Connect Outline Sketch map of the World’s Climatic zones

your
learning ARCTIC
CIRCLE

IN PAIRS
1. Name the world
climate zones A TROPIC OF

to G in the key CANCER

EQUATOR
A
2. List 2 reasons B
Tropical
Mediterranean
why we get C Dry
TROPIC OF
CAPRICORN

different D Temperate

climate zones E Mountainous

Continental
F
across the globe G Polar ANTARCTIC
CIRCLE

Any reasons from;

1. Latitudinal changes in temperature caused by the curve of the Earth
2. Ocean currents – bringing warm and cold water to places
3. Atmospheric circulation, giving areas broad high and low pressure
areas
4. Distance from the sea
Connect your Outline Sketch map of the World’s Climatic zones

learning High
Pressure

Polar
Cell
ARCTIC
Low CIRCLE
Pressure

Ferrell
Cell
High
Pressure
Hadley TROPIC OF
Cell CANCER

Low
Pressure EQUATOR
A Tropical
Hadley B Mediterranean
Cell TROPIC OF
High C Dry CAPRICORN

Pressure D Temperate
Ferrell Mountainous
Cell
E
Low Continental
F
Pressure
G Polar ANTARCTIC
CIRCLE

Polar
Cell
High
Pressure
• Here you can see that warm ocean currents affect climate type – allowing temperate
climates further north in Western Europe for example, or Polar climates further south on
the Eastern side of North America.
• The deserts or “Dry” climates occur in a band where the atmospheric pressure is high and
air is SINKING
 1. What is
Connect your learning happening to the
Model of Atmospheric air in the global
circulation
North Pole
(90°N)
Po
circulation model
la rC
ell in our Polar
60° regions?

Fer
N

rel
Ce l
ll
30° 2. What type of
N pressure would

Hadley
there be?

ell C
EQUATOR 0°

3. What does this

30°S
mean for the
climate
experienced in the
60°S Arctic (north) and
Antarctic (south)?
South Pole (90°S)
Polar Climate
 Polar Climate
Objectives
• To understand why it is cold
in our polar regions
• To understand why our
polar areas are classified as
deserts
• To have the ability to
calculate means, totals and
interpret climate graphs
Outcomes
• A labelled sketch diagram
on how latitude affects
temperature
• A list of reasons in a table
on why snow fall rates are
very low in the Arctic and
Antarctic regions
• Calculated and interpreted
means and totals
 Polar Climate
• Spot the differences! In pairs try to
explain the differences between
Antarctica and the Arctic
• What do the 2 areas have in
common?
1. Antarctica is a CONTINENT with land
mass under the ice, mountains and
volcanoes.
2. The Arctic is largely sea ice with
some parts of countries intruding
3. Sea ice typically covers about 14 to
16 million km2 in late winter in the
Arctic
4. Antarctica is 14 million km2 PLUS 17
to 20 million km2 of sea ice in the
Antarctic Southern Ocean in winter.
We often don’t see the full extent of
Antarctica on maps of the world – why
not?
Image Credits: NASA https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/ice-min-approach.html
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-antarctica-k4.html
 POLAR CLIMATE - Why is it so 1. Add labels to
the base
cold at the poles? sketch of the
diagram
North Pole opposite
Approximate position of Arctic Circle
2. In a paragraph
Further North and South the curve of the
Earth means that the same amount of explain why it
solar radiation has more land to cover
So it is less
generally gets
concentrated
colder as we
move from the
The Sun’s energy hits the
Equatorial regions flat on
equator to the
Approximate
position of So it is more poles
Equator concentrated
3. Based on this
information –
where would
Approximate position of Antarctic
Circle
YOU like to
live and why?
South Pole

