Factors That Affect Climate Zones

Unit 3 Lesson 6 What Factors Affect Climate?
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Florida Benchmarks
• SC.5.E.7.5 Recognize that some of the weather-
related differences, such as temperature and
humidity, are found among different
environments…
• SC.5.E.7.6 Describe characteristics (temperature
and precipitation) of different climate zones as
they relate to latitude, elevation, and proximity to
bodies of water.

Climate vs. Weather
• Climate is the long-term weather patterns of a
place.
• Weather describes what the atmosphere is like at
a given time and place.
• Scientists find the climate of an area by averaging
weather conditions over 30 years or more.

Hot, Cold, and Medium
• A climate zone is an area that has similar
average temperatures and precipitation
throughout.
• Three of Earth’s climate zones are tropical,
temperate, and polar.

• The tropical, temperate, and polar climate zones
are based on distance from the equator.
• The equator is the imaginary line that divides
Earth into its northern and southern hemispheres,
or halves.
• An area’s latitude, or distance from the equator,
determines what climate zone it is in.

• Tropical climates are found near the equator.
• The sun is directly overhead nearly all year. As a
result, the area gets a lot of direct heat.
• Temperatures in tropical climates are typically
greater than 18 °C.
• Tropical climates get different amounts of
precipitation.

• Temperate climates are found in the middle
latitudes.
• For most of the year, a temperate climate has
temperatures between 10 °C and 18 °C.
• Most temperate climates have four seasons.
• Temperate climates get different amounts of
precipitation.

• Polar climates are farthest from the equator. They
are found near Earth’s poles.
• Polar climates get little precipitation. They are
covered in snow and ice year-round.
• Temperatures in polar climates are typically less
than 10 °C.

• Identify the tropical, temperature, and polar
climate zones on the map below.

Why Climates Differ
• Distance from the equator, elevation, closeness to
bodies of water, and landforms affect climate.
• Locations near the equator are warm, but high
elevations can make the climate cooler.
• Snowy mountaintops can be found in tropical
places because of elevation.

Why Climates Differ
• Water heats up and cools down more slowly than
land does.
• Places near the coast are often cooler in summer
and warmer in winter than places far away from
the ocean.
• The Gulf Stream is a current of warm ocean water
that affects the climate in North America and
Europe.

Why Climates Differ
• A rain-shadow effect can happen when wet air
rises and falls on the ocean side of a mountain,
creating a wet climate.
• As the air moves down the other side of the
mountain, it is dry. This creates a dry climate, or
rain shadow.

Why Climates Differ
• Describe the type of climate that occurs on each
side of the mountain in the diagram below.

Climate and the Environment
• Climate affects where organisms can live.
• Climate affects the nonliving parts of the
environment.
• Rain, wind, temperature, and other factors can
affect the land surfaces and the types of
organisms that can live in the area.

Desert
• A desert is a dry environment with temperatures
that vary greatly.
• Living things in deserts need to be able to survive
with little water.

Swamps
• Swamps can be fresh water, salt water, or both.
• Swamps occur in places where the ground cannot
soak in all the water that reaches the area.
• Temperatures can be very high in swamps for part
of the year.

Tropical Rain Forests
• Tropical rain forests are found in warm, wet
climates.
• The amount of sunlight in tropical rain forests is
nearly the same year-round.
• Vegetation covers most of the land in tropical rain
forests.

Factors That Affect Climate Zones

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Factors That Affect Climate Zones

Similar to Factors That Affect Climate Zones (20)

More from Sherina Isolica

More from Sherina Isolica (20)

Factors That Affect Climate Zones