Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Chorekdjian I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

I will be helping you with your geography lesson.

We're going to have a great time learning together today.

Let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson from our unit called "Climate zones: What are they and why do they matter?" This lesson is called "Introducing Climate." Your learning outcome for today will be to understand the position of the Earth in space in relation to the sun and how this affects the climate.

Some of this learning is brand new, but I'm here to help you.

This links back to previous learning you might have done exploring cold places around the North and South Pole and hot places around or near the equator.

I'm really excited to get started.

I hope you are too.

These are the keywords that we'll be using together today.

Before we find out what they mean, let's practise saying them together.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Solar energy.

Solar energy.

Equator.

Equator.

Poles.

Poles.

Good job, everyone.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions of the keywords.

Solar energy, the light and heat that comes from the sun's rays are solar energy.

Equator.

The equator is an imaginary line of latitude going around the centre of the Earth.

Poles.

The North Pole is at the northern end of Earth's axis, and the South Pole is at the southern end of Earth's axis.

Well done for going through those keywords.

I want you to be using them throughout our lesson today.

Here are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

First, we'll be thinking about the question, what is the position of Earth in space? And then we'll be moving on to thinking about how the position of Earth affects climate.

Are you ready to start your learning? Great.

So am I.

Let's get started.

Earth is constantly rotating.

This means that it is spinning.

It spins around an axis that is tilted.

An axis is something that goes through the centre of the Earth around which it spins.

So here's an example of Earth.

Earth is spherical like this.

That means it's in the shape of a sphere and instead of being straight up, it's slightly tilted on its axis, like that.

So can you see? And while it's tilted on its axis, it rotates.

So that means it's spinning round.

So you can see that black arrow showing you how it rotates.

Here's a diagram to help us understand that a little bit better.

As the Earth rotates, so remember, we said the Earth is rotating on its axis like this, which is tilted.

It's moving around the sun.

That's called an orbit.

So as the Earth rotates, it orbits the sun.

This means that the Earth moves around the sun.

It follows an almost circular path.

So you can see that the Earth's orbit is highlighted on that diagram with the blue arrow.

So the directions show that the Earth is orbiting the sun.

And remember, while it's doing that, it's also rotating on its axis, tilted at the same time.

So let's have a check here of the learning that we've completed together so far.

What type of axis does Earth rotate around? A, a vertical axis, B, a tilted axis, or C, a diagonal axis.

Pause the video now and complete that check.

Great.

How did you get on? Did you answer B, tilted axis? That's correct.

Earth rotates around a tilted axis.

Good job, everybody.

You can give yourselves a thumbs up.

Well done for that learning.

Let's have another check here.

In space, how do the sun and Earth move around each other? A, the sun and Earth orbit each other.

B, Earth orbits the sun.

Or C, the sun orbits Earth.

Pause the video and complete that check.

Great job, everyone.

How did you get on? Did you answer B? That's correct, Earth orbits the sun.

That's how Earth and the sun move around each other.

Earth orbits the sun.

So remember, we said that Earth is tilted on its axis and it rotates on its axis.

While it does that, it also orbits the sun.

So Earth moves around the sun in an almost circular motion.

Good job, everyone.

That's fantastic learning.

Let's continue with our lesson.

Rays of light travel from the sun to Earth in straight lines.

So you can see that the Earth is tilted on its axis and while it's tilted, there's an arrow showing you that it's rotating.

And at the same time, those yellow arrows are rays of light that travel from the sun to Earth.

Some of the sun's rays travel further than others before reaching Earth.

So those are represented with the longer yellow lines.

So the longer yellow lines are travelling further than the shorter yellow lines.

Rays that hit the Earth's surface in the middle do not travel as far.

So there you can see in the middle of our diagram, those rays are shorter.

They're represented by shorter arrows so they don't travel as far from the sun as the longer arrows do.

Rays of light that hit the Earth's surface at the top or the bottom travel the furthest.

So can you see, at the top, we have two yellow arrows that are the longest.

That means that they travel the furthest from the sun.

The further they travel, the more spread out they become.

This is because the Earth's surface is curved.

Remember we talked about the Earth being the shape of a sphere? So the surface is curved.

