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Hello, my name is Miss Direction.
You have made a great choice to learn geography with me today.
I'm so pleased that you've decided to complete your learning with me.
We are going to do brilliantly.
Let's start our learning for today.
Welcome to today's lesson from our unit, "The Americas, How Diverse are its Places and Landscapes?" This lesson is called "Climate of North and South America." Today you'll be learning to use climate data to investigate and describe different climates in North and South America.
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 the continents of the world and using maps to locate the countries in North and South America.
I'm really excited to get started.
I hope you are too.
The key words we'll be using today are weather, climate, latitude and equator.
We'll be using these words during the lesson and learning more about them later.
Let's do my turn, your turn.
Weather, weather.
Climate, climate.
Latitude, latitude.
Equator, equator.
Well done.
I want you to be using these keywords throughout our lesson as well.
Let's think in more detail about our keywords mean.
Here are the definitions of our keywords.
The weather of a place is the day-to-day condition of the atmosphere.
For example, if it's sunny, snowing, warm, et cetera.
Climate describes the average weather conditions over a long period of time.
Lines of latitude are imaginary lines on the Earth showing the positions north or south of the equator, measured in degrees.
The equator is an imaginary line encircling the earth at zero degrees latitude and is an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.
These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.
First, we'll be learning about what a climate graph is.
Then, we will learn how the climate varies in the Americas.
Are you ready to start your learning today? Fantastic.
Let's begin.
Weather describes the day-to-day conditions in a particular place such as the temperature or whether it's raining or sunny.
What is the weather in your locality like today? What is the difference between weather and climate? Have a think, pair, share discussion and answer these two questions together.
Pause the video now.
How did you get on? Did you talk about what the weather is like where you are right now? Was it sunny, cold, raining, windy? It could be any of those things or all of those things all at once.
Did you talk about the weather and the climate and the difference between them? Good job.
Climate describes what the average weather conditions in a place are like over a longer period of time.
This is usually about 30 years or so.
How would you describe the climate of the UK? Pause the video now and share your ideas as a class.
Well done.
Did you talk about the climate of the UK being a bit cold and wet at times and it can also be sunny in the warmer months? Good job.
It's time for a check now.
Let's check your learning so far by answering this question together.
What does climate mean? Is the answer A, what the weather is like today? B, what the weather is like over a year? Or C, what the weather is like over a period of 30 years or more? Pause the video now and answer this question.
Did you say C? Well done, that's correct.
Climate means what the weather is like over a period of 30 years or more.
Measuring the weather over a long period of time helps us understand what the climate is like.
Climate data includes rainfall, so how much rain falls in millimetres, the temperature, how hot or cold a place is, the hours of sunshine or daylight, the wind speed and the sea level.
So all of these things help us understand what climate is like.
They all contribute to climate data.
A climate graph shows how rainfall and temperature change during the year in a particular location.
The line shows the average temperature, so that's the red line you're looking at with the dots in the middles of the bars.
And then the blue bars show the average rainfall.
You can see the months along the bottom.
Temperature, like I said, is that red line and it's measured in degrees Celsius.
It's listed on the left axis and it's represented by the red dots on the line.
And then rainfall is represented by the blue bars.
You can see the measurements there in millimetres along the axis on the right hand side.
Let's have another little check here.
Complete the sentence.
Climate graphs show A, the temperature and wind speed of a place.
B, the average temperature and rainfall of a place.
Or C, the temperature and rainfall of a place next year.
Pause the video now and complete the statement.
How did you get on? Did you say B? That's right.
Well done.
Climate graphs show the average temperature and rainfall of a place.
Here's another little check.
To read the temperature on a climate graph, we look at the A, bars, B, line or C, X axis labels? Pause the video now.
Did you say B? That's right.
To read the temperature on a climate graph, we look at the line.
Good job everyone.
Well done.
Give yourselves a thumbs up.
To work out the temperature, we find the correct part of the line and read the value from the left hand axis.
So for example, if I wanted to find out the temperature in June, I look at the correct part of the line and then look across to the left axis and read the number.
Then I work out the average temperature in June is roughly 12 degrees Celsius.
To work out rainfall, we find the correct bar and read the value from the right hand axis.
