Option 1: Quiz: Activity 1—What Is Climate?
To grant students access, simply provide them with this abbreviated, case-sensitive link: bit.ly/WhatIsClimate. For troubleshooting tips, visit the Carbon & Climate Introduction or Technical Support page.
Option 2: Have groups write responses to the following questions in their lab journals or on scrap paper. They should be prepared to discuss their answers with the class. Use a rubric, such as the What Is Climate? Evaluation Rubric teacher page, to assess their work.
Students describe the factors that influence climate in different regions of the world.
Photo Credit: Ann Smart
- What factors influence the climate of an area? (Possible answers include temperature, precipitation, how close the location is to the ocean or the center of a continent, prevailing winds, mountains, latitude, and elevation.)
- How does the climate influence the type of forest in a region? (Possible answers should include that the life forms in a particular ecozone will be ones that can thrive on the amount of moisture and within the temperature range available there.)
You might have one person be the spokesperson who explains their group’s reasoning. The other group members rotate to at least two other groups and compare answers. They then return to their original groups and discuss what they learned from the groups they visited, and change or modify any answers.
Option 3: Have students write out their answer to the following questions, using a rubric such as the What is Climate? Evaluation Rubric teacher page to assess their work:
- If you were to randomly place your finger on a map of the world, with what certainty might you predict the climate of the place you land? Could you predict the ecological zone? Why or why not?
- Randomly place your finger on a spot on the Global Ecozones Map. Predict what would happen to the forest if the climate were to change in this area by a slight rise in temperature. (Be sure to include precipitation in your prediction.)
