Original Project
Weather and Climate I: Basic Elements
Clouds and rain form as air cools and water vapor in the air condenses into water droplets.
Item WC085002: Rain falls when tiny water droplets in clouds combine to form larger droplets.
Which of the following statements is TRUE about rain falling from clouds?
- Clouds are not made of liquid water but they hold liquid water, and when the pool of liquid water that fills the inside of clouds gets too large for the cloud to hold, the cloud releases the water as rain.
- The tiny droplets of liquid water that make up clouds combine into larger droplets, and those droplets fall as rain.
- Clouds are not made of liquid water but they hold liquid water, and wind releases this water as rain.
- Rain does not fall from clouds. It just falls from the sky.
- Distribution of Responses
- Students Responding Correctly
| Group | Correct | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1301 | 3093 | 42% |
| Grades | |||
| 6–8 | 788 | 1931 | 41% |
| 9–12 | 512 | 1159 | 44% |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 648 | 1496 | 43% |
| Female | 630 | 1542 | 41% |
| Primary Language | |||
| English | 1178 | 2746 | 43% |
| Other | 91 | 277 | 33% |