How's the Weather Up There? Unit - 2nd Quarter
Air Masses, Fronts & Severe Weather Subunit (Project Choice 3)
DUE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20
Water Cycle & Precipitation Subunit (Project Choice 2)
DUE MONDAY, DECEMBER 5
DUE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22
DUE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20
- Air Mass- A huge body of air that has similar temperature, humidity and air pressure.
- Front- A boundary where two air masses meet.
- Cold Front - occurs when cold air comes in and displaces warmer air that exists. They move quickly and cause fast weather changes.
- Warm Front - occur when a warm air mass climbs over a cold air mass. Warm fronts move slowly.
- Stationary Front - two air masses exist along a boundary but neither of them is moving. Precipitation forms at the point where they meet.
- Occluded Front - Formed when two cold air masses, cut off and lift up a warm air mass. Forms clouds and possibly precipitation
- Low Pressure System (Cyclones) - A swirling center of low pressure air which forms at frontal boundaries and brings clouds, winds and precipitation.
- High Pressure System (Anticyclones) - High pressure centers of dry air that are formed at frontal boundaries and is associated with dry, clear weather.
- Thunderstorm – can form when warm air is forced rapidly upwards along a cold front; can create heavy rains/hail, thunder/lightening, strong winds
- Hurricane - Hurricanes form around low pressure systems over warm ocean water. As the area grows in size and in strength it forms a tropical storm followed by a Hurricane if it continues to grow.
- Tornado - Form when a warm humid air mass meets a dry cold air mass – warm air is forced upwards along a cold front to produce several thunderstorms which can turn into tornadoes.
Water Cycle & Precipitation Subunit (Project Choice 2)
DUE MONDAY, DECEMBER 5
- Condensation: the process of condensing, occurs when water vapor changes to liquid water. This process occurs in clouds.
- Evaporation: Water moves from the surface of Earth to the atmosphere
- Precipitation (rain, sleet, freezing rain, snow): When the water in the clouds gets too heavy, the water falls back to the earth.
- Transpiration: Leaves have special openings, or pores, on them that let water exit to the surface of the leaf.
- Runoff: precipitation runs directly into streams or rivers. Water that collects in rivers streams, and oceans is called runoff
- Infiltration: the process by which precipitation or water soaks into subsurface soils and moves into rocks through cracks and pore spaces.
- Groundwater: water that sinks though the soil and eventually through the bedrock of Earth’s crust.
- Water Vapor: Gas form of water
DUE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22
- Air Pressure: the force exerted by air, whether compressed or unconfined, on any surface in contact with it.
- Altitude: the height of anything above a reference level, especially above sea level on earth
- Temperature: A measure of the warmth or coldness of an object or substance with reference to some standard value.
- Atmosphere: A thin layer of air or gases surrounding the Earth; made of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Water Vapor, & Carbon Dioxide.
- Composition: The combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. The manner in which such parts are combined or related
- Density: Density is mass divided by volume. It is the measure how much mass there is per volume
- Ozone: a form of oxygen, O3 , It is found in the troposphere after a thunderstorm or during periods of high temperature (harmful in this layer).
- Ozone Layer: a layer of O3 in the atmosphere In the upper atmosphere, it absorbs ultraviolet rays, thereby preventing them from reaching the surface of the earth.
- Troposphere: Layer of the atmosphere nearest to Earth, where weather occurs, temperature drops as altitude increases, where people live, known as lower layer of atmosphere.
- Stratosphere: where most jets fly, where the ozone layer is found, atmosphere is drier, ozone here absorbs and scatters UV radiation; temperature increases with altitude in this layer due to the presence of the ozone layer.
- Mesosphere: called the middle atmosphere, it is the coldest layer of the atmosphere, radio waves are reflected to Earth and meteors burn up in this layer, temperature continues to decrease with altitude
- Thermosphere: 4th layer of the atmosphere, temperatures can be very hot in this layer, known as upper atmosphere, temperature increases with altitude; aurora lights occur here, this layer contains the ionosphere
- Greenhouse Effect: The trapping of heat near Earth’s surface by greenhouse gases (Carbon Dioxide, Methane) that form a “blanket” around the Earth
- Pollution: a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects to the environment
- Smog: fog or haze combined with smoke and other atmospheric pollutants.
