Stories from the Classroom: Middle School

Climate, People, & Migration
by Ruth Hoogenboom, Harwood Union Middle School

 
Strand One
This is the knowledge upon which Strand two is based.

CLIMATE
General Background
(to be put in your booklets - see student sample)

We will cover 1-4 in class:

1. What is climate? Create a good working definition of what climate means and try to explain why we need this.

2. What causes climate? Determine what the forces of the earth are that cause and create different climates.

3. What are the different climates of the world? In your booklet, create a page for each of the 12 climates. On each page include information about temperature, precipitation, vegetation, and location. Find a picture of this climate in one of my National Geographics (or elsewhere) to include on your page.

4. Does latitude or longitude affect climate? Clearly define each term and explain why or why not it would have an effect on a particular climate? You may use diagrams to help you. Where does each climate in the world occur?

5. Create a map of the 12 world climates. This is not an easy job even for an adult! Neatness counts a lot. The colors you use and how you draw have a big effect on the accuracy and readability of your map.

You will need to make a key on the side of your map so that the reader knows exactly what you are trying to show. I suggest that you outline one climate at a time and then put it on your key. Blue is for water.

I have atlases in the classroom to be used for this activity.




Rubric for World Climate Map (item 5)

	Awsome! 5	Acceptable 4	Minimal 2	Unacceptable 0
Content	All 12 climates, labels for oceans & continents, and a key (matched to map elements) are present and accurate	Most of the climates and a key (matched to map elements) are drawn and accurate	climate areas are drawn incorrectly but map and key show some knowledge map making	little knowledge of world climates or map making
Visual appeal	Exceptionally colorful, neat, easy to read. A different color used for each climate	Good use of colors, neat, easy to read. Some difficulty reading borders	Use of colors is confusing; lack of neatness detracts from being able to read the map.	Work is messy and almost impossible to understand
Extras	Added flora & fauna of the climate zones	Added some extras such as flora or fauna	Added a few extra touches	No extras

Comments:



Points:
A+ (15) ; B+ (12) ; C+ (8) ; D+ (5) ; F (2-0)
A (14) ; B (10); C (7) ; D (4)
A- (13) ; B- (9) ; C- (6) ; D- (3)