Water, Air, Weather & Climate — Problem set, Grade 6
How do water, air, and energy processes connect weather with longer-term patterns? What can a matched five-day record tell us about weather, and what requires a different climate record?
Review the key ideas
The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers
The water cycle is driven by the Sun and by gravity, and nothing else. Water does not disappear when a puddle dries; it moves between a small number of stores, and the time it spends in each one ranges from about nine days in the atmosphere to thousands of years underground.
Atmosphere, Clouds & Weather Records
Nearly all weather happens in the lowest 12 km of the atmosphere, a layer thinner relative to Earth than the skin of an apple. Reading it means knowing what air is made of, what clouds indicate, and how to keep records that can honestly be compared with each other.
Air, Pressure & Uneven Heating
Air has mass, and the weight of the column above you presses on every surface at about 101,000 pascals. Wind is nothing more than air flowing from where that pressure is higher to where it is lower, and the pressure differences come from the ground being heated unevenly.
Weather & Climate: Time Scales and Comparisons
Weather is what the atmosphere is doing now; climate is the statistics of what it does over thirty years. Because they are measured on different timescales, a single hot day is not evidence about climate and a single cold week is not evidence against it.
Climate Evidence, Greenhouse Gases & Responses
Certain gases let sunlight through and absorb the infrared Earth radiates back, which keeps the planet about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would otherwise be. Measuring how much of those gases there are, and where the extra has come from, is a question evidence can settle. What to do about it is a different kind of question.
Problem 1
Answer and explanation
35 + 25 + 20 = 80 mm, so the listed terms match the input under the model. Increased storage is not an outgoing flow. If unrecorded groundwater entered or left, the account would need that transfer; balance here does not prove every real pathway was measured.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 2
Answer and explanation
No. Runoff, groundwater flow, evaporation, and other routes can bypass plant uptake. Show alternatives rather than one compulsory route.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 3
Answer and explanation
Noon temperature decreases from 19 to 15 °C across the three records. Pressure drops to 1,006 hPa on the rainy day and rises afterward. This small table is consistent with changing weather, but it does not prove pressure alone caused rain, give daily maxima, or establish a rule for every storm.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 4
Answer and explanation
Use the supplied weather records or safe indoor observations approved by a parent. Better notes do not require exposure to hazardous weather.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 5
Answer and explanation
The difference is 12 hPa. The simplified model predicts air responding from A toward lower-pressure B. This is not an exact real-wind forecast, because the actual path also depends on rotation, friction, terrain, and surrounding pressure patterns. Pressure is a comparison, not a cause inferred from one unlabeled arrow.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 6
Answer and explanation
No. The same amount can occupy a larger volume in a flexible boundary. State the container conditions before inferring an amount change.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 7
Answer and explanation
The supplied summaries rise by 0.8 °C from first to last. They describe a regional seasonal pattern across the stated periods, not tomorrow’s temperature. The numbers alone do not identify the cause or describe every location, and daily variation remains within each period.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 8
Answer and explanation
An event is short-term weather, while the trend concerns a distribution across many years. Evaluate the long-term evidence directly instead of replacing it with one selected event.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 9
Answer and explanation
The shade plan addresses exposure adaptation but exceeds the five-token limit. The redesign fits the cost condition and targets energy use; any emissions benefit would depend on the energy source and other information. A 3 °C change and 20 energy units are different quantities and cannot be added as one score. The records are illustrative, not a tested policy or a required preference.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.
Problem 10
Answer and explanation
No. A jar also changes convection and other conditions. It can illustrate selected energy ideas, but a full atmospheric explanation needs appropriate radiation evidence and explicit model limits.
Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.