Physical Geography

Physical Geography Climate Landforms Soil and Vegetation Ecozones

Climate Weather is the day to day readings of temperature and precipitation (and wind speed, barometric pressure, and several other factors) Climate is the long term patterns of temperature and precipitation We can illustrate climate and compare climates from different locations easily using a climograph TORONTO J F M A S O N D Ann Temp (oC) -5 -4 4 10 16 19 17 14 9 2 -1 Precip(mm) 56 53 61 76 58

Canada: The Climate

Identify and describe various climate regions in Canada Learning Goal Identify and describe various climate regions in Canada

Climate – A Climograph of Toronto   30 140 25 130 20 120 15 110 10 100 5 90 Precip (mm) Temp. (oC) 80 -5 70 -10 60 -15 50 -20 40 -25 30 -30 20 -35 10 -40 J F M A M J J A S O N D Months

Factors that affect climate

Canada: The Land

Identify and describe various landform regions in Canada Learning Goal Identify and describe various landform regions in Canada

Landforms – Appalachian Mountains

Landforms – Canadian Shield

Landforms – St Lawrence Lowlands

Landforms – Great Lakes Lowlands

Landforms – Hudson Bay & Arctic Lowlands

Landforms – Arctic Lowlands

Landforms – Interior Plains

Landforms – Western Cordillera

Landforms – Innuitian Mountains

Soil and Vegetation Soil is a naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose material on the surface of the earth, capable of supporting life Soil is made up of four components (MOMA): Minerals Organic Material Moisture Air More about qualities of soil (and their disappearance!) will be discussed in Unit 3

Soil and Vegetation Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region (which very much depends on soil quality) In Canada, we have everything from desert cactus to massive rainforest trees, and everything in between Mosses Plants Shrubs Coniferous trees Deciduous trees

Ecozones An ecozone is an area of the earth’s surface that has a unique combination of plants, wildlife, climate, landforms, and human activities. If you were to overlay or combine the climate, landforms, soil (and vegetation) maps of Canada shown in this slideshow, you would see patterns emerge resulting in Canada’s 15 terrestrial (land) ecozones + + =