Term 3 - Is our climate cool?

In this unit, the children will learn to read weather and climate maps, and learn how weather and climate are generalised into world climate zones.

The concept of biomes will be explored, each with distinctive climate, soil, flora, fauna and human activity.

There is often confusion about the difference between weather and climate.

Weather is short term. It is what happens in our atmosphere from day to day. It includes precipitation, temperature, wind and humidity. Weather varies from place to place, from day to day and from season to season. The range of weather in a place is a characteristic of its climate.

Climate is long term. It refers to the average weather pattern of a place over many years. Climates can be predominantly hot, cold, wet or dry, hot and wet, hot and dry and so on. The climate of a place affects the soil, flora and fauna of that place and impacts on human activity in a variety of ways.

Biomes include deserts, forests, grasslands, tundra and aquatic environments. They are defined collectively by the climate, soil organisms, flora and fauna of a large geographical area. Each biome consists of many ecosystems whose communities have adapted to the small differences in climate and the environment inside the biome.

By the end of the unit

All children can:

• Indicate the tropical and polar climate zones on a globe or map
• Describe the characteristics of these zones using appropriate vocabulary
• Say what a biome is.

Most children can:

• Indicate the tropical, temperate and polar climate zones on a globe or map
• Describe the characteristics of these zones
• Describe and compare some biomes using appropriate vocabulary.

Some children can:

• Locate most climate zones on a map or globe
• Describe the characteristics of most zones introduced during the course of the unit
• Explain why there is a relationship between climate and biome using appropriate vocabulary.