Tropopause

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/tropopause

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 atmospheric layer transition?Marks the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere
2. What is the temperature profile reversal?The altitude where the temperature lapse rate transitions from negative to positive
3. Why is the tropopause higher near the equator than at the poles?At the equator, warm air rises higher, pushing the tropopause up to about 17 kilometers. Near the poles, colder air stays lower, so the tropopause sits around 9 kilometers.
4. How does the tropopause influence storms and weather?It acts like a lid, limiting how high storms can grow. This helps control how strong and how long storms can last.

Lapse Rate: The rate at which atmospheric temperature changes with an increase in altitude.
Adiabatic Expansion: The cooling of a gas as it expands without exchanging heat with its surroundings.
Ozone Layer: A region in the stratosphere containing a high concentration of ozone, which absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Gravity Waves: Waves in the atmosphere that propagate vertically and horizontally, transporting energy and momentum.