Abney Elementary

Mrs. Delaup

The atmosphere is a thin blanket of air that surrounds the Earth.

There are four layers of the atmosphere.

The layer closest to the Earth is the troposphere. We live in the troposphere and breathe in air. Almost all weather happens in this layer.

Some airplanes that travel long distances fly in the stratosphere, above the weather.

The mesosphere is the coldest layer of the atmosphere.

The thermosphere is the hot, outermost layer of air.

An air mass is a large body of air that has temperature and moisture similar to that of the area over which it formed. Ex: A warm, moist air mass is most likely to form over the Gulf of Mexico.

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air.

A front is the area where two air masses meet and where weather happens.

A cold front forms when a cold air mass catches up with a warm air mass.

A warm front forms when a warm air mass catches up to a cold air mass.

A cold front is represented with a line with triangles.

A warm front is represented with half circles.

Cirrus clouds are a wispy white cloudS at a high altitude.

Cumulus clouds are dense, white, fluffy, puffy cotton-ball clouds.

Cumulonimbus clouds are towering dark clouds. If you see them it will probably rain soon.

Stratus clouds form a low layer of dark gray. You see these clouds on a gray cloudy day.

Air pressure(the weight) is measured with an instrument called a barometer.

A thermometer measures the temperature of air.

An anemometer measure wind speed.

A wind vane or wind sock measures wind direction.

The water cycle is the constant recycling of water from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back to the Earth’s surface again.

Evaporation is the process in which liquid changes into a gas.

Condensation is the process in which a gas changes to a liquid.

Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls from the clouds. Precipitation forms when water droplets get too large to stay in the air/clouds.