Question

A teacher divides his science class into four groups. He presents the groups with the maps shown. The first map shows the relative salt content of ocean waters, with red and yellow showing high salt content and blue purple showing low salt content.



Each group is assigned the region that correspond's with their group number. The teacher asks each group to fill out a table of information for its assigned region, based only on the information provided in the map and their knowledge of systems that affect global weather patterns. Which group correctly filled out its table?

Group 3 - Region 3
Surface water temperature high
Surface water salinity (salt content) average
Surface water density high
Frequency of hurricane formation high
Net evaporation low

Group 4 - Region 4
Surface water temperature low
Surface water salinity (salt content) average
Surface water density high
Frequency of hurricane formation low
Net evaporation low

Group 2 - Region 2
Surface water temperature high
Surface water salinity (salt content) high
Surface water density average
Frequency of hurricane formation high
Net evaporation high

Group 1 - Region 1
Surface water temperature low
Surface water salinity (salt content) low
Surface water density high
Frequency of hurricane formation high
Net evaporation high

Answer 1

Group 4 (Region 4) is correct.

Why:
- The map shows Region 4 as a cooler area (not high salinity), so surface temperature is low → hurricane frequency is low (tropical cyclones require warm surface water, ≳26 °C).
- Low surface temperature increases density (colder water is denser), so density high is consistent.
- Cooler regions have low net evaporation (less evaporation than warm subtropical regions), so net evaporation low fits.
- Salinity shown as average in that region on the map, so “average” salinity is consistent.

Why the others are wrong (brief):
- Group 1: lists low temperature but high hurricane frequency and high net evaporation and high density with low salinity — these conflict (hurricanes and high evaporation require warm water; low temperature should lower evaporation and favor higher density only if salinity is not very low).
- Group 2: claims high temp, high salinity, but only average density — high salinity and warm temperature would more likely give density intermediate-to-high depending on amounts; generally subtropical warm+salty regions have high evaporation (they got that right) but the density entry is questionable compared with the map context.
- Group 3: lists high temperature but low net evaporation and high density while salinity is only average — high temperature should produce higher evaporation and tends to lower density unless salinity is unusually high.

Thus Group 4’s set of entries is the only internally consistent set that matches the salinity map and known relationships among temperature, salinity, density, evaporation, and hurricane formation.