1. 1 Y8 Does the climate affect the vegetation?

2. 2 Last week we looked at the climate found in different parts of the world. Remember we had a short hand for describing the climate so we did not have to remember exact numbers

3. 3 The climate zones we looked at Temperate Maritime Tropical Desert Tundra Mediterranean Equatorial

4. 4 Here is some information. Can you sort it out? Have you got your colours ready? Start off by joining them with ordinary pencil – then you rub it out if you go wrong!

5. 5 Were you right? Join them up with coloured lines

6. 6 What do we call the places where plants grow and animals live? An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants and animals) sharing an environment, that is weather and landscape, location etc The largest ecosystems are called biomes. There are about a dozen of these altogether, but just in the same way as we only picked out a selection of climate zones, we will only pick out a few biomes

7. 7 Here are some pictures How are both sides of the slide the same? They both occur on different parts of the globe – where do you think they are? How might their climates be similar to each other? What kind of woodland do you think this one is? Why is there one picture on the left but 2 on the right? In what way must that make them different from each other?

8. 8 The Equatorial Rainforest What is the climate of the rainforest like? The rainforests are located around the equator where temperatures are hot all year – what is hot in degrees?. Rainforests receive 400-1000 cm of rain each year. Remember our table referred to mm of rainfall – so what phrase would you use to describe them? The largest rainforests are in Brazil (South America), Zaire (Africa) and Indonesia (South East Asia). Other equatorial rainforest places are in Hawaii and the islands of the Pacific & Caribbean

9. 9 The deciduous forest Where are they found? Deciduous forests can be found in the eastern half of North America, and the eastern part of Europe. There are many deciduous forests in Asia. What is it like there? The average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 10° C. But there are 4 distinct seasons – warm summers, mild winters and spring and autumn each quite ling and somewhere between summer and winter The precipitation is moderate to wet – how much rainfall would they expect?

10. 10 Now this pair is a bit trickier How are both sides of the slide the same? They both occur on different parts of the globe – where do you think they are? How might their climates be similar to each other? Why is there one picture on the right but 2 on the left? In what way must that make them different from each other?

11. 11 Savannah Where is savannah found? savannah grasslands are found between tropical rainforests and desert. This includes areas such as Central Africa (Kenya), America and The North and East of South America (Brazil). What is savannah? savannah is similar to grassland but with scattered trees. These areas have seasons: hot and dry and very hot and wet The rainfall varies from moderate to very wet or even more, depending on whether place to is closer to the forest or the desert

12. 12 Desert Where are Deserts found? Where are Deserts found? Deserts are mainly found around the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. (22.5 deg N and S) What are Deserts? What are Deserts? Deserts are areas of the earth's surface which receive very low levels of rain. They contain little or no vegetation. The average temperature varies between mild to very hot. However the daily variation (diurnal range) is very high – it can be close to freezing during the night but very hot at midday.

13. 13 Luckily, there are only 2 climate zones left!! How are both sides of the slide the same? They both occur on different parts of the globe – where do you think they are? How might their climates be similar to each other? Why is there one picture on the right but 2 on the left? In what way must that make them different from each other?

14. 14 The Chaparral or Mediterranean biome The chaparral (or chapa in Spain) biome is found in a little bit of most of the continents - the west coast of the United States, the west coast of South America, the Cape Town area of South Africa, the western tip of Australia and the coastal areas of the Mediterranean. It is found between 30 0 and 40 0 of latitude (how do we find where latitude is?) During the summer it is very hot and dry. The temperature range is hot to very hot. What does that mean? If the rainfall is in general moderate, how much do they get? In the winter the Mediterranean climate is mild and moist. Nearly all the rain this area gets comes in the Summer. If the winters are mild, what sort of temperatures are we referring to?

15. 15 Tundra Where is Tundra found? Arctic tundra is located in the northern hemisphere that encircles the north pole and extends to south of the coniferous forests. The tundra covers about one fifth of the land surface found on Earth. The tundra is the world's coldest and driest biomes. The average annual temperature is -2 0 C – how would you label that? Nights can last for weeks when the sun barely rises during some months in the winter, and the temperature can drop to -70° C. During the summer the sun shines almost 24 hours a day, which is why the Arctic is also called the Land of the Midnight Sun. Summer are usually warm. Temperatures can get up to 12° C. Precipitation, mostly snow, is in the dry/very dry category – so it is a cold desert

16. 16 These are the 6 biomes we have looked at

17. 17 Your task You will be allocated 2 biomes to investigate. You will know who else is doing what and you are free to share ideas, links etc but I want you to submit your own work. You will need to answer 2 questions about each and there is an extension question for those who want to do it: Qu 1: What plants grow in your biome and how are they adapted to live there – what is special about them that they can do so well? Qu 2: The same as qu 1 except about the animals Extension: What are the threats to that biome?

18. 18 There are lots of ways to use the internet to find things out, but … …here is one: (my biome) biome animals E.g. desert biome animals Or desert biome plants [another one I found worked well Desert biome adaptations gives both plants and animals] Or desert biome threats or desert biome dangers

19. 19 You will be given a number by email after the lesson – and this table – you will get one of these pairs of biomes Tundra Deciduous forest Chaparral Desert123 Savannah456 Equatorial rainforest 789

20. 20 A couple of ideas you might have wondered about

21. 21 Why does the rainforest have so much rain? - Convectional Rainfall Stage 1. The sun heats the ground and warm air rises. Stage 2 As the air rises it cools and water vapour condenses to form clouds. Stage 3. When the condensation point is reached large cumulonimbus clouds are formed. Stage 4. Heavy rain storms occur. These usually include thunder and lightening due to the electrical charge created by unstable conditions.

22. 22 How did Desert get like this? You may be wondering "If deserts are so hot......why are they found along the tropics and not at the equator where the earth's temperatures are the highest?". The diagram on the left should explain this! A. As you would expect, temperatures at the equator are highest. Warm air rises containing evaporated moisture. B. The air cools, condenses and forms clouds. C. Heavy equatorial rainfall occurs (like in the rainforest!) D. The cool, dry air then begins descending. The air warms up. Any moisture in the air is held as water vapour (invisible). E. Cloudless sky. Because the tropics are largely cloudless they get very hot during the day. There are few clouds to insulate these areas during the night. Therefore, temperatures drop to very low levels overnight. It's just like going to bed without any blankets!