Use the Information from to Help You to Answer the Following Questions

Name: ______Air Pressure Questions

QuickTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Use the information from http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/air_pressure/index.html to help you to answer the following questions.

1. What is air pressure?

2. What weather instrument is used to measure air pressure?

3. Why aren’t we squashed by all the air pressure that is around us?

4. What kind of weather is associated with a high pressure system?

5. What kind of weather is associated with a low pressure system?

6. Click on the ‘control the weather’ link. Complete the table below.

Barometric Pressure Weather Conditions 900 mb Rain, Thunderstorms 940 mb 960 mb 980 mb 1000 mb

7. Why do our ears pop?

8. What happens to a hot air balloon as it rises? Explain why this happens.

Think About It

If you were standing on the top of a mountain, would you be experiencing more or less air pressure than we are right now while we’re sitting in our classroom?