So that means that as those rays travel towards the Earth, they are spread out.

Places that are located around the middle of Earth lie on the equator.

So you can see there a diagram of Earth and the sun, as well as the sun's rays represented.

On a map, we can see the equator as a line across the exact centre of the world.

And so the equator on our map is that black line that goes around the middle of the world.

Energy from the sun is most concentrated at the equator.

It travels a shorter distance and covers a smaller area.

So that means that the sun's rays are more concentrated around the equator.

The top and bottom of Earth are called the poles.

There is a North Pole at the top and a South Pole at the bottom.

There you can see them represented on the map.

Energy from the sun's rays is more spread out across a larger area near the poles because of the curve of the Earth.

So that means that the Earth's rays are not as concentrated at the poles as they are at the equator.

So there are four pupils here and they all have statements to share about the rays of the sun and how they travel.

Let's read through their statements and see which ones are true.

Rays of light travel in straight lines.

The poles are where energy is most concentrated.

Rays of light travel in wavy lines.

The equator is where energy is most concentrated.

Which two statements are true? Talk to a partner and explain your choices.

Pause the video now.

How did you get on? Did you say rays of light travel in straight lines? That's correct.

And did you also say the equator is where energy is most concentrated? That's correct as well.

Well done, everyone.

You can give yourselves another thumbs up.

It's now time for task A.

What I would like you to do is to identify the features that are labelled from A to D on the diagram.

Put the letter for each feature in the table.

So the features that you're trying to label are the equator, tilted axis, North Pole and the South Pole.

And you have to write the letter that matches each one into the table.

Pause the video now and complete task A.

How did you get on labelling this diagram? Here are the answers.

Did you say that feature D was the equator? Well done.

Did you remember that the equator is that imaginary line that goes all the way round the middle of the Earth, and that's where the suns rays are most concentrated.

Did you label feature A as the tilted axis? Remember that Earth is tilted on its axis and it rotates on its axis.

How did you get on labelling features B and C? You can see that feature B is the North Pole and feature C is the South Pole.

And remember that the sun's rays are less concentrated and more spread out at the poles because of the curve of the Earth.

Well done if you got that right.

Good job, everybody.

You can give yourselves another thumbs up.

That's lots of tricky learning there, but you worked through it so well.

Let's continue with our lesson.

It's now time to think about how the position of Earth affects climate.

The sun provides warmth for Earth in the form of solar energy.

So always remember that solar energy comes from the sun.

The concentration of the sun's rays has a direct effect on the temperature of places on Earth.

So that means that it could feel hot or cold due to the sun's rays.

Temperature is how warm or how cool something is.

We usually measure temperature in degrees Celsius.

Let's look at this diagram again to help us move our learning on further.

When the sun's ray's travel a shorter distance and fall on a smaller area, they have more energy.

So remember, we said that around the equator is where the sun's rays are concentrated because they travel a shorter distance and they hit a smaller area.

Temperatures in these areas are higher, which means it's hotter.

The sun's rays are more spread out towards the poles.

That's because of the Earth's curvature.

So the sun's rays have a lot further to travel and they spread out over a larger area.

They cover a larger area and so have less energy.

Temperatures in those areas are lower, and that means it's cooler.

So places near the equator are warmer than places far from the equator.

It's time to have a little check here.

Let's look at this world map.

You can see that we've located two countries.

We've located Norway, which is a country that's close to the North Pole and it's in the continent of Europe.

And then we've located a country called Kenya, which is located in the continent of Africa.

Kenya is a country that's located on the equator.

Which country do you think will be cooler? Why? Talk to a partner and share your ideas.

How did you get on with that check? Did you identify which country would be cooler? Remember we said that Kenya is a country that's located on the equator and Norway is a country that's located close to the North Pole.

So let's see what you answered.

Did you say that Norway will be cooler and Kenya will be warmer? Did you use the sun's rays to explain that to your partner? The sun's rays are more spread out near the poles where Norway is, so they have less energy, making it cooler.

The sun's rays are more concentrated at the equator where Kenya is, so they have more energy, making it warmer.

So overall, we can say that temperatures are lower in Norway than Kenya.