Earth Image credit – NASA EPIC team

https://explorer1.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/earth-from-space/#gallery-17
 POLAR CLIMATE - Why is it so
cold at the poles? North Pole
1. Add labels to the
Approximate position of Arctic Circle sketch of the
satellite image on
the previous slide
2. In a paragraph
explain why it
generally gets
colder as we move
Approximate
position of
from the equator
Equator to the poles
3. Based on this
information –
where would YOU
like to live and
Approximate position of Antarctic
Circle
why?
South Pole

Earth Image credit – NASA EPIC team

https://explorer1.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/earth-from-space/#gallery-17
However, the Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5° relative to the sun, so at the Winter Time to THINK!
Solstice (21st or 22nd of December) for the Northern Hemisphere It would look more like 1. What impact would this
this… have on the
concentration of the
Pole
Nort
h Sun’s energy as you
move progressively
North from the
cle Equator?
rc tic Cir
on of A
ositi It would spread
ep
roximat out even more
App
than on the
previous diagram!
2. How much energy
would be received
inside of the Arctic
Circle in the winter
months?
te None, there would
p ro xima
Ap on of
ti be 24 hours of
posi tor
Eq a
u darkness!!!
3. 6 months later, what
impact would this have
c
on energy received in
rcti
o f Anta th Pole the Antarctic circle?
siti on Sou
at e po
roxim The same as in the
App
Circl
e Arctic circle 6
months earlier – 24
hours of darkness
 Ap
p rox
im
ate
po
siti
on
of
Arc
tic
Cir
cle No
rth
Po
le

Ap
po proxi
s m
Equ ition ate
ato o
r f

Ap
Cir proxi
cle ma
te
p o si
tio
n of
An
tar
c tic

Sou
th
Po
le
South P
ole

In addition, at the Summer Solstice (21st or 22nd of June) for the

Northern Hemisphere it would look more like this…
Polar Weather – Can it be too cold to snow?
TEMPERATURE DATA (° C) FOR 2 RESEARCH STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA
Mean
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
temper
ature

1 Vostok -32 -44 -58 -65 -66 -65 -67 -68 -66 -57 -43 -42 -56
2 McMurdo 0 -6 -14 -17 -19 -19 -22 -23 -21 -16 -7 -1 -14

PRECIPITATION (mm) DATA FOR 2 RESEARCH STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

1 Vostok 0.1 0 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 4.1

2 McMurdo 15 21.2 24.1 18.4 23.7 24.9 15.6 11.3 11.8 9.7 9.5 15.7 200.9

1 = Vostok (78°S -near to the 'Pole of Inaccessibility’ - the

point on Antarctica that is furthest from the sea in any
direction). Height 3448 metres.

2 = McMurdo (79°S -on the coast of the Ross Sea). Height 24 metres.
Polar Weather – Can it be too cold to snow?
TEMPERATURE DATA (° C) FOR 2 RESEARCH STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA
Mean
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
temper
ature

1 Vostok -32 -44 -58 -65 -66 -65 -67 -68 -66 -57 -43 -42 -56
2 McMurdo 0 -6 -14 -17 -19 -19 -22 -23 -21 -16 -7 -1 -14

PRECIPITATION (mm) DATA FOR 2 RESEARCH STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

1 Vostok 0.1 0 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 4.1

2 McMurdo 15 21.2 24.1 18.4 23.7 24.9 15.6 11.3 11.8 9.7 9.5 15.7 200.9

1. Calculate the mean annual temperature and the total precipitation for both
stations.
2. Look at the temperature data – can you explain why it is so cold at both stations
referring back to what we have just learnt?
3. Is there a lot of precipitation or a small amount?
4. Look at the temperature and precipitation data. What happens to the amount of
precipitation as the temperature falls?
 A climate graph for McMurdo Research Station
A climate graph for Vostok
0 25 0 25
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
-10 -10
20 20
-20 -20

Temperature (°C)

Precipitation (mm)
Precipitation (mm)
Temperature (°C)

15 15
-30 -30

-40 -40
10 10

-50 -50
5 5
-60 -60

-70 0 -70 0

Precipitation (mm) Temperature (°C) Precipitation (mm) Temperature (°C)

4. Look at the temperature and precipitation data. What happens to the amount of
precipitation as the temperature falls?
5. Could any of the information around the map help to explain this pattern?

