Original Project
Weather and Climate I: Basic Elements
The pattern of the rise and fall of air temperature over a day and over a year at any given place on the surface…
Item WC040003: Sunlight warms a lake more when the sun is higher in the sky than when it is lower in the sky.
The photographs below show the sun at two different positions in the sky above a lake: One shows the sun high in the sky, and one shows the sun lower in the sky. In both positions, nothing blocks the sunlight from reaching the lake.
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| Position 1 | Position 2 |
Would sunlight warm the lake more at Position 1 or Position 2?
- At Position 1 because when the sun is higher in the sky the sunlight can warm the lake more
- At Position 2 because when the sun is lower in the sky the sunlight can warm the lake more
- Sunlight warms the lake the same amount when the sun is at either position because sunlight warms any given place on the surface of the earth the same amount, no matter where the sun is in the sky.
- Neither position because sunlight cannot warm a lake
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 1020 |
6–8 n = 663 |
9–12 n = 357 |
Male n = 471 |
Female n = 530 |
English n = 899 |
Other n = 98 |
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| A. | At Position 1 because when the sun is higher in the sky the sunlight can warm the lake more | 39% | 40% | 37% | 36% | 42% | 40% | 33% |
| B. | At Position 2 because when the sun is lower in the sky the sunlight can warm the lake more | 39% | 38% | 42% | 43% | 36% | 40% | 29% |
| C. | Sunlight warms the lake the same amount when the sun is at either position because sunlight warms any given place on the surface of the earth the same amount, no matter where the sun is in the sky. | 14% | 14% | 15% | 14% | 15% | 13% | 28% |
| D. | Neither position because sunlight cannot warm a lake | 7% | 8% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 11% |