Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features Science Content

Nonfiction Draw Conclusions • Captions Weather Patterns

• Maps
• Diagrams
• Glossary

Scott Foresman Science 5.8

ISBN 0-328-13938-6

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 Vocabulary What did you learn?
air mass
anemometer 1. How do temperatures change as you go up
barometer through the layers of the atmosphere?
climate
convection current 2. Where do jet streams form?
front
rain gauge 3. What is the difference between a warm front
and a cold front?

4. Scientists can use fossils to

bypast
learn about Jennifer
climates.Coates-Conroy
Write to explain
how this works. Include details from the book
to support your answer.

5. Draw Conclusions Cool currents give the

Hawaiian Islands a mild climate, even though
the islands are located in the tropics. What
affect do you think a current flowing north
from the tropics might have?

Picture Credits
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material.
The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd).

1 Digital Vision; 2 Getty Images; 10 Digital Vision; 12 Digital Vision; 13 Corbis; 14 Getty Images;
15 (C) ©Bob Daemmrich/The Image Works, Inc.; 17 ©Jim Reed/Corbis; 23 Getty Images.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the copyright © of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Pearson.

ISBN: 0-328-13938-6

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any
prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to
Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Moving Air Layers of Air
The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of gases called
It is a beautiful, sunny day. The air is warm, and there the atmosphere. Our atmosphere is different from the
are no clouds anywhere in the sky. But the weather report atmospheres of all the other planets in our solar system.
you saw on TV said it would rain this afternoon. Sure It is full of air, a mix of gases that allows life to exist on
enough, a few hours later it is raining heavily. How did such Earth. Air is about 8 nitrogen and about 2 oxygen. A
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a big change happen? And how did the weather reporter on tiny fraction of air is made up of carbon dioxide, water
TV know about it? Weather can be quite complicated, and vapor, and other gases.
it is always changing. But scientists have special tools and The atmosphere is divided into layers. The bottom
methods that allow them to predict the weather. layer, called the troposphere, is where most of our weather
happens. The different layers have different temperatures
and air pressures. Air pressure is caused by the weight of air
above pushing down. As you go higher into the atmosphere,
there is less and less air above you.
This causes air pressure to decrease thermosphere
the higher you go. Air particles high altitude 85 to 600 km
temperature –90 to 1,700°C
in the atmosphere are farther apart
than they are at the Earth’s surface.

mesosphere
altitude 50 to 85 km
temperature 0°C to –90

stratosphere
altitude 15 to 50 km
temperature –55 to 0°C

troposphere
altitude 8 to 15 km
temperature 17°C to –55

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 The Earth’s major wind
Convection Currents patterns are caused by
convection currents. polar easterly winds
Have you ever gone to the ocean on a hot summer day?
If so, you may have noticed a cool breeze blowing in off circulating
the water. These sea breezes are caused by a difference in air mass westerly winds
temperature between the land and the water. During the day,
the Sun heats the land faster than the ocean. This causes the northeasterly
air over the land to be warmer than the air over the water. trade winds
The warm air rises, and cool air sinks, rushing in under the
warm air. When the cool air flows in from over the ocean,
you feel a sea breeze. This type of air movement is called a
equator
convection current.
The convection current near the ocean is the opposite at
night. At night, the land cools quickly. But the ocean, which southeasterly
has been heating up in the Sun all day, cools much more trade winds

slowly. The air over the warm ocean water rises, and the cool
westerly winds
air from the land flows in underneath it. The result is a land polar easterly winds
breeze, which blows from the land toward the water.
The convection currents that create sea and land
breezes are small compared to some others in the Earth’s
atmosphere. There are six huge convection currents that help
to cause weather. They are caused in part because the surface
Sea breezes occur of the Earth is warmer near the equator than at other places.
during the day.
These currents, combined with the spinning of the Earth,
create winds over huge areas. For example, in the United
States, winds usually blow from west to east because of
convection currents.
If you watch a TV weather report, you will probably
Land breezes occur hear about the jet stream. This is a band of very fast-moving
at night. wind that forms between the huge convection currents. Even
though jet streams are very high in the atmosphere, they
have a big effect on our weather.

