Lesson video

Hi everyone.

My name is Mrs. Dhillon and last lesson, you were learning about some of North America's most important human characteristics.

Can you remind me what other natural resources that are found in North America? Say out loud.

Good job, you should have said oil and natural gas.

Well done if you said that.

In the lesson today, we will be exploring the question, what is the climate like in parts of North America? This is what the structure of the lesson is going to look like.

We will start by going through the star words, then we would define climate.

Then we will explore climate in the Caribbean, and then we will explore the climate in the Mountainous West.

So we're going to be looking at two different regions, within North America.

But first, please make sure you have all your equipment ready for today's lesson.

On the screen, you can see the star words for today's lesson.

Let's say them out loud using my turn, your turn.

North America, climate, Caribbean, Mountainous West, equator, hurricanes, arid, frost damage.

Excellent job team.

So to start the lesson, we will recap our knowledge of the location of countries within North America.

Look at the map on the screen.

Can you write down a country in North America that starts with the letter C.

Pause the video now so you can do that.

Remember, there might be more than one so if you want to, you can include more than one.

So remember, finding a country, starting with the letter C, in North America.

Okay team, so you might have said, Costa Rica or Cuba.

Well done if you managed to find those.

Now I would like you to write down the name of a country in North America, that starts with the letter, B.

Pause the video now to find a country starting with the letter B.

Okay team, so, you might have said Belize, or Barbados.

Well done if you managed to find those.

Now, I would like you to write down a country in North America, that starts with the letter H.

Pause the video if you need some more time and find the country starting with the letter H.

Okay team, did you say, Honduras or Haiti? Well done if you managed to find those.

Okay, now your brain should be warmed up and we're now ready for the main lesson.

So to start, let's start by defining what climate is.

Now, the definition of climate is the average weather conditions in the area in general, or over a long period of time.

The difference between climate and weather is that weather is what the temperature or what the climate is like on a particular day.

So if I look outside now, I can see it's quite sunny, but tomorrow, it might be raining.

So the weather changes day to day, or hour to hour.

Because even in one day you can have a really sunny morning, but, it can be raining later on in that day.

However, the climate is the average weather condition over a longer period of time or in general.

So those are the differences between climate and weather.

Pause the video now to complete the task on the screen.

So the key word you were looking for was, average.

That is a key word that defines climate.

Now team, geography has two branches, physical geography and human geography.

Today, we're going to start by focusing on the physical geography, which is the branch of geography, dealing with the natural processes on earth.

For example, weather and climate.

So let's start by looking at the climate in the Caribbean.

There are two pictures on the screen.

Have a look more closely.

What do you think the climate of the Caribbean is like? So the climate of the Caribbean is tropical, which means it's very hot and humid, but, it gets a lot of rain.

The temperatures are above 20 degrees and can range from 20-30 or even higher.

The seasons are conventionally divided into two seasons.

So in the UK, we have four seasons.

We have spring, autumn, winter and summer.

We have four seasons, but in the Caribbean, there's only two, and this is the rainy season or the dry season.

Temperatures range from warm to hot all year round with at least one distinct wet season each year.

And the wet season mainly coincides with the Atlantic Ocean's hurricane season.

Which runs from, June to around November.

Now temperature and precipitation varies across the region of the Caribbean.

It mainly depends on the elevation, which is the height above sea level.

So areas that are closer to the sea level will experience less variation in the climates, but those are in higher elevation, have a more.

have more variation in their weather, which means weather can change in higher elevations.

So just to summarise, the climate in the Caribbean is, hot and humid because it's tropical and it also gets a bit of rain.

What do we call this season when it's raining? Good job, it is the wet season.

So there's only two seasons, dry and wet.

Excellent listening team, I would now like you to pause the video so you can complete the task on the screen.

Choose the correct word to fill in the missing gap.

Let's go through the answers.

The Caribbean has a tropical climate, which means it is hot and humid, but also gets a lot of rainfall.

