Activity 1 Read the climate map


Look at the map on page 48 and refer to its key. 1 Find the equator on line AB. 1.1 Run your finger north along this line, noting the different temperatures that are shown on the map. What do you notice about how temperature changes?


1.2 Now run your finger south from the equator across South America towards Antarctica. What do you notice about how the temperature changes?


2 Run your finger along line CD, north from the equator and then south as in Question 1. What do you notice about how the temperature changes?


3 Write out the statement below so it states correctly what you noticed about how temperature changes with latitude. Temperature increases/decreases from the equator toward the poles.


You have already learnt that the angle at which the sun’s rays strike the Earth affects temperature. You learnt that the sun’s rays heat the Earth and the Earth heats the atmosphere. When the sun’s rays strike the planet at a large angle, it gets much hotter than when the angle is small. Look at the diagram below. You can see that the sun’s rays strike the Earth at a more direct angle at place A on the equator than at place B nearer to the north pole. At place A, the rays have to heat a much smaller area than at place B. As a result, it gets hotter at A than at B, and so temperatures at A will be higher.


The angle at which the sun’s rays strike the Earth Unit 1 Factors that influence temperature and rainfall 49


TERM 2


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