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 Air Masses The weather is usually controlled by the type of air mass
in the area. The four main types of air masses are shown in the
Air moves across the surface of the Earth in huge bodies diagram below. They are continental tropical air, continental
called air masses. An air mass has similar temperatures and polar air, maritime tropical air, and maritime polar air.
amounts of water vapor all through it. Air masses take on the Air masses are moved around by winds. These may be winds
properties of the areas where they form. For example, an air close to the ground, or they may be jet streams. An area may
mass that forms over a cold ocean will be cold and wet. One experience storms as the edge of an air mass passes through.
that forms over a hot desert will be hot and dry. Air masses
keep these properties for a while as they move to new areas,
bringing their temperature and moisture level with them.

Continental polar air: The cold, dry land near the

poles creates cold, dry air masses.

Maritime polar air: The cold oceans near the

poles create cold, moist air masses.

Continental tropical air: These air masses form

over hot deserts and have warm, dry air.

Maritime tropical air: Warm, moist air masses

form over tropical oceans.

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Fronts
The boundary between two air masses is called a warm front
front. When a front arrives, it often brings a change
of weather. A warm, wet air mass might be sitting over fast-moving warm
air mass sliding
your area. Then a cold, dry air mass might move in, over cold air mass
bringing colder, drier weather with it. Some fronts do
not move, or they move back and forth over the same
area. These are called stationary fronts.

warm air mass cold air mass

cold front pushed upward moving slowly

storm clouds

cold air mass moving

underneath

When a cool air mass moves into a warm air mass, it is

called a cold front. The cold air pushes the less dense, warm
air up. As this air rises, it cools, causing any moisture in it to
fall as rain. A line of clouds often forms at a cold front.
A warm front forms when a fast-moving mass of warm
air runs into a slower-moving, cooler air mass. The warm
air rides up over the cool air, causing high-altitude clouds.
Warm fronts move more slowly than cold fronts and cause
steady, long-lasting precipitation.

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Severe Weather Lightning is one of the most impressive features of a
thunderstorm. Lightning bolts are actually very powerful
sparks of electricity. They can heat the air to a temperature
Thunderstorms of 30,000°C in less than a second. This causes the air to
Sometimes storms can be violent and even dangerous. vibrate, making the sound we call thunder. Lightning bolts
Thunderstorms are one of the most common forms of move from areas with one type of electrical charge to areas
dangerous weather. with an opposite electrical charge. When a charge builds
Thunderstorms usually form when moist air moves up in a thunderstorm cloud and another builds up on the
upward quickly. As the moisture climbs higher, it cools and ground below, lightning can strike the ground. Lightning
forms clouds of ice and water vapor. strikes tall objects first, such as trees or buildings. Try to stay
Eventually, water begins to fall back to Earth, dragging away from these objects during a thunderstorm. The safest
some air with it. This creates downward currents, which place to be is inside. If you cannot get inside, try to stay low,
happen at the same time as the storm’s upward currents. but do not lie on the ground.
Finally there is no more rising air. All the
storm’s currents are moving downward.
The clouds shrink as their water
vapor falls to the ground.

Lightning bolts are actually

huge electric sparks.

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Tornadoes Tornadoes are one of the most destructive types of
A tornado is a very dangerous part weather. When a tornado is approaching, there are often
of some storms. Tornadoes can flatten sirens and TV announcements to warn people. If you hear
everything they touch, leaving a path one of these warnings, you should go to a safe place as soon
of destruction hundreds of meters as possible. A basement is the best place to go. A room in
wide and many kilometers long. Winds the center of a building is the next best place. Wherever you
inside a tornado can blow at hundreds go, you should try to stay away from windows, since the glass
of kilometers per hour, destroying can break and fly around the room, causing injuries.
houses, picking up cars, and even
ripping the bark off trees! Despite the
damage they cause, most tornadoes last
only a few minutes.
Conditions have to be just right
for a tornado to form. First, a storm
must have layers of wind blowing
at different speeds and in different
directions. This causes a tube of wind
to form between the layers. It rolls
horizontally like a log, until upward
and downward air currents tip it on its
end. The tube is now a vertical column
of spinning air called a funnel cloud.
When the lower end of the funnel
cloud touches the ground,
it is called a tornado.

Tornadoes can do amazing amounts of damage

in a very short time.