If I wanted to look at rainfall in August, I would look at the bar and then I would follow along the value to the right hand axis, and then I could say that roughly the rainfall in August is 75 millimetres.
It is time for another check here.
What is the average temperature in this location in April? Pause the video now and answer this question.
How did you get on? Shall we work through this together? Let's look for April.
Then let's look for the red temperature line.
Then let's track across to the left axis and then read the number.
The average temperature is 6 degrees Celsius.
Did you get that right? Well done.
Let's have another check here.
What is the average rainfall in this location in November? Pause the video and answer this question.
How did you get on? Should we work through this example together as well? Let's look for November and then find the top of the bar and then look across to the right axis and read the number.
The average rainfall in November is about a hundred millimetres.
Well done.
That was hard work, but you did so well.
Let's have a final check here.
Explain to your partner which is the warmest and which is the coldest parts of the year.
Pause the video now and have that discussion.
How did you get on? Does your answer look like mine? I've said it's usually coldest in January, February and December with temperatures around 2 degrees Celsius and warmest in July with temperatures of 14 degrees Celsius.
Good job.
I'm sure that was a really good discussion.
It's now time for our first task.
Part one, I want you to label the climate graph to show the warmest month, coldest month, driest month, and wettest month.
Then for part two, I'd like you to discuss with your partner how the climate of this place differs between January and July.
Pause the video now and complete task A.
Well geographers, how did you get on? Does your labelled climate graph look like mine? The warmest month is July.
The coldest month is January.
The wettest month is August and the driest is April.
The discussion I had with my partner was that in January, the temperature is cold at around 2 degrees Celsius and has around 50 millimetres of rainfall.
In July, it's warmer at around 13 degrees Celsius and wetter with around 60 millimetres of rainfall.
Good job.
Well done.
That was really tricky learning, but you're doing so well.
Let's continue with our lesson.
Now, we are going to look at how the climate varies in the Americas.
Earth is divided into climate zones.
These are regions with similar climates.
There are several different climate zones in North and South America, and you can see that by looking at the different colours across North and South America.
Have a look at this map and explore with your class the different climate zones that you can see.
Pause the video now.
We can use climate graphs to investigate the climate zones in different parts of North and South America.
Here is the climate graph of Edmonton in Canada.
Here is the climate graph of Manaus in Brazil.
Let's look at these two climate graphs in more detail.
It's important to look carefully at the numbers on the scale of the climate graphs as they are often different.
The temperature of the climate graph of Manaus is hotter.
The axis goes up to 30 degrees Celsius.
While the temperature in Edmonton is cooler, the axis goes up to 20 degrees.
If we compare the amount of rainfall on the scale, Manaus is wetter than Edmonton, which goes up to 125 millimetres.
This climate graph is from Edmonton in Canada.
Which months are the coldest months in Edmonton? Pause the video now and answer this question.
How did you get on? Did you identify December and February to be the coldest months? Well done.
Edmonton is coldest around February with average temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius and the warmest in July.
In winter, it'll snow rather than rain as it is below zero degrees Celsius.
Can you identify anything in the photo which suggests a colder climate for a large part of the year? Have a discussion with your class.
Pause the video now.
Did you talk about there being a lack of clouds? They sort of failed to trap the heat in, especially at night and that would make it colder.
I'm sure you talked about lots of other things as well.
This is a climate graph from Las Vegas in the United States of America.
Which month is the hottest? Pause the video now and answer this question.
Las Vegas has temperatures up to 33 degrees Celsius in July.
This is usually the hottest month.
It has the most rainfall in February, but it's fairly dry all year round.
Can you identify anything in the photo which suggests Las Vegas doesn't get much rain? Pause the video now and have a discussion with your class.
Good job.
Did you talk about the lack of clouds and the lack of trees or vegetation? Well done.
I'm sure that was a really rich discussion.
Let's have a check here.
Edmonton in Canada has a climate which is A, hot all year round, B, very cold in winter and warmer in the summer or C, cold all year round? Pause the video now and answer this question.
Did you say B? Well done, that's right.
Edmonton in Canada has a climate which is very cold in winter and warmer in the summer.
Well done.
Give yourselves a thumbs up.
Let's have another little check here.
