air conditioning as possible. Based on the evidence collected from the experiment, what solution might the class give?
The homebuilder should choose a silver roof to ensure less solar radiation is absorbed.
Taylor decides to track the temperature change throughout the month of May. Each day he starts measuring at 7:00 AM and takes a measurement in two-hour intervals. The chart below is a model that Taylor created to show the average change in temperature compared to his initial measurement in the morning. What conclusion can Taylor make based on the evidence he has collected and the kinetic energy of the air molecules throughout the day?
The kinetic energy of the air molecules is greatest at 1:00 PM because the average temperature change is the greatest.
A meteorologist determines that a northeasterly wind is moving through a region. Which statement BEST explains the air in the Northeast compared to the Southwest?
The northeast air is colder and under higher pressure.
Which claim BEST describes the data collected by the class?
The sand absorbed more of the thermal energy than the water in the ten-minute interval.
Sunlight can hit Earth's surface straight on, at a perpendicular angle to the surface near the equator. Or it can arrive in a less direct non-perpendicular angle closer to the poles. Study the model showing light hitting a grid. Which type of light do you think is the most concentrated on Earth's surface?
all sunlight hitting the equator
In February 2017, the United Kingdom experienced a weather event known as bombogenesis. During this event, the atmospheric pressure dropped from 1,004 millibars to 974 millibars in a 24-hour period. What effect would this change have on the weather of the United Kingdom?
an increase in wind speeds, and some regions will have heavy precipitation
The Mojave Desert is located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It averages a rainfall of 137 mm of precipitation a year. The foothills on the west side of the mountains have an average of 760 mm of precipitation a year. Drake wants to use the image below to explain why the precipitation differs on the two sides of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The left side of the mountains represents the western foothills, and the right side represents the Mojave Desert. What labels should Drake add to the model to show the differences in precipitation between these two regions?
1: Moist, Warm Air; 2: Cooling, Condensing Air; 3: Dry, Warming Air
San Francisco, California is known for its mild temperatures all year long. On one spring day, the temperature near the Golden Gate Bridge (shown in the video below) dropped from 13 degrees Celsius to the dew point of 10 degrees Celsius. Which condition MOST LIKELY formed when the temperature reached 10 degrees Celsius?
A stratus cloud formed over and below the bridge.
Susanna has designed a machine to help mow lawns. Unfortunately, the machine releases a lot of greenhouse gases. The model below shows how greenhouse gases impact the atmosphere's temperature. Analyze this model. How would a dramatic increase in greenhouse gases impact the atmosphere's temperature?
An increase in temperature, because added greenhouse gases would trap even more infrared light from escaping the atmosphere.
Based on the evidence from the experiment, what claim could be presented if the students turned off the heat lamp and then measured the temperature of the beakers in one-minute intervals for ten minutes?
Because the sand heated up faster than the water, it would lose the heat faster.
Jack is sledding with a big group of friends, and he notices that when he picks up a handful of snow, it melts and his hand gets colder. He has just been studying how energy flows from the equator to the poles as the oceans and atmosphere move energy around the Earth. Which sentence makes an accurate comparison of these two phenomena?
Both scenarios show that heat energy will move from areas of high temperature to areas of low temperature
In Providence, Rhode Island, the average high temperature between June 9 and June 11 is approximately 24 degrees Celsius. In the table below, Maria recorded the actual highest recorded temperatures for these days in Providence. Which statement BEST describes the rates of evaporation and transpiration in Providence over this period?
Both the evaporation and transpiration rates were higher than normal.
On a day in January, both Manassas, Virginia, and Bridgeport, Connecticut, were expecting precipitation. The table below shows the temperature readings in Celsius at different heights in the atmosphere for each location. What type of precipitation did each location likely receive?
Bridgeport will receive snow, and Manassas will receive rain.
Heat waves and droughts are a major concern for many corn growers. A recent computer model showed that when heat waves and droughts occur during the growing season, corn crop yield decreases by an average of 29 percent. A team of engineers has designed a water conservation device that will allow corn growers to keep their crops watered during a drought. The engineers want to test their device, but farmers are worried that the device could damage their crop yield if it does not work. Based on the constraints mentioned, what is the BEST way for the engineers to determine if their design works?
