1. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems

2. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
Climate is the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area.
Climate often determines the distribution of communities.
The Earth’s global climate patterns are largely determined by
the input of radiant energy from the sun and
the planet’s movement in space.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 2

4. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
The Earth’s permanent tilt causes the seasons.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 4

5. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
Solar radiation varies with latitude.
Equatorial regions receive sunlight more directly.
Higher latitudes receive sunlight at more of a slant.
Most climatic variations are due to the uneven heating of Earth’s surface.
Sunlight
Most direct sunlight
90°N North Pole
Temperate
Tropical
Polar
Arctic Circle
Tropic of Cancer
Equator
Tropic of Capricorn
Antarctic Circle
90°S South Pole
66.5°S
23.5°S
23.5°N
66.5°N 0°
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 5

6. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
Uneven heating of Earth causes rain and winds.
The direct intense solar radiation in the tropics heats the air. As the air rises in the tropics, it
cools and releases much of its water content,
produces abundant precipitation
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 6

7. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
After losing its moisture over equatorial zones, high- altitude air masses spread away from the equator until they cool and descend again at latitudes of about 30° north and south.
This descending dry air absorbs moisture from the land creating deserts at these latitudes.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 7

8. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
Prevailing winds result from the combined effects of rising and falling air masses and Earth’s rotation.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 8

9. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
Ocean currents, river-like flow patterns in the oceans, result from a combination of
prevailing winds,
the planet’s rotation,
unequal heating of surface waters, and
the location and shapes of the continents.
Ocean currents have a profound effect on regional climates.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 9

10. Greenland Europe North America Gulf Stream Africa ATLANTIC OCEAN
Figure 34.5e
Greenland
Europe
North
America
Gulf Stream
Africa
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Figure 34.5e Atlantic Ocean currents (red arrows indicate warming currents; blue arrows indicate cooling currents)
South America
PACIFIC
OCEAN 10

11. 34.5 Climate Influences Ecosystems
Climate and other abiotic factors of the environment control the global distribution of organisms.
The influence of these abiotic factors results in biomes, the major types of ecological associations that occupy broad geographic regions of land or water.
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
 Students may confuse the terms ecology and environmentalism. The science of ecology and the environmental issues that it often raises are related but distinct processes.
Teaching Tips
 Module 34.5 discusses the reasons why Earth’s tilt causes seasons. Consider challenging your students, perhaps as a short in-class activity, to explain why it is typically cooler (a) farther away from the equator and (b) during the winter months. Although you may not want to use class time on this activity every year, collecting student responses before your students read or learn about this in class can reveal misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding that will help direct your teaching for years to come. 11

12. Biomes Overview

14. Aquatic Biomes
Marine Biomes
Freshwater Biomes