2 = McMurdo (79°S 1 = Vostok (78°S -near to the

-on the coast of the 'Pole of Inaccessibility’ - the point
Ross Sea). Height 24 on Antarctica that is furthest
metres. from the sea in any direction).
Height 3448 metres.
 Polar Weather – Can it be too cold to snow?
TEMPERATURE DATA (° C) FOR 2 RESEARCH STATIONS IN
ANTARCTICA Mean
Annual
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec temper
ature

1 Vostok -32 -44 -58 -65 -66 -65 -67 -68 -66 -57 -43 -42 -56
2 McMurdo 0 -6 -14 -17 -19 -19 -22 -23 -21 -16 -7 -1 -14

PRECIPITATION (mm) DATA FOR 2 RESEARCH STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

1 Vostok 0.1 0 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 4.1

2 McMurdo 15 21.2 24.1 18.4 23.7 24.9 15.6 11.3 11.8 9.7 9.5 15.7 200.9

EXTENSION - Any area on

Earth with less than
1 = Vostok (78°S -near 250mm of rainfall is
to the 'Pole of
Inaccessibility’ - the classified as a desert. What
point on Antarctica that
is furthest from the sea
does this mean for the 2
in any direction). stations on Antarctica?
Height 3448 metres.
2 = McMurdo (79°S -on the coast of the Ross
Sea). Height 24 metres.
Polar Weather – Can it be too cold to snow? Reasons why…

Complete the table by deciding why the factors might make it

too cold for snow in Antarctica
Factors Does this make Antarctica too cold for snow? How?

Moisture – areas close to the sea have more available

moisture than those inland.

Evaporation – rates can be very slow from frozen ice sheets,

oceans and the sea

Temperature: it has to be cold enough for the cloud droplets

to grow as snowflakes and to not melt as they fall through
the atmosphere and down to the ground.
 ? Review – polar weather You have 60
60
seconds to talk uninterrupted about the secs
images on this page with a partner
However, the Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5° relative to the sun, so at the Winter Solstice (21 st
or 22nd of December) for the Northern Hemisphere It would look more like this…

h
Nort
Pole

Cir cle
rctic
o n of A
ositi
ate p
pp roxim
A

e
mat
roxi
App on of
iti
pos or
t
Equa

th
n of Sou
o sitio Pole
ate p
pp roxim Circle
A
rctic
Anta

Or try https://quizlet.com/_8y583a?x=1jqt&i=38anvz
 Homework
• Visit https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/diaries/scottslastexpedition/page/2/
• For one week of the diary, complete the following table in your class books. Not all the information
will be available for every day
Date Temperature Wind Speed Precipitation
       

Robert Falcon Scott was a Royal Navy officer

and explorer.

He led the Terra Nova expedition of 1910–

1913 with a party of five which reached the
South Pole on 17 January 1912, less than five
weeks after Amundsen's South Pole
expedition.

On their way back a planned meeting with

supporting dog teams from the base camp
failed.

At a distance of 162 miles (261 km) from

their base camp at Hut Point and
approximately 12.5 miles (20 km) from the
next depot, Scott and his companions died.
By Henry Bowers (1883–1912) - Huxley, Leonard (ed) (1913) "The Return from the Pole" in Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 1, New
York, United States: Dodd, Mead and Company, pp. Opposite p. 374 Retrieved on 3 November 2011., Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17226333
 Would you rather live
somewhere with an extreme
hot climate or an extreme cold
climate?

Thunk Question
 Polar Weather and climate change
1850 1900 1950 2000 2018

Polar regions are warming

Climate Warms faster than the rest of the
world. Summarise this flow
chart with a tweet of 280
characters 

Ice melts

Darker surface
reflect less sunlight, More ocean and
so more of the Sun’s land surface exposed
energy is absorbed