Did you manage to put the words in the correct place? Well done if you did, and if you need to fix anything, please do that now.

So now let's think about why does the Caribbean have such a hot and humid climate? The reason is, is because the Caribbean, which you can see in the pink rectangle is very close to the equator.

Can you point to the equator for me? So you should have pointed to the pink line going across the world map.

Now countries that are closer to the equator are hotter because the sun's rays, hit the earth surface at a higher angle at the equator.

That's why countries that are along the equator are hotter.

So, I mentioned that there's a rainy season in the Caribbean.

So even though generally the Caribbean is sunny throughout the year, and it's really warm and hot, the region also gets a lot of rainfall and the rainy seasons varies from island to island, but it generally starts in May and last until the end of December.

Extreme weather is also a part of island life.

Despite its pleasant climate, the Caribbean does get hit by extreme weather.

Look at the pictures.

What extreme weather do you think hits the Caribbean? Well done if you said thunder storms, and hurricanes.

So severe thunderstorms sometimes strike the islands and hurricanes are constant feature of most of the Caribbean with a season of their own.

Hurricanes develop over the ocean, usually in the Eastern Caribbean during the summer months.

Where do hurricanes normally develop? Well done if you said over the ocean.

Now the hurricanes can generate wind speeds of 110 to 280 kilometres per hour.

So they're extremely powerful and they produce extreme amounts of heavy rainfall as well.

These hurricanes can cause a lot of destruction to the islands, to the people who live on the islands, and to the property.

I would now like you to pause the video to complete the task on the screen.

So you should have said hurricanes and thunderstorms. So thumbs up if you've got that correct.

We are now going to focus on human geography.

This looks at the impact and behaviour of people and how they relate to the physical world.

So let's think about how climate change will have an impact on the Caribbean.

Climate change is the gradual warming up of Planet Earth.

It's caused by a number of factors.

Some of these are human factors.

For example, the burning of fossil fuels such as coal.

This causes greenhouse gases, which contribute to the heating up of the planet.

Climate change will affect the Caribbean as it will lead to more extreme and unpredictable weather.

We are going to study two ways in which climate change will affect the Caribbean.

Firstly, there will be more frequent and stronger hurricanes and tropical storms. Most scientists think that the increase and the number.

in the number and the strength of hurricanes and storms, that we're experiencing in the Caribbean is because of global warming.

Jamaica, for example, is affected by a tropical storm, every 3.

8 years.

Previously, it was directly hit once every 9.

4 years.

So that time span has got even shorter.

Secondly, climate change may lead to an increase in the length of the dry season and, a decrease in the length of the rainy season.

So the rainy season will be shorter and the dry season will be longer.

This will have a huge impact on agriculture, which is farming, and this will then impact the food supply.

So a shorter rainy season and a longer dry season will reduce the supply of water, including drinking water to homes, communities and businesses.

The second region we are going to study is the climate of the Mountainous West.

The climate of the Mountainous West is one of the most diverse climates in the United States.

Which means, is very different from area to area.

Therefore, it is very different to the Caribbean, as it has a much more varied climate whereas in the Caribbean, it has a tropical climate, which means it is generally quite hot and warm all year round.

Now, some parts of the Mountainous West have very tall mountains and these can receive large amounts of rain, but also snow.

But other parts of the region receive very little rain and virtually no slope, so no snow at all.

Let's have a look at Arizona, as an example, which is a state in the Mountainous West.

Arizona has lots of desert lands, which have a hot climate and have very little rainfall and virtually no snow.

Pause the video now, to explain what the climate is like in the desert lands of Arizona.

Pause the video now.

Here are the answers, tick or fix your answers.

Well done if you've got those correct.

Now, we just looked at Arizona, which has a lot of desert lands which are really hot in climate, but also has very little rain and virtually no snowfall.

Now the Northern parts of the State of Arizona are much cooler in climate.

High elevations in mountains receive extremely large amounts of rain and snow.

So on the screen, you can see the Grand Canyon, which is in the North of Arizona.

