Lesson Plan: Factors Affecting Climate
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the factors that affect climate, such as a location’s proximity to bodies of water, distance from the equator, and elevation.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- compare climates and identify patterns using weather data tables,
- describe how distance from bodies of water impacts climates,
- describe how distance from the equator impacts climates,
- describe how elevation impacts climates,
- match countries on a world map with their climates.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the water cycle,
- the terms temperature, precipitation, evaporation, and condensation,
- common weather conditions (e.g., sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, and snowy),
- measuring temperature using a thermometer,
- the term meteorologist,
- the term latitude,
- the changes of states in water,
- the different climate zones of the world.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- the effect of human activities on climate,
- global warming and climate change,
- prevailing wind directions.