1. Reading and Creating Climate Graphs
(They are also called climographs or climagraphs.)
Detroit's Climagraph
These special graphs help us to understand temperature and precipitation at a place.
Unit 1, Lesson 2, Step 5

2. 2. Label temperature lines (0 to 80).
Worksheet
You may use a printout of this slide to take notes as you work through this presentation.
1. Write labels that are equally spaced to show precipitation (inches).
2. Label temperature lines (0 to 80).
3. Find the bottom of each graph. What do the J_____________ and F_______________ on the left side stand for? Fill in the blanks.

3. 32: ___________________________
Worksheet
You may use a printout of this slide to take notes as you work through this presentation.
Three temperature lines
help us understand
how people deal with
temperatures in a place.
4. Why is each temperature line important?
68: ___________________________
50: ___________________________
32: ___________________________

4. Two Places in Africa: Cairo & Lagos
Climate graphs use temperature and precipitation data for 12 months of the year.
Two Places in Africa: Cairo & Lagos
Average Monthly Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit)
Average Monthly Precipitation (inches) J F M A S O N D
Cairo 57 59 63 71 77 81 82 79 75 66
0.2
0.1
0.0
Lagos 80 83 78 1 2 4 6 10 16 3 8
SOURCE:
December
a. Which place has a lower temperature in December? ________
b. Which place has more precipitation in December? _________

5. We start
with a frame.

6. We add letters to indicate the months of the year.
Which month is at the beginning of this list?
Which month is at the end of this list?

7. Then, make 12
vertical bars.
They’re like
hollow “tubes”
that we can fill up
with rainwater.

8. Write labels that are equally spaced.
This scale tells
how many inches
of precipitation
are in the tubes.
See the
Worksheet.
Precipitation scale

9. Then, we fill the tubes with the amount of rain or snow in each month.
Precipitation scale

10. The graph also has
horizontal lines
across the graph.

11. to show the temperature.
See the
Worksheet.
Label each line
with a number
to show the temperature.
Temperature scale

12. This place is not in Africa!
We draw a line
that represents
the temperatures
for the months.
Remember . . .
These are average
temperatures - -
if an average is 70,
it might be 80 at 2 pm
and only 60 at night.
Temperature scale
and it can
change a little
from day to day.

13. Climagraph for Detroit
Putting the bar graph and line graph together completes the climagraph.
Climagraph for Detroit
Temperature scale
Precipitation scale

14. Climagraph for Detroit
WAIT . . .
There are ways
to make this graph
more useful.
Climagraph for Detroit
Temperature scale
Precipitation scale

15. We can emphasize just three temperature lines.
The top line is a comfortable
"Room temperature."
People often want air-conditioners if the temperature is
above this line,
and heaters
when it is below it.
See the
Worksheet.

16. The lowest line shows a much colder 32 degrees.
See the
Worksheet.
Snow doesn’t melt
and lakes freeze over
if the temperature
stays below this line.
"Freezing of water"

17. Water freezes at temperatures below 32, and that can cause problems.
If air temperatures stay below this line
for a whole month, people must find ways to keep water pipes and sewer pipes from freezing.
"Freezing of water"

18. The middle line shows an average temperature that affects plants that people like to grow.
50 is the
"Risk of frost"
line

19. If the average temperature goes below this line,
there is a good chance of frost during that month.
See the
Worksheet.
Remember that frost (freezing temperatures) will kill many plants (e.g., tomatoes).
"Risk of frost"

20. These three temperature lines provide helpful information . . .
When we
draw the line
that shows temperature,
we can see . . .

21. . . . that this place has
about two months
with frozen soil.

22. when air-conditioning might be especially useful.
and at least one month
when air-conditioning
might be especially useful.

23. . . . and that the growing season for plants is about six months long.
See the
Worksheet.
Find the months when average temperature is above 50 (and there is low frost risk).

24. Review: Compare two climagraphs.
Place A
Place B
1. Which place has much higher temperatures in summer? _________
2. How many months would Place B need air-conditioning? ______
3. In Place A, which months have average temperatures that are below freezing? _________________________________________________

25. Review: Compare two climagraphs.
Answers
Place A
Place B
1. Which place has much higher temperatures in summer? _________
2. How many months would Place B need air-conditioning? ______
3. In Place A, which months have average temperatures that are below freezing? _________________________________________________ B
6 or 7
January, February, December

26. Review: Compare two places.
Place A
Place B
4. How long is the growing season in Place A? ______________
(Hint: Find average temperatures above the frost risk line.)
5. Which place receives less precipitation in every month? _______
6. Where do you think these two places are located?

