ArreniteClimate zones and biomes
Read together
Weather is what the air is doing today. Climate is the usual pattern of weather over many years. Near the equator, climates are warm all year. Near the poles, they are cold. In between are temperate zones with four seasons.
A biome is a large area with similar climate, plants and animals. Examples are tropical rainforest, desert, grassland, temperate forest, taiga and tundra. The Philippines has tropical climates with wet and dry seasons, and tropical rainforests.
Climate and biomes affect farming, homes and the way people live.
Do it
- Find a world climate map. Locate your home, Manila, Mexico City, Cairo, Oslo and the Amazon. Which zone is each in?
- Make a poster of one biome: its weather, plants, animals and people.
- Keep a weather diary for two weeks: temperature, rain and cloud cover. Compare it with the usual climate where you live.
- Talk about how weather is different from climate. Which is a single day? Which is a pattern?
Talk about it
- Why are deserts so dry?
- What biome do you live in?
For the grown-up
Climate scientists often use the Köppen climate classification, which sorts climates by temperature and rainfall. The idea of biomes helps connect climate, living things and human life. Climate change affects these patterns, and children can learn to care for the earth.
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Where this comes from
- NGSS Lead States, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (National Academies Press, 2013), performance expectation 3-ESS2-2 (obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world)
- Murray C. Peel, Brian L. Finlayson and Thomas A. McMahon, “Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification”, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 11 (2007): 1633 to 1644
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Earth Observatory, on climate zones and biomes
Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.