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6th grade · Science · Unit 7 of 10

Weather Systems

Air masses, fronts and the water cycle.

What your child practices

Practices how air masses and fronts change the weather, and how the sun and gravity drive the water cycle, including New York's lake-effect snow and nor'easters.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: MS-ESS2-4; MS-ESS2-5 · the water cycle driven by sunlight and gravity, and how air masses cause weather changes

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Evaporation turns liquid water into vapor. Transpiration is water given off by plant leaves.
  2. Most weather systems move across New York from west to east.
  3. A summer cold front often brings storms, then cooler, drier air.
  4. Lake-effect snow: cold air picks up moisture over a warmer lake and drops it as snow downwind.

Example: Water vapor comes out of the leaves of a tree. What is this called? Evaporation is from open water. Water given off by plant leaves is transpiration. Answer: transpiration

Weather Systems in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 7 of 10 in 6th grade Science, after Work, Energy & Efficiency and before Climate & Climate Change.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Water soaking into the ground is…

    • infiltration
    • transpiration
    • condensation
    • evaporation

  2. Question 2

    Rain, snow, sleet and hail are forms of…

    • evaporation
    • transpiration
    • precipitation
    • condensation

  3. Question 3

    A nor'easter is a coastal storm named for…

    • its strong winds from the northeast
    • the North Pole
    • its warm, calm air
    • a ship

  4. Question 4

    Water vapor cooling to form clouds is…

    • condensation
    • runoff
    • evaporation
    • precipitation

  5. Question 5

    Which way do most weather systems move across New York?

    • Straight down
    • From west to east
    • Only from north to south
    • From east to west

  6. Question 6

    Dew forms on grass on a cool morning because…

    • it rained
    • grass makes water
    • water vapor condenses on cool surfaces
    • the sun melts it

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