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9th grade · Science · Unit 19 of 28

Air Masses & Fronts

How moving air masses and fronts change the weather.

What your child practices

Practices how air masses get their temperature and humidity from where they form, what happens when they meet at cold, warm and stationary fronts, reading front symbols and air pressure, and explaining New York weather such as nor'easters and lake-effect snow.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: HS-ESS2-8 · how the movement and meeting of air masses change weather conditions

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Air masses take the temperature and humidity of where they form.
  2. Where air masses meet is a front. Blue triangles show a cold front; red half-circles a warm front.
  3. Falling air pressure often means stormy weather is coming. The jet stream steers air masses.

Example: On a weather map, a line with red half-circles shows what? Blue triangles are a cold front. Red half-circles are the other kind. Answer: a warm front

Air Masses & Fronts in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 19 of 28 in 9th grade Science, after Earth's Early History and before Engineering for Sustainability.

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

    On a weather map, a line with red half circles shows a…

    • jet stream
    • warm front
    • hurricane
    • cold front

  2. Question 2

    Humidity is the amount of…

    • dust in the air
    • heat in the ground
    • oxygen in the air
    • water vapor in the air

  3. Question 3

    High-pressure systems usually bring…

    • clear, calm weather
    • constant rain
    • heavy storms
    • tornadoes

  4. Question 4

    Cold air pushes under warm air at a front because cold air is…

    • wetter
    • faster
    • denser
    • lighter

  5. Question 5

    The jet stream steers air masses because it is…

    • an ocean current
    • a mountain range
    • a fast wind high in the atmosphere
    • a river

  6. Question 6

    The dew point is the temperature at which…

    • air becomes saturated and water vapor condenses
    • wind stops
    • ice melts
    • water boils

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