Activities

1. Define weather.
   
   
2. Define climate.
   
   
3. How do global wind patterns relate to the climates of the rainforests and deserts?
   
   
4. What is the jet stream? How does it affect the North America?
   
   
5. What are trade winds?
   
   
6. How do ocean currents affect temperature? Give an example.
   
   
7. How does lake effect snow form? How does moisture and temperature affect the onset of lake effect snow?
   
   

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Weather is the state of the air and atmosphere at a particular time and place
   
   
2. Climate is the long-term meteorological conditions prevailing in a region.
   
   
3. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:
   Due to the trade winds and the humidity by the equator, water vapor in the air at this location where most rain forests are located condense and form precipitation just about daily.  Most of the deserts are located approximately 30° from the equator.  The winds at this region cause the air being pulled back to the surface to be dry, therefore the desert receive very little precipitation.
   
   
4. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:
   A jet stream is a narrow belt of high speed winds that moves from west to east in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere.  The jet stream can move cold, artic air more southward that it typically does, as far down as Kentucky. In the summer can pull warm, tropical air more northward, up into Canada.

5. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:
   Trade winds blow from east to west.  As warm air rises around the equator, it begins to cool and sink. The sinking air causes winds to produce at the Earth’s surface, blowing back towards the equator. 

6. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:
   Ocean currents affect temperature because they move hot or cold water from one place to another.  As warm water travels north, it warms the water and air that it interacts with.  Convection currents are responsible for this movement. As warm air rises and cools, it eventually sinks as it cools again.  This continuous pattern forms a circular motion which allows for the transfer of the heat, producing warmer or cooler temperatures.
   Examples include, but are not limited to:

• The Gulf Stream originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and transfers the warm air and water along the eastern coast of the United States, then across the Atlantic to Europe.
• The Humboldt Current is a cold ocean current that flows northward along the western coast of South America. These currents transfer cooler air, therefore are responsible for the cooling climates of western South American countries including Peru, Ecuador, and Chile.

7. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:
   Lake-effect snow forms in the winter when cold air masses move over warmer lake waters. As the warm lake water heats the bottom layer of air, lake moisture evaporates into the cold air. Since warm air rises and begins to cool. The moisture condenses into clouds, and produces snow.