Topic: Variation of climate types in Europe

Written by: Magdalena Jankun

For:

A student of a primary school, 6th grade.

Curriculum

VII. Geography of Europe: location and borders of the continent, major traits of the natural environment of Europe.

A student is able to:

5) present climatic variation of Europe and factors affecting it.

Purpose of the lesson

The students are presented with climate types prevalent in Europe.

Conditions to be met to succeed

• to specify geographical climate‑forming factors;

• to give an overview of major traits of climate types in Europe;

• to indicate ranges of specific climate types in Europe;

• to interpret climate charts of each climate type.

Key competences

• communication in native language;

• communication in non‑native language;

• IT competences;

• mathematical competences;

• ability to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Methods/forms of work

Work with text and multimedia, and work with a map.

Individual work and work in pairs.

Teaching accessories

• an abstract;

• an interactive or traditional writing board;

• a multimedia projector;

• tablets/computers;

• a physical map of Europe;

• a map of Poland - climate;

• geographical atlases.

Stages of the lesson

Introduction

1. The teacher provides a topic and a purpose of the lesson as well as conditions to be met to succeed.

2. The teacher asks the students to explain which geographical factors affect the climate.

Operation

1. The teacher presents a table provided in the abstract, presenting geographical climate‑forming factors and their influence on the climate variation in Europe. The students get familiar with information contained in the table.

2. The teacher discusses it with the students, explaining any difficult issues.

3. The teachers shows a video: “Influence of oceanic and continental air masses
   on the climate of Europe”, and provides his/her commentary.

4. The students, while working in pairs and using a geographical atlas, perform the following tasks:

• to find out which climate zones are in the territory of Europe;

• to analyse maps with precipitation and air temperature distributions;

• to specify climate types prevailing in Europe;

The selected couple presents the results of their work in the class forum.

The teacher monitors the students’ work.

1. The students, in sources available to them, find out information on typical traits of each climate, and make a short note. Volunteers read the notes in front of the class. They indicate areas with dominating climate type on a map of Europe. The teacher corrects mistakes, if any.

2. The teacher presents an infographic provided in the abstract, showing maps with climate charts of selected stations. Together with his/her students, he/she analyses ranges of climate types in Europe, causes of prevalence of certain climate types, and interprets the charts. The students write down conclusions on a board.

3. The teacher asks the students to mention the traits of the mountain climate and to perform the following task: “Calculate air temperature on a mountain slope at the altitude of 1,600 m above sea level, if, at the base at 400 m above sea level, the temperature is +8°C. Assume decrease rate 0.6°C per 100 m”. The teacher checks if the results are correct and offers some help if necessary.

Summary

1. The students perform interactive exercises, consolidating obtained knowledge:

• they specify whether the photographs of the flag have been matched with correct names of countries and climate types.

• they indicate photo which shows subpolar climate area (a single‑choice exercise).

2. The teacher evaluates efforts of the students during the lesson, considering their commitment and individual abilities.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Variation of climate types in Europe

Climate affects landscape in a certain area. This lesson will tell you about interconnections between climate‑forming factors and variation of climate types in Europe. Do you remember the difference between weather and climate?

Geographical climate‑forming factors include: latitude which is a zonal factor; distribution of land and sea, influence of oceanic currents, land morphology, altitude above sea level and land cover.

To see what is the impact of the main geographical climatic factors on the climate in Europe, watch animation in the e- textbook.

In the map above, ranges of climate types, present in Europe, have been visualised. Next to the map, climatic charts of typical stations will be shown. Using the map, proceed according to the following instructions.

The infographic below presents locations with different climate types.