Weather and Climate Jeopardy

This process happens when the Sun heats water in oceans and lakes, turning it into water vapor that rises into the air.

What is evaporation?

This process happens when water vapor in the air cools and turns back into tiny liquid droplets, forming clouds.

What is condensation?

This is the term for water, in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail, falling from clouds to the ground.

What is precipitation?

This is the movement of water, as rivers and streams, across the land and back into oceans and lakes.

What is runoff?

This is the name for the never-ending journey of water as it evaporates, forms clouds, falls as precipitation, and flows back to the sea.

What is the water cycle?

These puffy, white, cotton-ball-shaped clouds usually mean fair weather is on the way.

What are cumulus clouds?

These thin, wispy clouds, made of ice crystals, form high in the sky and often look like feathers.

What are cirrus clouds?

These clouds form in flat, gray layers that often cover the whole sky and can bring light rain or drizzle.

What are stratus clouds?

These tall, dark, towering clouds are known for bringing thunderstorms and heavy rain.

What are cumulonimbus clouds?

This is essentially a cloud that forms at ground level rather than high in the sky, often seen early in the morning.

What is fog?

This rotating, funnel-shaped storm drops down from a thunderstorm cloud and can destroy buildings in its path.

What is a tornado?

This large, spinning tropical storm forms over warm ocean water and has a calm center called an eye.

What is a hurricane?

During a thunderstorm, this bright flash of electricity in the sky is quickly followed by the sound of thunder.

What is lightning?

If a tornado warning is issued, this is the safest place in a house to take shelter, away from windows.

What is a basement?

Developed in 1971, this tool rates hurricanes on a scale from category one to category five based on wind speed.

What is the Saffir-Simpson scale?

This instrument measures how hot or cold the air is.

What is a thermometer?

This instrument, often shaped like spinning cups, measures wind speed.

What is an anemometer?

This simple instrument collects and measures how much rain has fallen.

What is a rain gauge?

This instrument shows which direction the wind is blowing from.

What is a wind vane?

This instrument measures the amount of moisture, or humidity, in the air.

What is a hygrometer?

This warm season falls between spring and fall and includes the longest day of the year.

What is summer?

This cold season falls between fall and spring and, in many places, brings snow.

What is winter?

This mild season comes after winter, when flowers bloom and animals wake from hibernation.

What is spring?

This mild season comes after summer, when leaves change color and drop from the trees.

What is fall?

This is the main reason Earth has seasons: the planet's spin axis leans at an angle rather than standing straight up as it orbits the Sun.

What is axial tilt?

This term describes the atmospheric conditions right now or over the next few days, like today's sunny skies.

What is weather?

This term describes the typical weather pattern of a region averaged over many decades.

What is climate?

A scientist who studies and predicts day-to-day atmospheric conditions is called this.

What is a meteorologist?

A scientist who studies long-term climate patterns and change is called this.

What is a climatologist?

Climate is often defined using an average of this many years of weather data for a given location.

What is thirty years?