Cold front

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cold-front

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the formation context?Typically forms behind an extratropical cyclone, associated with cold air advection
2. What is the temperature gradient?Temperature differences across the boundary can exceed 30°C (54°F)
3. Why does a cold front make the weather change?The cool air pushes the warm air up, making clouds and storms. After the front passes, the sky often clears and it gets cooler.
4. How does a cold front create rain?When warm air has moisture, the rising warm air can condense into clouds and produce rain, sometimes thunderstorms.

Surface Trough: An elongated area of relatively low atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface.
Air Advection: The horizontal transport of atmospheric properties, such as temperature or moisture, by the wind.
Atmospheric Instability: A condition where rising air parcels continue to rise without external forcing, leading to convective development.