| A | B |
|---|
| weather | the condition of the Earth's atmosphere at a given time in a given place |
| meteorology | the scientific study of the Earth's weather |
| meteorologist | a person who studies the Earth's weather |
| weather instruments | used to measure weather conditions |
| convection | circulation in a fluid that results from energy transfer; during this process, warm masses of air rise and cool masses of air sink |
| water vapor | water that is always in the air |
| clouds | form when air cool and water vapor condenses on dust or other nuclei |
| thermometer | weather instument that measures temperature in degrees C or F |
| barometer | weather instument that measures air pressure in millibars |
| hygrometer | weather instument that measures humidity in pecentage |
| wind vane | weather instument that measures wind direction measured in compass points |
| anemometer | weather instument that measures wind speed in k/hr |
| forecast | a prediction about what kind of weather to expect |
| severe weather | weather that is dangerous or causes damage |
| atmosphere | the gases around the Earth |
| weather factors | properties of air that affect weather |
| compressed | forced into a smaller space |
| pressure | the force of the air pushing in all directions |
| mass | amount of matter in an object |
| weight | is the force an object exerts because of gravity |
| Troposphere | the part of Earth's atmoshpere where weather takes place |
| different kinds of weather | associated with different seasons |
| observing, hypothesizing, experimenting | The three steps to the scientific method |
| nitrogen | most abundant gas in the atmosphere |
| Coriolis effect | the way in which the earth's rotation causes a change in the course of the winds |
| front | boundary between two air masses |
| cumulonimbus | an example is a thundercloud |
| critical mass | the amount of fissionable material that must be present in order for a nuclear chain reaction to take place |
| nuclear fission | the splitting of atomic numbers |
| nuclear fusion | the process of joining two small atomic muclei together to form a larger nucleus |
| elements | substances composed of only one type of atom |
| liter | metric unti of capacity and liquid measure |
| gram | metric unit mass |
| meter | metric unit of length |
| Kelvin scale | scale of absolute tmperatures |
| centi- | prefix meaning 1/100th of a specific unit |
| milli- | prefix meaning 1/1000th of a specific unit |
| kilo- | prefix meaning 1000 of a specific unit |
| precision | the repeatability or consistency of a series of measurments |
| Gulf Stream | a well-known ocean current that flows up the coast of North America and then sweeps across the Atlantic to Europe |
| Challenger Deep | teh deepest known point in the sea, located in the Marianas Trench near Guam |
| tsunamis | gigantic sea waves formed by earthquakes, volcanic explosions, or undersea landslides |
| troposhere | the lowest layer of the atomosphere |
| ionosphere | portion of the mesosphere and thermosphere known for its ability to "bounce" radio signals |
| exosphere | the outermost layer of the atmosphere |
| trade winds | winds that blow from the horse latitudes toward the equator |
| ITCZ | a belt of warm rising air that straddles the equator, where winds from the tropics converge |
| monsoons | winds that change direction from season to season |
| greenhouse effect | trapping of heat in the earth's atmosphere |
| oceanography | study of the earth's oceans, seas, and their basisn |
| themocline | border of warm surface water meets the deep ocean water |
| hurricane | storm that have sustained wind speeds of 74 + miles per hour |
| Nucleus | central core of an atom |
| weight | pull of gravity upon an object |
| 8 electrons | atoms seek to have in outer shell |