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Hurricanes Hurricane Safety
A hurricane is another very dangerous type of storm. There are a few things you can do to stay safe if a
Hurricanes form over the ocean when the water is warm. hurricane strikes. You should board up your windows to
Water vapor from the ocean moves into the air and keep them from being smashed. Keep extra food and water
condenses, forming clouds. When it condenses, it releases on hand, in case the water supply is cut off or you cannot
energy that can turn into the powerful winds of a hurricane. get to a store. Put things that could be ruined by floodwater
A storm must have winds of more than 120 kilometers per into plastic containers. When the hurricane comes through,
hour to be called a hurricane. Very strong hurricanes can do not go outside. If a hurricane is dangerous enough, you
have winds of more than 240 kilometers per hour. may be told to evacuate. If this happens, leave right away.
Although hurricane winds are strong, they are not
nearly as strong as a tornado’s winds. Even so, hurricanes
do much more damage than tornadoes. There are several
reasons for this. First, hurricanes are huge. A tornado might
be a few hundred meters across, but a hurricane can be
hundreds of kilometers across. This means they damage a
much wider area. Second, hurricanes last for days and travel
long distances, possibly hitting several communities. Third,
hurricanes cause huge waves and flooding that can do as
much damage as their winds.

Windows should be boarded up

before a hurricane to keep them
from being smashed.

Signs such as this are

found in areas where
hurricanes are common.

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Forecasting
the Weather
Data Collection
Weather is a combination of anemometer
temperature, moisture, clouds,
precipitation, wind speed, air pressure,
Radar is an important
and wind direction. To measure each
tool for meteorologists.
of these things, scientists use different
tools. Some of them are very advanced
and expensive. Some are very simple. An anemometer is a tool for measuring wind speed. It
In fact, you probably have one of has several cups that spin when wind blows across them.
them at home. Most houses have a The faster the wind blows, the faster the cups spin.
thermometer, the tool used to A hygrometer measures the air’s moisture. Some
measure air temperature. hygrometers use a piece of horsehair to do this. When
Another common weather tool is a the air is dry, the hair gets shorter. When it is moist, the
barometer. A barometer measures air hair gets longer. This movement turns a pointer that
pressure. Many barometers use a small, shows the humidity.
sealed container with a dial attached. thermometer A rain gauge is a tall, thin, clear container that measures
When air pressure squeezes the how much rain has fallen. As rain falls, it fills the gauge.
container, it moves the dial to show Sometimes the top of the rain gauge is wider than the
the pressure. Some barometers are bottom. This makes it easier to catch and measure small
tubes full of mercury. The level amounts of rain.
of the mercury rises or falls with Scientists use radar for measuring wind and precipitation
changes in pressure. in a storm. It sends out invisible waves of energy, similar to
those that come from a radio station. Some of the energy
bounces off raindrops in the storm. Scientists can measure
the energy that bounces back to tell what the storm is doing.
barometer

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Weather Forecasts
Weather may be complicated, but it does follow
patterns. You have probably noticed some of these patterns
where you live. Your area might have a lot of storms during
the fall. Or you might notice that the weather starts to
become drier at the end of spring. Scientists can use these
patterns to predict what the weather will do in the future.
Weather forecasters gather information about weather
patterns. Then they try to figure out how air, land, and
water interact with each other to make these patterns. High pressure area
They use their inferences to predict what will happen Low pressure area
Warm front
in the future.
Cold front
Weather usually acts like similar weather has in
Stationary front
the past. If current weather matches past weather very
Snow
closely, forecasters can be more sure of how it will change.
Forecasters can make better predictions if they have more Rain

information about the current weather. Thunderstorm

Weather maps show current weather conditions. They

also show predictions. Although there are many different
kinds of weather maps, most of them have the same types of
colors and symbols. Fronts are shown with lines. These lines
have triangles on them to show a cold front or half circles
to show a warm front. The shapes point in the direction the
front is moving. High pressure areas are shown with an H,
while low pressure areas have an L. Clouds and precipitation
are shown with little pictures. Look at the map and legend
New York City experiences Summers in New York City above to learn more about these symbols.
snow during the winter. are often hot.

