Precipitation

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/precipitation

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 scientific classification?Product of atmospheric water vapor condensation falling due to gravity
2. What is the primary growth mechanisms in clouds?Collision-coalescence (warm clouds) and the Bergeron process (cold clouds)
3. What makes rain, snow, and hail fall from the sky?When air gets full of water vapor, it cools and turns into tiny droplets or ice crystals. These grow bigger and fall when they are heavy enough.
4. Why does snow fall instead of rain?Snow happens when the air stays below freezing all the way from the cloud to the ground, so the droplets freeze into ice before they reach the earth.

Relative Humidity: The ratio of the amount of water vapor in the air to the maximum amount it can hold at a given temperature.
Cloud Microphysics: The study of the physical processes governing the formation, growth, and evolution of cloud particles.
Orographic Lift: The upward movement of air forced by a physical barrier, such as a mountain range, leading to cooling and condensation.