Las Vegas has a climate which is A, very wet for part of the year, B, completely dry throughout the year or C, mainly dry throughout the year? Pause the video now and answer this question.
The correct answer is C.
Well done if you got that right.
Las Vegas's climate is mainly dry throughout the year.
Good job.
You can give yourselves another thumbs up.
Let's continue with our learning.
This climate graph is from Manaus in Brazil.
Which month is the wettest? How much does the temperature change throughout the year? Pause the video now and answer these questions.
How did you get on? March is the wettest month.
The temperature is hot all year round.
Manaus is surrounded by rainforest.
This climate graph is from Ushuaia in Argentina.
Which month is the coldest? Which month is the warmest? Pause the video now and answer this question.
Ushuaia is cold all year round.
It is warmest in February at around seven degrees and coldest in June at minus three degrees Celsius.
Can you identify anything in the photo which suggests a colder climate? Pause the video now and discuss this as a class.
Did you see the white snow-covered peaks of the mountain range? That would suggest that it has a colder climate.
Well done.
Now it's time for another check.
Which climate graph fits best with location A? Pause the video now and answer this question.
How did you get on? The correct answer is the top climate graph, and that's because it shows a wetter and warmer climate.
Latitude affects what the climate of a place is like.
What are lines of latitude? Pause the video now and answer this question.
How did you get on? Latitude describes how far north or south are places from the equator.
Lines of latitude are imaginary lines that circle the earth.
Remember, there are five major ones and they run parallel to the equator.
The five major lines of latitude are the Arctic Circle, the Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, and the Antarctic Circle.
Let's have another check here.
Lines of latitude, A, run parallel to the equator, B, run vertically down the earth or C, tell us how high somewhere is? Pause the video now and answer this question.
Did you say A? Well done, that's the correct answer.
Lines of latitude run parallel to the equator.
The sun is more directly overhead at the equator.
This means that the sun's rays are more concentrated.
The sun's rays are less concentrated towards the poles as they're spread out over a larger area.
This difference in how the suns rays are distributed affects what the climate is like.
Let's look back at the three places we've looked at today.
Edmonton in Canada is near the Arctic circle, so the sun's rays are spread over a large area, especially in winter.
Manaus in Brazil is near the equator, so the sun's rays are concentrated all year round.
And Ushuaia in Argentina is near the Antarctic circle, so the sun's rays are spread over a large area.
Let's have another check here.
This is a true or false question, so you have to think carefully about this statement.
The further south you travel from the North Pole, the warmer the climate gets.
Is that true or false? Pause the video now and answer this question.
Did you say false? That's right, well done.
Now let's think about justifying our answer to explain why it's false.
Is it false because A, the climate gets warmer as you travel south in the northern hemisphere, but gets cooler as you travel south in the southern hemisphere? Or B, the climate is warmer in the southern hemisphere than the northern hemisphere.
Think about justifying why this statement is false.
Pause the video now and answer this question.
The correct answer is A, the climate gets warmer as you travel south in the northern hemisphere, but gets colder as you travel south in the southern hemisphere.
Well done.
Give yourselves another thumbs up.
It's now time for task B.
Read these descriptions of locations in North and South America.
Match each description with one of the climate graphs.
Pause the video now and complete the first part of task B.
How did you get on? Let's go through the answers together.
The first description, hot temperatures all year with large amounts of rain, especially around February, March, and April, matches with the first climate graph.
The second description, very hot around July and very little rainfall throughout the year matches with the third climate graph.
And then the final description, cold all year round, but especially around June and July and rainfall totals highest in January and December, matches with the second climate graph.
Well done.
That was really tricky, but you worked through it so well.
It's now time for the second part of task B.
Locate each of the climate graphs on the map of North and South America.
Pause the video and complete the second part of task B.
How did you get on? Here are the correct answers.
The first climate graph matches with location C.
The second climate graph matches with location B and the final climate graph matches with location A.
Good job.
Well done everyone.
Let's go through a summary of the learning that we've completed together today.
We learned that climate graphs show us the average weather over a long period of time.
There are a range of different climate zones in North and South America, and climate is affected by latitude, the distance from the equator.
You've been fantastic today.
Give yourselves one last thumbs up and well done for joining me today and sharing your learning with me.
See you next time for more geography lessons soon.
Bye.
