Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Weather and Climate II: Seasonal Differences ~ Item CL068001 ~ Student Performance

A student lives by the ocean at a place where the ocean water comes from near the North Pole and wind blows from the ocean over the land. Would the air temperature where she lives change if the ocean water came from a warmer place than the North Pole?

Yes, because the warmer water would transfer more thermal energy to the air, so the air would become warmer.
No, because the temperature of the water does not affect the temperature of the air above it.
No, because the temperature of the water does not affect the amount of thermal energy it has, so it does not affect how much thermal energy it can transfer to the air above it.
No, because even if the water came from a warmer place, it would not have any thermal energy by the time it reached the place where the student lives.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice	Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
	n = 1025	6–8 n = 464	9–12 n = 557	Male n = 500	Female n = 496	English n = 861	Other n = 115
A.	47%	45%	49%	44%	50%	47%	44%
B.	23%	24%	22%	23%	21%	23%	24%
C.	17%	17%	17%	20%	16%	17%	19%
D.	13%	14%	13%	13%	13%	13%	12%

Science Assessment

Item CL068001: Warm ocean water transfers more thermal energy to the air than cold ocean water does, so the air temperature would increase if the water temperature increased.