Weather Types — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which cloud is tall and can bring thunderstorms?
A) cirrus
B) stratus
C) cumulus
D) cumulonimbus
Cumulonimbus clouds grow very tall and thick, holding the energy and water drops needed to create thunderstorms.
2. What happens to water puddles on a hot sunny day?
A) they freeze
B) they evaporate
C) they get bigger
D) they turn green
Hot sunlight warms puddle water until it turns into vapor and rises into the air — the puddle slowly disappears.
3. Which tool shows the direction the wind is blowing?
A) rain gauge
B) thermometer
C) weather vane
D) barometer
A weather vane is a spinning arrow that points into the wind, telling us exactly which way it is coming from.
4. What kind of precipitation is soft, white, and falls in winter?
A) hail
B) sleet
C) rain
D) snow
Snow is the winter precipitation made of soft white ice crystals that only form when the air is cold enough.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. Flat clouds that cover the whole sky are called stratus clouds.
Stratus clouds stretch out like a flat gray blanket across the sky and often bring drizzle or light rain.
2. A tornado is a dangerous spinning column of air.
A tornado is a narrow funnel of fast-spinning wind that reaches from a storm cloud down to the ground.
3. The sun heats the earth and creates different types of weather.
The sun warms up our planet unevenly, and this is what causes all the different types of weather we see.
4. Ice crystals in clouds can grow heavy and fall as hail.
Hail forms when ice crystals bump around inside storm clouds, growing bigger and bigger until they drop to the ground.
5. Spring weather often brings rain showers that help flowers grow.
Spring rain gives thirsty flowers and plants the water they need to wake up and bloom after winter.