27. Review: Compare two places.
Answers
Place A
Place B
4. How long is the growing season in Place A? ______________
(Hint: Find average temperatures above the frost risk line.)
5. Which place receives less precipitation in every month? _______
6. Where do you think these two places are located?
5 or 6 months B
See next slides.

28. Review: Compare two places.
A: Detroit
B: Phoenix
Answers
Place A is Detroit, Michigan.
It is farther north in the U.S. and has lower average
temperature in each month compared with Place B. It also gets more precipitation.
Place B is Phoenix, Arizona. It is farther south in the U.S. and has higher average
temperatures. It has a desert climate with little precipitation.

29. Detroit, Michigan is farther north in the U. S
Detroit, Michigan is farther north in the U.S. and has lower average temperature in each month than Phoenix. It also gets more precipitation. S N E W
Phoenix, Arizona is farther south in the U.S. and has higher average temperatures than Detroit. Phoenix has a desert climate with little precipitation.

30. Next, we will see how temperature and precipitation "work together."
1. Have you experienced extremely hot summer days when the afternoon temperature was between 85 and 90 degrees?
2. Have you experienced cooler autumn days when the afternoon temperature was between 65 and 70?
When should you drink more water?

31. Temperature and precipitation "work together."
3. On which day (hot summer, cooler autumn) does the weather reporter on TV encourage people who are outdoors to drink lots of water?
4. On which day (hot summer, cooler autumn) would a tomato plant need more water?
Temperature and precipitation "work together."

32. Generally, both people and plants need to "drink" more water
when temperatures are higher.
We will see how temperature and precipitation "work together"
when we use a special climagraph.

33. Notice the precipitation labels on the left side of this climagraph.
This climagraph has lined up the precipitation labels with the three temperature lines.

34. We have lined up 4 inches of precipitation with
Plants need about 4 inches of water (in a month)
if the temperature is about 70 degrees.
We have lined up 4 inches of precipitation with
the 68-degree temperature line.

35. We have lined up 2 inches of precipitation with
Plants need almost 2 inches
(in a month)
if the temperature is about 50 degrees.
We have lined up 2 inches of precipitation with
the 50-degree temperature line.

36. are higher or lower than the temperature line.
Using this special climagraph, we will check whether precipitation bars
are higher or lower than the temperature line.

37. 2. In April, there's more water than plants need.
1. When a precipitation bar goes higher than the temperature line, that month has surplus water (more than plants need).
2. In April, there's more water than plants need.
3. That surplus water can run off into rivers and lakes.
4. Or seep down
into the soil and be stored there.

38. 1. When precipitation bars do not reach as high as the temperature line, that month has a water deficit (with less water than plants need).
2. If the deficit time is brief,
plants can live by using
water stored in the soil.
3. But if it lasts for months,
you have a grassland,
or even a desert.

39. Review: Compare two places.
Detroit
Phoenix
1. In Detroit, how many months have precipitation bars that are lower than the temperature line? ________
2. In Phoenix, how many months have precipitation bars that are lower than the temperature line? _________
3. Which place is a desert? ______________

40. Review: Compare two places.
Answers
Detroit
Phoenix
1. In Detroit, how many months have precipitation bars that are lower than the temperature line? ________
2. In Phoenix, how many months have precipitation bars that are lower than the temperature line? _________
3. Which place is a desert (with too little water for most plants)?
_____________
About 4
All 12
Phoenix

41. Here are climagraphs for Beijing, the capital of China, and Singapore, a city right on the Equator. What can you tell about these two places?
(Note: these climagraphs use dots instead of a line for temperature,
but the idea is the same. Climagraphs do not all look exactly the same!
Most of them use vertical bars for rain, and they all have 12 months!)

42. The following worksheets show climagraphs for places in Africa:
BI5S Africa Climagraph scaffold activity T
BI5S Africa Climagraph scaffold activity H

43. Copyright 2016, Phil Gersmehl July 2016
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