Agenda 1. Warm Up 2. Discuss Russian Climate and Vegetation CLOSE Read “Yakutsk” Students will read and analyze an article about Russian Geography, and summarize it’s main points
Warm-Up 1. Describe Russia’s geography (size, features) 2. Why do most Russian’s choose to live in European Russia? (West of the Ural Mountains)
Russia Climate and Vegetation 14-2
Russia’s Climate and Vegetation Some rivers do not move for months Long cold winters, short cool summers Warmer air from Atlantic moderates temps in Euro Russia Inter-Siberia,, isolated from oceans, has little precipitation, very cold
Yakutsk
High Latitude Climates Almost all tundra lies north of Artic Cir. 10% of Russia, treeless, barren, freezing plain Subarctic lies south of tundra, snow days/year Russia taiga supplies ½ of world’s softwood timber
Living in a Cold Climate Keeping warms requires extensive use of natural resources, and layering Buildings and cars made of steel that withstand cold temperatures
Mid Latitude Climates Where vast majority of Russian live and agriculture produced Humid Continental: Temps in Moscow range from 9-75 F Coniferous-decidous forest & grasslands have fertile soil Steppe: Temperate grassland, has chernozem
War and Winter Napoleon’s Grand Army of 600,000 entered Russia 1812 Russia conducted scorched Earth campaign 40,000 troops made it out Germany entered Russia December 1941, driven out by cold and troops Cold made tanks/plan operational