Build a model of the device and test it on corn plants in a lab.
A region wants to improve the radar system they use to detect tornados. Radar uses radio waves to track the size, shape, and direction of the storm. Radio waves travel in a straight line, and they do not follow the curve of Earth. That means the wave stops when it reaches the ground or another obstruction. The region's current radar system uses ten large radars on top of specially designed towers that are several stories high. The region wants to improve the accuracy of the current system, while keeping costs as low as possible. The following are the proposed designs for the new radar system. They will choose one design and build a prototype of it. Based on the constraints and goals of the region, which of these designs is the BEST choice to progress to the prototype stage?
Design 2
Lou went swimming in a lake in Minnesota (latitude 47˚N) on June 21. This same lake was frozen solid on December 21. This model shows how the temperature of one location can change so much over six months. Carlos lives near a swimming lake in Argentina (latitude 47˚S). Based on the model, what is a logical conclusion about whether Carlos went swimming on June 21?
He did not swim, because a lake in the Southern Hemisphere would be frozen on June 21 and warm on December 21.
Mobile, Alabama, is a city located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. During the day, the temperatures in Mobile are quite different than the temperatures in nearby, inland cities. How does this model explain how Mobile's daytime temperatures differ from nearby inland cities?
Mobile is cooler because the water heats up more slowly than the land.
Some ocean-atmosphere interactions can cause warm bands of water to spread across the Pacific Ocean. The warm temperatures may last for months or even years. The table shows how these events impact some ocean species. Some fishermen are planning their strategy for the next year. They just learned that a warm water event is spreading. The fishermen normally target squid, rockfish, and salmon. Study the table. Which plan includes the set of criteria that are precise enough to ensure successful fishing?
Need enough fuel and time for travel to the North to catch squid and salmon; need deep-water nets to catch rockfish.
Meteorological data is collected daily to forecast weather and to compare it to the normal climate patterns. You'll recall that weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, while climate is the pattern of weather over a long period of time. The table below shows meteorological data collected for a day in Washington, D.C. Which piece of data is related to climate?
average high temperature of 46°F
On March 14, 2017, a severe weather event occurred in central New York. The table below shows the trends in data leading up to the event. Based on this data, which technology should cities in central New York invest in?
Snow plows, because there was likely a blizzard.
Afeni takes a video of pollen being blown off of a tree. Because she has been studying Earth's spheres, she wants to determine which of the spheres are interacting in this scenario. Which of the following spheres is she observing?
biosphere and atmosphere
Because there is an increase in kinetic energy of air molecules with an increase in thermal energy, what might occur if a balloon was put over the cans instead of an insulated top?
The balloon over the black can would expand more than the silver can.
This figure was created from weather data across the United States on November 18, 2017. What effect will the weather front in the highlighted region have on the weather in this region?
The current weather conditions will likely last for several days because the air masses are not moving.
Charles measures the temperature of two beakers of water using a thermometer. The temperature of the water in each beaker is 22°C. He places one beaker in his bedroom. He places the second beaker in his kitchen. After two hours, he records the temperature in each beaker. The temperature in the bedroom beaker is 24°C. The temperature in the kitchen beaker is 26°C. What claim can Charles make based on the data from his investigation?
The kinetic energy of the water particles is greater in the kitchen beaker than in the bedroom beaker.
El Niño is a weather phenomenon that happens approximately every two to seven years. During normal years, the trade winds and the ocean currents move in a strong westward direction. During an El Niño year, the trade winds weaken, causing a change in the flow of water. Based on the information in the model below, how is the climate of the western coast of South America different during an El Niño year?
The less dense, warm water will rise and heat the air, increasing evaporation and causing warmer, wetter conditions.