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Climate Oceans and Climate
Ocean temperatures rise and fall more slowly than land
temperatures. Because of this, an ocean can have an effect
Weather or climate? on climates by the shore. In the winter, oceans hold heat, so
As you have learned, weather changes fairly quickly. It areas on the coast usually do not get as cold as inland areas.
is a description of what conditions are like in one place at During the summer, an ocean stays cool, so land on the coast
a single moment. Climate is different from weather. The usually stays cool as well.
climate of a place is its average weather conditions over a Ocean currents can affect climates too. Sometimes they
long time, usually thirty years. While the weather in an area bring warm weather to areas that would usually be cold or cold
might change every day, climates usually do not change for weather to areas that would usually be warm. For example,
a very long time. the Hawaiian Islands have a very mild climate, even though
they are located in the tropics. This is because ocean currents
Landforms and Climate bring cool air to the islands.
Sometimes the shape of the land can have an effect
mountain Wet air moving in from the ocean loses
on the climate. For example, mountains along the range most of its moisture by the time it reaches
coast often have a different climate from one side the top of the mountain range. This
to the other. In California, storms often come in keeps the land on the other side of the
mountains very dry.
from the Pacific Ocean, bringing rain with them.
When they get to the coast, they run into a long moist air dry air
mountain range. As the storm clouds move up
one side of the mountains, the temperature
drops. This causes moisture to fall from
the clouds as precipitation. Most of the
moisture leaves the clouds before they
reach the other side of the mountains.
This makes the climate on the ocean
side very wet, while the climate on
the other side is much drier.

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Past Climates
Although climates change very slowly, they do change.
Sometimes the changes are very big. For example, thousands
of years ago, an ice age began. This was the result of Earth’s
climate cooling off. During this ice age, part of what is now
the United States was buried under a huge sheet of ice!
No one wrote down what the climate was like during the
ice age. But scientists know it happened because of the clues
it left behind. As the ice slowly slid across the land, it pushed
dirt and rocks into certain types of hills and lakes. Scientists
Many scientists believe that air pollution is
can tell how the ice moved by mapping these features. making Earth’s climate warmer.
Scientists can also look at fossils for clues about past
climates. For example, a fossil of a lizard might be found in
a very cold area. We know that lizards cannot live where it is
Changing Climates
very cold. The fossil shows that the climate in this place must Many things can cause a climate to change. Some of
have been warmer long ago for the lizard to survive. them are natural, and some of them are caused by humans.
Climates can cool because of asteroids hitting Earth or
volcanic eruptions. These rare events can send lots of dust
into the atmosphere, which blocks the Sun, cooling Earth. It
is also possible that the Sun produced less heat in the past.
You may have heard of global warming. Climates can
become warmer if there is more carbon dioxide, methane,
or water vapor in the air. These gases are produced by
volcanoes, the water cycle, and decaying matter. They
are also produced when humans burn things such as coal
or gasoline.
The weather and climate are always changing. But if you
know what to look for, you can predict what might happen.
The next time you see a weather map, try to figure out what
The white areas on this map show how much of Earth the changing weather will bring.
was covered by glaciers during the last ice age.

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 Glossary
Vocabulary What did you learn?
air mass
anemometer
air mass a large body of air with similar properties 1. How do temperatures change as you go up
barometer all through it through the layers of the atmosphere?
climate
convection current
anemometer an instrument that measures wind speed 2. Where do jet streams form?
front
rain gauge
barometer an instrument that measures air pressure 3. What is the difference between a warm front
and a cold front?
climate the average weather conditions in one
place over a long time 4. Scientists can use fossils to
learn about past climates. Write to explain
convection when gases or liquids rise and sink in a how this works. Include details from the book
current circular path to support your answer.

front a boundary between two air masses 5. Draw Conclusions Cool currents give the
Hawaiian Islands a mild climate, even though
rain gauge a tool that measures how much rain the islands are located in the tropics. What
has fallen affect do you think a current flowing north
from the tropics might have?

Picture Credits
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material.
The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd).

1 Digital Vision; 2 Getty Images; 10 Digital Vision; 12 Digital Vision; 13 Corbis; 14 Getty Images;
15 (C) ©Bob Daemmrich/The Image Works, Inc.; 17 ©Jim Reed/Corbis; 23 Getty Images.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the copyright © of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Pearson.

ISBN: 0-328-13938-6

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any
prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to
Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

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