Geographical Influences on Climate Lesson

1
Geographical Influences on Climate Lesson

• Global Precipitation Measurement Mission
• Developed by the GPM Education and Public
  Outreach Team
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

2
Guiding Questions

• Geographic Features What are geographic
  features and how do they affect temperature and
  precipitation?
• Weather versus Climate What are the
  similarities and differences between weather and
  climate?
• Climatograms How can you easily see climate data
  about a location? What analysis tools can you use
  to compare the climate data for different
  locations?
• Geographical Influences on Climate How do
  nearness to large bodies of water, elevation and
  the location of mountains affect temperature and
  precipitation?

3
Engage Name Geographic Features

• Name some geographic features you know. Can you
  think of any ways they might affect temperature
  or precipitation?

Image source Microsoft ClipArt
4
Engage Brainstorm Effects
Geographic Feature Effect on Weather/Climate

5
Engage Volcano!

• Ash and Steam Plume, Soufriere Hills Volcano,
  Montserrat

• THINK Look at the NASA picture at right. Think
  about what geographic factors are present that
  might affect the weather or climate at locations
  A, B and C.
• PAIR Share at least one idea with your partner.
• SHARE Raise your hand if you'd like to share
  something you and your partner discussed.

6
Weather versus Climate

• What is the difference between weather and
  climate?

weather
climate
7
Climatograms

• What do you notice about the climatogram below?

8
Vocabulary

• Term to be familiar with
• prevailing winds - which direction the wind
  usually blows at a particular location (referred
  to by the direction the wind is COMING FROM)

9
Maps of Geographic Features

• What do you notice about the maps below?

10
Climatograms for U.S. Cities

• Look at the map and climatogram you have been
  given. Observe the patterns in the data, and make
  notes and calculations on your capture sheet
  about precipitation, temperature, elevation, and
  any land features such as oceans, lakes and
  mountains.
• After you have examined your climatogram, you
  will compare yours with those of other classmates.

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Effect on inland locations
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Effect on coastal locations
Image source http//www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/kids/act
ivities.php
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Effect of elevation
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Effect of Being Near Mountains
15
Create your own climatogram

• Use the instructions to get data from NASA TRMM,
  weather.com, intellicast.com, wunderground.com,
  or other websites about a location around the
  world.
• Follow the directions to make a climatogram using
  Excel.
• Find your location on a map, and draw or label
  the features around it.
• Using what you have learned about the effect of
  geographic features, write paragraphs describing
  the temperature and precipitation patterns at
  your location, as well as the effect of
  elevation, bodies of water, and mountains.
• Be sure to refer to the checklists and rubric to
  make sure you include all the required
  information.

16
Extension Activities

• Extension Activities

17
Rain Shadow Satellite Images

• Satellite Images and the Rain Shadow Effect in
  the Pacific Northwest

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Landsat 5 Image of Oregon
From NASA Earth Observatory, accessed 8/6/2013,
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id
79247
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Compared to a Photograph
Compared to photographs/ natural-color images
from Google. (Some areas are images from
satellites, but the most high-resolution images
are from aerial photography.)
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Andes Mountains

• Natural-color image of the rain shadow of the
  Andes Mountains, 250 km southeast of La Paz,
  Bolivia.

http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id
8830
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Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id
6014