Featured ACTIVITY: Density, Temperature, and Fronts

Featured ACTIVITY

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Density, Temperature, and Fronts

Purpose

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To investigate the movement of air masses and their role in determining the weather.

Part 1: Weather Maps

Reexamine the weather maps from Lesson 49: Weather or Not to answer these questions.

  1. Examine the first map at the left. What relationships do you see between fronts, clouds, and precipitation?

  2. Examine the second map. What relationship do you see between fronts and lows? Between fronts and highs?

  3. Describe any connections you find between fronts and the jet stream.

  4. Where would you expect to see warm and cold air masses on each map?

Part 2: Warm and Cold Fronts

  1. Why is a cold air mass denser than a warm air mass?

  2. Explain why clouds might form when a warm air mass collides with a cold air mass.

  3. Making Sense What does air density have to do with weather fronts?

  4. If You Finish Early Eighty percent of the air in our atmosphere is made up of nitrogen gas, N2, while only 1% of the air is made up of water vapor. Why doesn’t it rain liquid nitrogen instead of rainwater?