PDS APES 5th Period 2009-10

So I was looking at the diagram of the half globe and all the little arrow circles of where air travels in each biome. What I don’t understand is what exactly is this “dry air?” If cool dry air “falls” how is this precipitation if moist air rises? In the picture it shows that the darker red arrows are at the bottom representing cooled dry air that has fallen (which is where the rain symbols are). What? Where dry air is is where the precipitation is?…I feel like I’m making this so much harder than it really is! I think the words dry and moist are messing me up : (

I was absent the day that we talked about the coriolis effect and the Hadley cells, the Ferrel cells, and the Polar cells.  I am looking at the diagrams, and I do not understand the relationship they have between each other.  Maggie’s scribe post said that properties of air, water, and land formed these cells.  If any one could just clarify the differences between these that would be great! And yes I know that it is really late…

So while I was looking over my notes, I realized that the pattern of temperature is cooler as the biomes reach the poles, or as longitude increases. Same with precipitation; it decreases as longitude increases, but one thing I was wondering was if latitude plays any role in this. I haven’t really noticed any patterns with the biomes abiotic factors going around the earth instead of up and down, so does latitude play a role with abiotic factors of biomes? Or is it just longitude?

Hey dudes, I just saw mountains as a category on the study guide sheet and realized we never had a presentation on them. Are they a biome all by themselves? Are they a mixture of biomes (like alpine tundra, taiga etc.)? Since elevation changes so rapidly what are some plant and animal adaptations? Thanks.

I’m looking over a worksheet that we received in class that has a chart of the four layers of the atmosphere and the temperatures of each layer. I understand why the temperature decreases in the troposphere as you go higher, but why does it vary, increasing and decreasing as it does, the higher you travel in the atmosphere?

Hey guys, so after looking over all my diagrams, then reading Mr. Willard’s email, I realized I didn’t write down the names of the convection cells that we are supposed to be familiar with.  Also, I’m still a tad iffy on how these work.  Are they on the coasts over water?  And, do these cells effect or are they affected by the Coriolis Effect?  What creates them? Thanks!

So, how do you work to build memory? Many times, when asked, seniors tell me “I read over my notes.”  Isn’t that called reading?  While repetition does help build memory, there are other ways to practice analysis.  One easy (and free) way is to use interactive quizzes found online.  You at least know immediately if you have reasoned poorly, and you might be able to go back to the book or notes and look up why.  Here are a few sets of practice problems:

1.  Your online text resource website–always listed on the main page of the blog.  Go to Chp. 5, and take the quiz (menu on the left). There are usually 10-15 multiple choice questions.

2.  Not sure who made this one, but here is another small set of multiple choice questions to get you thinking.

3.  Here is another “quiz” based on flashcards.  First, you can click “study” and do the flashcard bit.  Then, click quiz. Click your choice for each question and once at the bottom, hit “score this quiz.”

These were easy to find with a Google search….just an idea.

Good Luck,

W

We’ve been talking a lot in class about how leaves of cacti have shrunk into spines to cope with water loss through transpiration .  To add on to that, can spines also be included as an adaptation/ defense mechanism against animals who might attempt to use them as a water source?

Okay, so I was reading Supplement 10 where it talks about upwelling and what I’m not clear on is the exact causes of upwelling. The book said it was due to winds and the movement of surface water but I feel like those would have to be some pretty strong winds to be able to mix even the deepest layers of ocean water…can anyone set me straight?

Studying for the test, and was looking at the lovely diagrams in the book and well, like last time I came across another sinkhole that kind of bothers me. This time its on page 78, figure 5-4, where it shows heat released and radiates to the atmosphere. I find this a little bit confusing partially because of discussion of how the only atoms that really escape into space are around the mass of Helium, and well given the air’s composition, doesn’t really seem like much of a heat sink. Is that how it really works? I’m not worried about knowing this for the test, but I want to know whats happening…