3º ESO. UNIT 1: Relief and rivers

HOW THE RELIEF IS TRANSFORMED? 

water - infiltrates - beaches - marine - fragmentation - plants - deserts - soil - solution - accumulation -  limestone -temperature - wind - rivers - currents - dunes


Internal forces form the relief and external forces shape the relief. This transformation involves three types of action:

• Erosion: is the ................................and dissolution of rocks, .................... and mud.
• Transportation: eroded materiels are transported by wind or .................................
• Sedimentation: is the .................................... of sediments such as mud, sand or eroded rocks.

The agents of erosion are: .................................................., water, ........................... and living things.


..................................: Abrupt changes in it can break rocks. It happens in ......................... or mountains where there is a great difference between daytime and ................................... temperatures.


Water:  

• When it ........................ through rocks and freezes, water expands and breaks the rocks. 
• ...............................: is when water dissolves some kinds of rocks, such as .......................... producing caves.
• Fluvial erosion: produced by ...........................
• ................................. erosion: waves and ........................... wear away coast creating cliffs. Sediments transported by the sea water are deposited and form .......................... 

Wind: transports particles of sand or soil from their original place and deposits them. .......................... are formed this way.


Living things: ........................ and animals transform the relief through their activities while human beings make the fastest and more dangerous impact through activities such as farming, mining and deforestation.

3º ESO. Physical map of Europe.

Links are interactive maps for practising.

Mountains
Alps, Apennins, Balkan Mountains, Carpatian Mountains, Caucasus Mountain, Dinaric Alps, East European Plain, Massif Central, Meseta Central, North European Plain, Pyrenees, Scandinavian Mountains, Ural Mountains.

http://www.xtec.net/~ealonso/flash/eurorog2i.html
http://www.xtec.net/~ealonso/flash/eurorog1i.html

 Rivers
Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, Don, Douro, Ebro, Elbe, Garonne, Guadalquivir, Guadiana, Loire, Meuse, Northern Dvina, Oder Pechora, Rhine, Rhone, Seine, Tagus, Thames, Tiber, Ural, Vistula, Volga, Western Dvina.

http://www.xtec.net/~ealonso/flash/eurrios2i.html
http://www.xtec.net/~ealonso/flash/eurrios1i.html

Coasts
Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Atlantic, Balearic Islands, Balkan Peninsula, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, Bay of Biscay, Black Sea, Bosphorus, Cape Finisterre, Cape Roca, Cape San Vicente, Caspian Sea, Corsica, Crete, Crimean Peninsula, Dardanelles, English Channel, Great Britain, Gulf of Bothnia, Gulf of Cadiz, Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Lion, Gulf of Riga, Gulf of Taranto, Iberian Peninsula, Iceland, Ionian Sea, Irish Sea, Italian Peninsula, Jutland Peninsula, Kola Peninsula, Land's End, Malta, Mediterranean Sea, North Cape, North Sea, Peloponnesus, Point St Mathieu, Sardinia, Scandinavian Peninsula, Sea of Azov, Sea of Marmara, Sicily, Strait of Gibraltar, Strait of Messina, Tyrrhenian Sea, White Sea.

http://www.xtec.net/~ealonso/flash/eurocostes2i.html
http://www.xtec.net/~ealonso/flash/eurocostes1i.html

3º ESO. UNIT 6 & 7: Climate diagrams.

What types of climate are these diagrams? (Clue: they are from the temperate zone).
Answer at the end of the post

(Climate diagrams taken from http://www.educaplus.org/climatic/)

Answer

If these climate diagrams are from the temperate zone, the four possible climates are: Continental, Mediterranean, Chinese and Oceanic.

Diagram number 4: Continental climate.

The climate number 4 is easy to identify since Continental climates have very cold winters and hot summers, thus, the only diagram which has temperatures below 0ºC is number 4. We also can observe the range of temperature: the Continental climate is the one from the temperate zone with the highest range of temperature and in this case, the diagram with the highest range of temperature is number 4. The average annual temperature and precipitation are also similar to the normal levels of this climate (mean annual temperature between 0ºC and 10ºC, and precipitation between 300-1000mm). The diagram also shows that the wettest months are Summer's ones.

