Unit 2
Unit Objectives and Exam
Study Guide
The second unit exam covers material from
"Atmospheric Moisture" through "Climate Systems". There are a
substantial number of questions concerning climate. In a sense, the
second is exam is cumulative because climate and weather are a
function of the topics discussed in Unit 1. Questions from any videos viewed during this unit
are included on the exam.
Study tips:
- Check out the Unit 2 links
on the Study Aids page
- Review the "Can you ...?" questions at the end of each
lecture outline after I finish a lecture.
- Use the review questions and chapter quizzes in the web text
to assess your learning
- Create flash cards of important terms and concepts.
Check out the
flash card maker for a cheap and easy way of creating them.
- Review the lab answer keys linked to the course
outline as soon as they are posted.
- Check out the
Geography
101 blog for entries related to the topics covered in Unit
2.
For the lecture portion:
- Atmospheric moisture
- Know the various phases of water and what is required
to move from one to the other.
- Have a good understanding of the cause of precipitation
(e.g., uplift mechanisms, stability, etc.)
- Geographical pattern of precipitation and what controls
it.
- Characteristics of common cloud types.
- What causes and how to determine atmospheric stability and instability
- Weather systems
- Be able to describe the characteristics of air masses, where they form and how
the change when they move out of their source region.
- Know the characteristics of fronts.
- Be able to describe the stages of midlatitude cyclone
development and internal structure.
- Weather associated with the passage of a midlatitude
cyclone
- Be able to explain the development of air mass thunderstorms.
- Climate systems
- The three types of climate classification
- The characteristics of each climate discussed
- Location and characteristics of North American climates
For the lab portion you should be able to:
-
Know the various measures of humidity and what
affects them (Exercise 5 Part 1)
-
Know how to compute the condensation level of a rising parcel of air.
(See Exercise 6
Part 1)
-
Know how to compute the adiabatic temperature change in a rising parcel of air.
(See your Lab notes and Exercise
6 Part 1 graph)
-
Know how to determine the stability of the air. (See
Exercise
6 Part 1 graph)
-
Know how to identify fronts and air masses on a weather map.
(See introduction to Exercise 7)
-
Know how to determine the air temperature, dew point temperature, wind direction, wind
speed, and air pressure from a weather map. (See introduction to Exercise
7)
-
Identify ocean currents on a world map and
describe their effect on climate.
(See Exercise 8 Part 2)
-
Identify major mountain systems and describe the
effect of mountain orientation on climate. (See
Exercise 8 Part 3)
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