- Environmental Protection Agency: an agency of the United States federal government whose mission is to protect human and environmental health.
- Environmental steward: someone who protects the environment through recycling, conservation, regeneration, and restoration.
PHYSICS UNIT - 1st Quarter
Recognizing Motion Notes Section
Balanced & Unbalanced Forces Notes
Types of Energy, Law of Conservation, Energy Transformations Notes
Simple Machines, Mechanical Advantage, Efficiency Notes
Electrical Circuits Notes
- Newton’s 1st Law of Motion: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
- Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion: Acceleration depends on the object’s mass and on the net force acting on the object. F= M x A (Force = Mass x Acceleration)
- Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
- Inertia: The resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion. Also known as Newton’s 1st law of motion.
- Motion: A change in position
- Reference Point: Is a place or object used for comparison to determine if something is in motion.
- Acceleration: The rate at which velocity changes.
- Speed: The distance an object travels per unit of time.
- Constant Speed: Speed does not increase or decrease but remains fixed over time.
- Velocity: Speed in a given direction.
- Direction: The line or course on which something is moving or is aimed to move or along which something is pointing or facing.
- Position: The point or area occupied by a physical object.
- Distance: The degree or amount of separation between two points.
- Slope: The steepness of a line or object. The formula for calculating slope is: Slope= Rise/ Run
- Friction: A force that opposes motion between two surfaces that are touching.
Balanced & Unbalanced Forces Notes
- Force: a push or pull acting on an object. Forces act in pairs.
- Balanced Force: When the net force on an object is zero. There will be no change in the motion of the object. The object is either at rest or maintaining at a constant speed.
- Unbalanced Force: When the net force on an object is greater than zero. There will be a change in the motion of the object. An object at rest will begin to move, while an object already moving will change its speed and or direction.
- Magnetic Force: Force of attraction or repulsion exerted by a magnet.
- Gravity: Usually defined as the force of attraction between two masses.
- Equilibrium: A state of rest or balance due to opposite forces acting equally.
Types of Energy, Law of Conservation, Energy Transformations Notes
- Energy: Anything that has the ability to make matter move or change. The ability to do work.
- Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Energy changes from one form to another. The total energy of an object never changes.
- Energy Transformation: The process of changing energy from one form to another
- Potential Energy: Energy that is stored in a system. It is energy that can be released to become kinetic or another form of energy.
- Kinetic Energy: The energy an object has because of its motion. Kinetic energy depends upon the mass and velocity of an object.
- Mechanical Energy: The energy an object has because of its motion or position (i.e. The total amount of kinetic and potential energy in a system)
- Electrical Energy: Energy caused by the movement of charged particles (Electrons). Easily transported through power lines and can be converted to other forms of energy.
- Chemical Energy: Energy that is available for release from chemical reactions.
- Nuclear Energy: Energy that is stored in the nucleus of an atom.
- Green Energy: Energy that comes from sources that do not pollute the earth.
- Thermal Energy: The energy a substance has related to its temperature. The faster molecules move the more thermal energy they create. In every energy transfer – some energy is changed to thermal or heat energy.
- Radiant Energy: The form of energy related to the movement of light, electromagnetic waves, or particles.
- Sound Energy: Energy created by the vibration of a material
Simple Machines, Mechanical Advantage, Efficiency Notes
- Work: the use of force to move an object. The amount of work done depends on the amount of force exerted and the distance the object traveled.
- Force: A push or a pull
- Simple Machine: A device that helps make work easier to perform
- Inclined Plane: a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle, with one end higher than the other
- Pulley: a wheel with a grooved rim around which a cord passes. It acts to change the direction of a force applied to the cord and is mainly used to raise heavy weights
- Lever: A rigid bar resting on a pivot, used to help move a heavy or firmly fixed load with one end when pressure is applied to the other
- Wheel and Axle: a simple machine consisting of a rope that unwinds from a wheel onto a cylindrical drum or shaft joined to the wheel to provide mechanical advantage.
- Screw: modified version of the inclined plane. Threads of the screw are like a type of circular ramp (or inclined plane).
- Wedge: a triangular shaped tool, and is a portable inclined plane
- Mechanical Advantage: how many times more force you get out of a simple machine
Electrical Circuits Notes
- Series Circuit: current travels in a single path from negative to positive.
- Parallel Circuit: current travels in multiple paths from negative to positive