BY:  Margaret Harshfield, S. Ellen Jones Elementary School
        New Albany IN, Summer 1989

Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is to allow the students to learn about the various global climates through a variety of learning style techniques and to apply cultural adaptations of the peoples in the various zones due to the climate.

Teaching Level
The lesson was originally designed for grades 3-6 BUT is appropriate for other middle and high school grade levels as a hands-on learning experience.

Geography Standards:
#1 - How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools and technologies to acquire, process and report
       information from a spatial perspective.
#3 - How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places and environments on Earth’s surface.
#4 - The physical and human characteristics of places.
#7 - The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface.
#12 - The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
#15 - How physical systems affect human systems.

Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson/activity, students will be able to:
   1.  identify the four major climate types.
   2.  compare and contrast the basic needs of the people who live in these regions.
   3.  verbally express comprehension that "exceptions" occur within a region due to variations caused by
       elevation and closeness to large bodies of water.
   4.  use information gathered from various sources (magazines, newspapers, atlases, encyclopedias) to develop
       a model for the ten climate zones.

Materials Required
- Magazines, newspapers, and other items that may be cut up
- Atlases and encyclopedias
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- String
- Overlapping overheads displaying the four major climate zones
- Student worksheets to compare climate type with food, shelter, clothing, and other aspects of life (attached)

Procedure
1.  Introduce the topic by naming places that you would like to visit.  Solicit places from the students.
2.  Through guided practice map studies, identify, on a world outline map, the Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic
    of Capricorn, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic Circle on an overhead transparency.
    a.  With a red marker, draw a line over the Equator, thus, indicating the climate region of the Equator in
        red.  Discuss a tropical climate with the students using the teacher information given.
    b.  Overlay a transparency indicating the climate zones from the Equator to the Tropics of Cancer and
        Capricorn in orange, thus, indicating the climate zone as dry.  Discuss a dry climate with the students.
    c.  Overlay a third transparency which indicates the zones from the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn to 600
        North and South in green, thus, indicating the climate zones as mid-latitude.  Discuss a mid-latitude
        climate with the students.
    d.  Overlay a fourth (and last) transparency which indicates the zones from 600 North and South to the
        Poles in blue, thus, indicating the climate zones as polar.  Discuss a polar climate with the students.
3.  Use a population map and a physical map to compare population, land elevation, water, and other features
    of the various climate types.  Pose various questions to the students about locations, climates, animal
    and plant life, and other topics.
4.  Divide the students into groups.  Each group will design a collage of the world's four major climate zones
    by observing various color photographs and their probable place of origin.  The groups will paste the
    photographs on a large sheet of paper (11" x 17") with the polar photographs at the top and bottom of the
    sheet, the mid-latitude photographs next to the polar photographs, the dry photographs near the Equator,
    and the tropical photographs on the Equator.  Notice that the photographs generally tend to be reddish along
    the tropical zone, orange/brown in the dry zones, green in the mid-latitude zones, and blue in the polar
    zones.  When the projects are completed, have the groups explain their models of the climate zones to the
    rest of the class.  Be sure that students do not "over generalize" about climate types.  Display various
    world climate maps (in color in atlases) to the students that they gain a better sense of the diversity of
    and distribution of the many climate types.
5.  Each student is to complete the student worksheet.  Brainstorm with the class the following two questions:
    a.  What do we need to consider when thinking about climate zones?
    b.  What kinds of activities do people tend to be involved in within a particular climate zone?

Evaluation
Evaluation will be performed by observing the group work and the end-product and by reading the student worksheets.

Extensions/Adaptations
The students could write a more complete report on a given region of the world and its climate type(s) and could present their findings to the rest of the class.

Teacher Background Information

                      INFORMATION ABOUT CLIMATE ZONES - (approximate)
DRY CLIMATES
     Desert - Located between 20 - 30 degrees latitude North and South;  hot and dry with almost no rain;
             approximately 1000 average summer temperatures;  temperature can drop below freezing on winter
             nights;  examples are the Australian interior and the Gobi Desert

     Steppe - Often occurs in low to mid-latitudes along the edges of deserts;  somewhat wetter than desert
             climates;  semi-arid;  examples are the Sahel region of Africa and the fringes of the Great Plains
             as in North Dakota

TROPICAL CLIMATES
     Tropical Wet and Dry - Located between 5 - 20 degrees latitude North and South;  hot year-round with wet
                           and dry seasons;  transitional region;  examples are the savannas of Kenya and the
                           Ilanas of Venezuela

     Tropical Wet - Located between 0 - 10 degrees North and South latitude;  hot and rainy year-round;  daily
                   afternoon rains;  examples are the Amazon River Basin and the Central African Republic

MID-LATITUDE CLIMATES
     Mediterranean - Located between 30 - 40 degrees latitude North and South;  found along the western coasts
                    of continents;  takes the name from the area bordering the Mediterranean Sea but are found
                    in such areas as California, Chile, and the tip of Africa;  summers are typically hot and
                    dry;  winters are mild and cool with rain;  rarely extreme temperatures;  examples are
                    Greece and western Australia

      Marine West Coast - Located between 35 - 55 degrees latitude North and South;  mild and wet especially in
                         the winter;  westerlies move moist air in from the oceans;  rain occurs in steady
                         drizzle rather than a heavy downpour;  summer rains taper off to an inch or two;
                         examples are Washington, British Columbia, Southern Alaska, most of western Europe,
                         southern Chile, New Zealand, and England

      Humid Continental - Located between 35 - 60 degrees latitude North;  does not occur in the southern
                         hemisphere;  not located near oceans;  seasonal changes are extreme - warm summers
                         and cold, wet winters;  highly variable weather within a season;  located in
                         areas where polar and tropical air masses collide;  four distinct seasons;
                         examples are central and eastern North America, northeastern Europe, and eastern
                         Asia

      Humid Subtropical - Located between 20 - 35 degrees latitude North and South along the east coast of
                         continents;  hot, humid summers;  mild winters;  popular areas for vacation and
                         retirement;  complex weather conditions;  climate suitable for agriculture;  examples
                         are southeastern United States, east coast of Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Taiwan,
                         and portions of Uraguay

POLAR CLIMATES
       Ice Cap - Located at the North and South Polar Regions;  coldest climates on the Earth;  temperatures
                may remain below freezing and may plunge to 89-90 0F below zero;  during the winter months, the
                sun never gets above the horizon;  arid and no vegetation;  examples are Antarctica and central
                Greenland

       Tundra - Located on the fringe of the ice cap regions;  brief warm period takes place during the summer
               months allowing for low-growing vegetation;  the temperature may reach the mid 40's during the
               summer;  the earth is frozen for most of the year, but some thawing occurs during the short
               summers due to the higher temperatures;  examples are the north slope of Alaska and the northern
               coast of Russia
 

Student Worksheet for Global Climate and Human/Environment Interaction Lesson

Name:____________________________

Food                        Shelter                         Clothing                         Other