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8th grade · Science · Unit 11 of 13

Weather, Winds & Hurricanes

How the Sun, oceans and air make weather, global winds, and how hurricanes form.

What your child practices

Practices how energy from the Sun, the oceans and the atmosphere interact to shape weather and climate, global wind patterns such as the trade winds and westerlies, the jet stream, and how warm ocean water and air masses produce tropical cyclones such as Gulf hurricanes.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 8.10(A); 8.10(B); 8.10(C) · how the Sun, ocean and atmosphere shape weather, global winds, and how hurricanes form

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Sun heats Earth unevenly, which drives winds and ocean currents.
  2. Trade winds and westerlies are global wind belts; the jet stream is a fast wind high up.
  3. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones that form over warm ocean water.

Example: Over what do hurricanes form? They need lots of heat and moisture. Warm seas provide both. Answer: warm ocean water

Weather, Winds & Hurricanes in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 11 of 13 in 8th grade Science, after Stars, Galaxies & the Universe and before What Changes Climate.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    The boundary between two air masses is a…

    • trough of a wave
    • front
    • ridge
    • valley

  2. Question 2

    Humidity is the amount of…

    • water vapor in the air
    • wind speed
    • sunlight
    • dust in the air

  3. Question 3

    In much of the United States, weather systems usually move from…

    • they never move
    • east to west
    • north to south only
    • west to east

  4. Question 4

    Dew forms on grass on a cool morning because…

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

  5. Question 5

    Rain, snow, sleet and hail are forms of…

    • evaporation
    • transpiration
    • condensation
    • precipitation

  6. Question 6

    Which instrument measures air pressure?

    • Anemometer
    • Rain gauge
    • Barometer
    • Thermometer

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