Well done, everybody if you got that right.

That was really tricky learning, but you're working through this lesson so well.

You can give yourselves another thumbs up.

Let's move on with our learning.

The temperature of a location is one aspect of the weather.

Weather is the condition of the atmosphere.

For example, if it is hot or cold, wet or dry or how strongly the wind is blowing.

So weather is what we feel outside.

Weather conditions can change quickly and often.

I'm sure you've been outside in the park, enjoying a sunny day and then all of a sudden, it starts raining.

That's exactly what we're talking about.

People who study the weather are called meteorologists.

Meteorologists use lots of special equipment to record and monitor weather conditions over time to look for patterns.

The regular pattern of weather conditions over a long period of time, usually about 30 years, is called the climate.

The weather is what we experience every day and the climate is the pattern of weather over a longer period of time.

So let's just check what we mean by that.

Sofia's there to help us understand what it means.

"Climate is what we expect the weather to be like, whereas weather is what we actually get!" And remember we said that the weather can change very quickly, even a matter of minutes.

On this map, you can see that some places on Earth have similar climates.

These places are called climate zones.

So you can see the different colours are represented on the map to show the different climates.

You can see that on the map the red areas represent the equatorial climate zone.

The orange-y areas represent the tropical climate zone.

Yellow areas represent the desert climate zone.

The green areas are represented by the temperate climate zone.

And then the blue areas represent the arctic and polar climate zones.

Places with a polar climate are near to or on the poles, so you can see that the blue areas that we can see on our map are close to the North Pole and the South Pole.

Places with an equatorial climate are near to or on the equator.

And you can see that also located on our map.

It's time for a check here.

Which statement about climate zones is true? A, climate zones are places with high average temperatures.

B, climate zones are places with similar average weather.

Or C, climate zones are places with low average temperatures.

Remember, we talked about climate representing a pattern of weather over a period of about 30 years.

Pause the video and answer that check.

How did you get on? Did you answer B, climate zones are places with similar average weather? That's correct.

Good job, everyone.

It's now time for task B.

What I would like you to do is look carefully at the locations that are labelled A to E on the map.

Remember, this map shows us all of the different climate zones.

For the first part of your task, I would like you to rank the locations A to E in order from the hottest, which would be number one, to coolest, which would be number five.

Then for the second part of your task, I'd like you to explain your thinking.

Make sure to include all of that geographical thinking that we've done today to help you reason and explain why.

How did you get on? Did you rank the locations A to E in order like this? Remember, we said number one would be the hottest and number five would be the coolest.

So for location A, we've ranked that as three.

Location B would be ranked as five because that would definitely be the coolest place that's located in the arctic and polar climate zone.

Location C would be ranked as four.

Location D would be ranked as one because location D is close to the equator.

And finally, location E is ranked as two.

Well done if you ranked those locations in the same order as I did.

Fantastic.

Now, for the second part of our task, I asked you to explain your thinking.

Let's have a look at some explanations from pupils.

"I think the sun's rays are more concentrated at the equator, so D must be the hottest place!" Well done if you wrote something similar.

Remember that the sun's rays travel a shorter distance and don't spread out as much, so that means that their rays are more concentrated.

Let's see what Max says.

"Yes and the furthest place from the equator must be the coldest.

That's location B!" Remember, we talked about the poles of the Earth and that those areas are coolest because the Earth's rays are more spread out and they travel a further distance.

So that means that those locations are the coldest.

Well done for all of your geographical thinking today.

You worked really hard thinking about the position of Earth in space, and how the position of Earth affects the climate.

Well done, everyone.

We've come to the end of our lesson now.

So let's go through a quick summary of all of the learning that we've completed together today.

The Earth is constantly rotating on a tilted axis and orbiting the sun.

The sun's energy is more concentrated near the equator and spread out over a larger area near the poles.

Average temperature across the Earth is related to how far from the equator a place is located.

Climate is the average pattern of weather taken over a period of time, usually 30 years.

Some areas of the world share a similar climate.

We call these areas climate zones.

You've been fantastic today.

Well done for joining me and for sharing your learning with me.

I'll see you soon for more geography lessons.

Goodbye.