Global Circulation: Cells, Jets and Why Deserts Sit Where They Do · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Why deserts form two matching rings

Science · Earth's Systems · ages 16-17
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What does the atmosphere do about the imbalance?

    • It carries the surplus heat poleward in overturning cells
    • It stands still and lets each place keep its own
    • It dumps all heat straight into space at once

  2. How is solar energy shared between tropics and poles?

    • The poles get extra sun while the tropics freeze
    • The tropics gain energy while the poles lose it
    • Every latitude gains and loses exactly the same

  3. Rain belts sit where air rises, and deserts sit where it sinks.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Where do the great deserts sit, and why there?

    • Where air rises fastest
    • Where dry air sinks in the subtropics
    • Where oceans boil at the equator

  5. Where should rainfall be heaviest on a three-cell planet?

    • At the poles where air rests
    • At random spots each season
    • Near the equator where moist air climbs

  6. What is a jet stream, and why does it sit where it does?

    • Fast high winds at the boundary between cells
    • Still air resting over deserts
    • Ground fog along the equator

  7. A new continent is found. Where will its deserts lie?

    • Deserts would scatter at random
    • The desert bands would flip to the equator
    • Rain would still crown the equator and deserts ring the subtropics

  8. You get wind maps for one latitude band. How do you read them?

    • Memorise every arrow on the map
    • Connect surface winds to the rising and sinking behind them
    • Guess from one city alone
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_nHAXncXpaS-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Why deserts form two matching rings W1-mt_nHAXncXpaS-s1

  1. It carries the surplus heat poleward in overturning cells · Giant loops of rising and sinking air move the extra tropical heat toward the poles.
  2. The tropics gain energy while the poles lose it · Straight-on equatorial sun concentrates energy, while slanted polar sun spreads thin.
  3. True · Rising moist air feeds rain at the equator, while sinking dry air parches the subtropics.
  4. Where dry air sinks in the subtropics · Sinking bands dry the land beneath them on every continent at matching latitudes.
  5. Near the equator where moist air climbs · Satellite pictures confirm the signature: heavy rain follows the rising branch.
  6. Fast high winds at the boundary between cells · Where neighbouring cells meet high up, their meeting drives a racing river of wind.
  7. The desert bands would flip to the equator · The pattern follows heating plus rotation, not place names, so it repeats everywhere.
  8. Guess from one city alone · Each latitude band makes sense once surface winds meet their rising or sinking branch.
Worksheet · LightMySky