Norway is located near the Arctic Circle, but the country has an unusually warm and mild climate compared to Siberia and Alaska, which share a similar latitude. The coastal regions of Norway reach temperatures in the 80s during the summer. During the winter, the coastal regions very rarely experience ice. Based on the model and map below, which statement explains one reason why Norway has a mild climate?
The ocean current that travels along Norway's coast has a warm temperature, low density, and low salinity.
Tanya is testing the principle that, with increased thermal energy, there is an increased movement of particles in an object. To do this, Tanya places water in a freezer, waits for ice cubes to form, removes the ice cubes from the freezer, and then places them in the sun. Which statement BEST describes the movement of particles in this process?
The particles in the water will slow down, and the particles in the ice will increase in speed.
A scientist measures an atmospheric pressure of approximately 995 millibars at an elevation of 153 meters. What would happen if the scientist took the reading at sea level?
The pressure reading would be higher because the elevation would be lower.
Meteorologists observe a warm air mass moving into the region to replace a cold air mass. What effect will likely occur in the region when this happens?
The warm air will rise above the cold air and condense into clouds.
The black lines on this map represent isobars. Regions within the isobars are experiencing similar pressure. Isobars that are closer together indicate that pressure is changing rapidly. Isobars that are farther apart indicate that pressure is changing more slowly. Review the isobars for Idaho (ID) and Wisconsin (WI). Based on the isobars, how fast will the weather change in these two states?
The weather will change faster in Wisconsin than in Idaho.
Aerosols are necessary for cloud formation and the scattering of sunlight. However, they come from different sources. The types of aerosols can also vary depending on a number of factors including geography and human involvement. Consider Yosemite National Park and Los Angeles. Both are in California, but aerosols from both locations are different. Which statement below would BEST describe the difference in the aerosols in these two places?
There should be more soot particles in Los Angeles.
Sarah placed warm water in a warmed bowl to see how thermal energy might transfer between the two materials. She felt both the bowl and the water every five minutes for twenty minutes. However, there seemed to be no difference between the two materials' temperatures regardless of how much time had passed. Based on the evidence Sarah collected, what argument might she make regarding the exchange of thermal energy between the bowl and the water?
There was no transfer of thermal energy between the water and the bowl's walls.
A team of meteorologists reports that a maritime polar air mass is heading toward the northwestern United States. They predict that this air mass will cause the Northwest to be cold and moist with a change of rain and snow. How were the meteorologists able to make this prediction?
They collected temperature and humidity data from the region of the ocean where the air mass formed.
A group of engineers is designing hurricane-resistant windows. Hurricane-resistant windows are designed to stay in one piece when the glass breaks so that wind doesn't blow glass into the house. To pass the test for hurricane proofing, a window must stay intact when a large piece of wood strikes the window at a minimum speed of 34 mph (approximately 15 meters per second). The engineers develop three window designs and test them. The table shows the maximum speed the board traveled that also allowed the window to remain intact. Based on the results of the tests, what should the engineers' next steps be?
They should approve Window 3 because it was the only one that passed.
Take a look at the model below. It compares two extremes: the lowest and highest recorded temperatures on Earth. The model also depicts the movement and densities of the air molecules in both extremes. Based on the evidence from the model, which of the following arguments can be made regarding the relationship between thermal and kinetic energy?
When these measurements occurred, there was more thermal energy in Death Valley; therefore, the air particles had more kinetic energy.
Lorena recorded the following temperatures and wind speeds in Syracuse, New York, over a period of three consecutive days. What conclusion can she make about the region based on the trends in the data?
Wind chill is increasing, causing temperatures to feel colder than they are.
A group of engineers is designing a home to handle a particular type of weather event. The home will be designed like the spoke of a wheel to lessen the impact of wind on any particular point of the house. The glass on the house will be reinforced to protect against wind and floodwaters. The home will also have solar panels so that the house can produce electricity during power outages. The engineers want to build a prototype of their house to test it against this weather event. Based on the data patterns in this map, where is the BEST place for them to build this home?
southeast United States
The weather forecaster announces that a low pressure system is coming into your area, as shown below. Based on the model, what wind patterns might you expect?
winds from nearby high pressure systems and rain