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Do Meteorologists Study Meteors?

Do Meteorologists Study Meteors?
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 5 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.49

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    atmospheric, electrometeors, geneticist, happening, hydrometeor, lithometeor, humidity, atmosphere, meteorology, span, vapor, meteorologists, chemist, foggy, meteor, condensation

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Do Meteorologists Study Meteors?
By Patti Hutchison 		  
1     A chemist studies chemicals. A psychologist studies psychology. A geneticist studies genes. But does a meteorologist study meteors? The answer is yes! The word meteorologist comes from the Greek word meteor. This word meant high in the air. Today we think of meteors as flaming rocks flying through space. Sometimes they are called "shooting stars" (but they are not stars). Meteorologists do not study flaming rocks, but they do study different kinds of meteors.
 
2     A meteor can be anything that falls through the air. So, raindrops, dust, and snowflakes can be though of as atmospheric "meteors." Scientists have different names for different kinds of weather meteors.
 
3     Are there clouds in the sky today? Is it raining? Maybe the sun comes out; now there is a rainbow. It may be snowing or foggy. Precipitation that contains water is called a hydrometeor. Hydro- means water, so a hydrometeor is any kind of water falling through the air.

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