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Tap a card to flip it. Only one card opens at a time and it closes after 8 seconds — you can reopen any card as many times as you need.
Click a term on the left, then click its matching definition on the right. Correct pairs turn green.
The Sun heats Earth's surface most strongly near the equator (0°). This warm surface heats the air above it. Warm air is less dense, so it rises. Rising air creates an area of low pressure (L). As the air rises and cools, water vapor condenses, so low-pressure zones tend to be cloudy and rainy.
Air cannot rise forever. High in the troposphere it spreads toward the poles, cools, and eventually sinks back toward the surface near 30° North and 30° South. Sinking air is denser and creates an area of high pressure (H). High-pressure zones are usually clear and dry — this is why many of Earth's great deserts sit near 30° latitude.
This rising-and-sinking pattern repeats in three looping convection cells in each hemisphere. The Hadley cell runs from 0° to 30°, the Ferrel cell from 30° to 60°, and the Polar cell from 60° to 90°. Air rises at the equator and at 60° (low pressure) and sinks at 30° and at the poles (high pressure).
As air moves between pressure belts along the surface, Earth's rotation curves it, producing Earth's prevailing wind belts: the trade winds (0°–30°), the westerlies (30°–60°), and the polar easterlies (60°–90°). Where cold polar air meets warmer mid-latitude air near 60° — the polar front — fast ribbons of high-altitude wind called jet streams form. ESRT page 19 shows two of them: the polar front jet stream near 60° and the subtropical jet stream near 30°, both riding along the tropopause, the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere.
Complete each sentence using the word bank.
Unscramble each sentence. Tap the words in the correct order. Correct words turn green.
These two charts both live on page 19 of the Earth Science Reference Tables. Read each one with the steps below before answering questions.
Step 1. Find latitude on the side: 90° is a pole, 0° is the equator.
Step 2. Read the pressure letter at each latitude. L = low pressure = rising air. H = high pressure = sinking air.
Step 3. Name the wind belt in each 30° band: trades (0–30), westerlies (30–60), polar easterlies (60–90).
Step 4. Match the band to its convection cell using the key: Hadley (0–30), Ferrel (30–60), Polar (60–90).
Step 1. Bottom axis = latitude (Equator on the right, North Pole on the left). Side axes = altitude in km and ft.
Step 2. Follow the curved arrows: they show air rising at L (equator and 60° polar front) and sinking at H (30° and the pole).
Step 3. Find the two J symbols — the subtropical jet stream sits near 30° and the polar front jet stream sits near 60°, both along the tropopause.
Step 4. The tropopause is the line separating the lower troposphere from the stratosphere above it.
This is a side view of the lower atmosphere, just like the ESRT chart — Equator on the right, North Pole on the left. Watch the air loop through the three convection cells: warm air rises at the low-pressure belts (0° and 60°) and cool air sinks at the high-pressure belts (30° and 90°). Drag the Sun heating slider up and the convection speeds up — uneven heating is the engine that drives it. Then drag the cell labels (Hadley, Ferrel, Polar) onto the matching loops.
Click a latitude to inspect it:
Quick check (4 pts): Using the simulation, predict the air motion at each latitude.
Now build the planetary wind belt model from the ground up. Drag each label into the blank diagram: the wind belt, the pressure (L = warm air rises, H = cool air sinks), and the convection cell at each latitude. On a touchscreen, tap a label to auto-place it; tap a placed label to send it back.
Use both charts on page 19 to complete the table. Each correct column choice helps complete the table (worth 4 points when fully correct).
| Latitude | Pressure (H or L) | Air Motion | Convection Cell |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0° (Equator) | Hadley | ||
| 30° N | Hadley / Ferrel | ||
| 60° N | Ferrel / Polar | ||
| 90° N (Pole) | Polar |
Use Chart A below. 7 questions · 1 point each.
Use Chart B below. 8 questions · 1 point each.
These mirror real NYS Earth & Space Science Regents formats. Both charts are shown below. 8 questions · 1 point each.
"Air at the forms an area of pressure because the air is warm and , which usually produces weather."
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