13.1 & 13.3 A Closer Look at the Earth and Why we have Seasons Katrina

Weather and Climate (Q3) Weather… What is It? Day to day environmental conditions Examples: Rainy / snowy cloudy / sunny Windy / calm Climate Environmental condition averaged over many years Average rainfall Average daily temperature

Weather and Climate Variable used to describe weather and climate: Temperature Wind Speed and Direction Visibility Cloud cover Atmospheric Pressure Dew Point Humidity

Formation of Weather and Climate Here are the facts: Components that influence weather and climate include: Latitude and Longitude Atmosphere Oceans Land Masses

Influences on Weather and Climate and Latitude/Longitude (Q1) Lat & Long

Longitude (Meridians) (Q4) Angle of measure east or west of the Prime Meridian Imaginary vertical lines Prime Meridian 0o (Greenwich, England) International Dateline 180o

Latitude (Parallels) (Q5,6,7) Angle of measure north or south of the Equator Imaginary horizontal lines Equator 0o North Pole 90oN South Pole 90oS Arctic Circle 66.5oN Antarctic Circle 66.5oS Tropic of Cancer 23.5oN Tropic of Capricorn 23.5oS

Earth’s Rotation and Revolution Rotation (24 hours) The Earth rotates on its axis The axis (imaginary line) runs North to South 23.5o angle One Earth rotation takes one day Rotate East to West Revolution (365 Days) The Earth revolves around the Sun The movement of one object traveling around another It takes the earth one year to revolve (travel) around the Sun counter clockwise

Reason for the Seasons The average tilt, 23.5o, of the Earth is the reason for the seasons) As the Earth revolves around the Sun, the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are opposite. http://geovideos.fliggo.com/video/NY5Lxu6q

Earth North Pole Equator South Pole Earth’s Seasons Tilt of the Earth’s axis towards or away from the sun creates the seasons When the north pole tilts toward the sun, it gets more radiation – more warmth during the summer SUMMER (Northern Hemisphere) North Pole Equator Earth When the north pole tilts toward the sun, the south pole tilts away So when it’s summer in the north, it’s winter in the south South Pole WINTER (Southern Hemisphere)

Earth North Pole Equator South Pole Earth’s Seasons Tilt of the Earth’s axis towards or away from the sun creates the seasons WINTER (Northern Hemisphere) When the north pole tilts away from the sun, it gets less radiation – So it’s colder during the winter North Pole Equator Earth South Pole When the north pole tilts away from the sun, the south pole tilts toward it… When it’s winter in the north, it’s summer in the south SUMMER (Southern Hemisphere)

Mapping Activity Short Worksheet – Part A: students to determine latitude and longitude of a location Part B: students to determine location based on latitude and longitude.