You can see this, in the Google Maps image.

You can see that this famous attraction receives lots of snow in the winter because of its high altitude.

So, looking at this example and the example of the desert lands in Arizona, you can now understand how the climate in the Mountainous West, varies so differently depending on the area.

So let's have him look at the mountainous areas.

As I mentioned, they have a much cooler climate compared to the desert lands and they also have some rain and snow.

So now let's think about how climate change will impact the Mountainous West.

We are going to look specifically at the Rocky Mountains which are in the Mountainous West.

The ecology of this altitude is largely driven by how much snow it gets in the winter and when that snow melts.

As the climate changes, this area is tending to get less snow and warmer and earlier springs.

This is causing frost damage, which kills parts of a plant.

What is it causing? Good job, you should have said frost damage and you can see that in the picture.

That part of the plant, is starting to die.

The effects of this ripples down throughout the ecosystem, as global warming disrupts plants and sea production.

Which in turn means there's less food for small mammals and birds.

I would now like you to pause the video, to explain why frost damage is a problem in the Rocky Mountains, which is in the region of the Mountainous West.

Pause the video now to complete this task.

Okay team, here's the answer.

Take a few moments to read through.

So the key thing you should have mentioned is that frost damage due to climate change is a bit of a problem in the Rocky Mountains and it's disrupting seed production and damaging plants.

This is having an impact on the birds and mammals because they have less food.

Look at the pictures from these two regions.

What are the similarities and differences in the climates of these two regions? Okay team, so, you might have said, the Caribbean has a wet and dry season.

So only has two seasons.

And, it has a tropical climate so it's hot all year round.

On the other hand, the Mountainous West, the climate is a bit more varied.

This depends on where you are, within that region.

So desert lands are really hot.

There's very little water and virtually no snow, but the mountainous areas are much cooler, have some rainfall, and also get some snow.

So this is why, there's some similarities, because in some parts of the Mountainous West, you do get hot climates, for example, in the desert lands, whereas in the Caribbean you get hot climate everywhere.

The other difference is in the Caribbean, you don't really see snow, but in the Mountainous West, because there's a higher elevation, you do get snow in the mountains.

So hopefully you're now understanding some of the similarities, but also some of the differences between these two regions.

So now I would like you to answer this question.

What are the similarities and differences between the climate in the Caribbean and the Mountainous West? I have given you some sentence stems to help you write your answer.

For example, one similarity is, and you might mention, that it rains in both regions, but not in the desert lands.

So you might say that's a similarity, but there's also a difference.

And one difference is, and you might talk about the difference in, it being tropical in one place and the other place experiencing some snow.

So I would now like you to pause the video, to complete this task, remember to write in full sentences, to answer this question, best of luck team.

Okay team, let's have a read through, the model example.

So we're going to read it together and then you can see how you did.

A similarity is that both regions receive rain.

The climate in the Caribbean is tropical so there is a wet season, and in the Mountainous West, there is rain in the mountainous areas.

So, the main similarity I have chosen to highlight that is that both regions do receive rain.

However, in the mountainous areas, that's where you get the rain in the Mountainous West.

Now let's read the difference.

One difference is that the Caribbean has tropical weather and so it is warm all year round.

Whereas in some parts of the Mountainous West, for example, in the mountains, there can be lots of snow in the winter.

So the main difference highlighted here is the Caribbean is very warm and hot all year round whereas in the Mountainous West due to the higher elevation, some areas get receive for some snow.

So, you might have written something quite similar to this, or you might've chosen a slightly different similarity or difference.

Take a few moments to check your answer.

Okay team, that is now the end of the lesson, but also the end of the unit.

I hope you have learned lots over the course of this unit, about North America.

Some things you might have known before, but hopefully you learned lots of interesting facts about North America and you might even now know which country you would be interested in visiting.

I wonder what country that is.

I hope you now understand after this lesson, how diverse the climate is in North America.

North America is a very large continent so the climate varies depending on which area you're in.

Bye everyone.

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