Original Project
Weather and Climate I: Basic Elements
Item WC095002: A sudden change in a town's air temperature can be caused by air moving to the town.
The air at a town was cold for five days, and then it became warm on the sixth day. What could make the air temperature change so quickly?
- Only a change in the angle of sunlight reaching the town could make the air temperature change so quickly.
- Only a sudden change in the amount of pollution in the air could make the temperature change so quickly.
- Only a change in the amount of clouds blocking the sunlight could make the air temperature change so quickly.
- Warmer air could have moved to the town from somewhere else without the sunlight, clouds, or the amount of pollution in the air changing.
- Distribution of Responses
- Students Responding Correctly
| Group | Correct | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 621 | 1466 | 42% |
| Grades | |||
| 6–8 | 382 | 952 | 40% |
| 9–12 | 239 | 514 | 46% |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 307 | 717 | 43% |
| Female | 304 | 726 | 42% |
| Primary Language | |||
| English | 573 | 1314 | 44% |
| Other | 34 | 104 | 33% |
- Disciplinary Core Ideas
- ESS2.D Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns.
- NRC Framework
- Practice 6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions: ...evaluate…explanations for consistency with the evidence.
- Notes
- Performance Expectation MS-ESS2-5 addresses the idea that changes in weather, including changes in air temperature, can be caused by the movement of air masses from one region to another.