Diagram number 3: Oceanic climate.

In number 3, the range od temperature is the lowest one, and looking at the diagram we observe that the reason for this is that winters are mild and summers are cool. The annual precipitation is around 1000mm and the mean annual temperature, 10.9ºC, is comprised between 10ºC and 18ºC. Rain is constant throughout the year although less in summer (but summers are not arid months).

Diagram number 2: Mediterranean climate.

We observe that summer months are arid (the temperature line is higher than the precipitation line) and that the mean annual temperature is between 10ºC and 20ºC, with mild winters (never under 10ºC) and hot summers.

Diagram number 1: Chinese climate.

Although the mean annual temperature is quite similar to the Mediterranean climate, it cannot be this type of climate because summer moths are the wettest ones. Also, the annual precipitation is very high and isn't comprised in the Mediterranean range (from 300mm to 1000mm), so this diagram belongs to a Chinese climate.

* If you want to know the location of climates on Earth you can go to this link: http://www.oup.com/images/es/pdf/9788467327779.swf

3º ESO. Units 6 & 7: How to make and interpret climate diagrams.

How to make a climate diagram

A climate diagram is a graph that reflects the climate in a place.

1. Draw the months on the  horizontal line.  Use a scale so that 5 mm represents one month.
2. Draw two vertical lines: put temperature on the left line and make 1 cm represent 10°C. Put precipitation on the right line and make 1 cm represent 20mm rainfall.
3. Mark on the temperature data and connect the data together with one red line.
4. Mark on the precipitation data and draw 12 separated blue columns.   

How to interpret a climate diagram

For interpreting a climate diagram you have to answer these questions:

•  What is the average temperature in the hottest month? and in the coldest month? What is the range of temperature? The range of temperature is the numerical difference between the minimum and maximum values of temperature observed in a given location.

          An insignificant range of temperature is <5ºC (Range of temperature for Equatorial climate is this one)

          A low range of temperature is <10ºC. (This is the range for Tropical climates)

          A medium range of temperature is between 10 and 18ºC (Oceanic's range is around 10ºC)

          A high range of temperature is >18ºC (Continental climate's range is >20ºC)

•  How is the rainfall distributed through the year? What month or season are the most humid? And the driest ones? Are there arid months? Arid months  are months when the temperature line is higher than the precipitation line. These months are dry.  Humid months are months when the precipitation line is higher than the temperature 
• Which type of climate do you think this climate diagram is? Where is it located in? (Location: northern or southern hemisphere, coastal or inland, geografical region, etc)
•  Which type of vegetation is the most common in this place?

Information taken from Wikipedia and http://ieslamadraza.com/elena/websociales/geography3eso/climate/climate3.html

Example:

The hottest month is August, with 24ºC and the coldest month is January with 13ºC, so this is a climate from the northern hemisphere. The range of temperature, 11.8ºC is a moderate one, almost a low one.
There are five arid months, being July the driest month, with no precipitation at all. The driest months are November, December and January.
This climate is a Mediterranean one for these reasons: the annual average temperature is 18.2ºC so it is in the range of this climate's annual temperatures, which are between 10ºC-20ªC and also the range of temperature is the appropiate for a  Mediterranean climate ; the annual precipitation, 606mm, is also within the range (300mm-1000mm) and precipitation fall in all seasons except summer.
As this range of temperature is a low one and winters are so mild (the coldest month is 13ºC ), this Mediterranean climate is a coastal one with a very dry summer (July and August).

Mediterranean climates are located in the Temperate Zone, arround the Mediterranean coast, also in the western coast of continents, such as California, Chile and in some regions of the coast of South Africa and Australia.

3º ESO. Units 6 & 7: Britain's climate.

Activity: fill the gaps with the information from your book.

Britain has a variable climate because weather changes from day to day and to forecast it accurately is difficult. Britain’s climate characteristics are 1……. winters, cool summers and rain spread evenly throughout the year. This type of climate never has any extremes (it is never too cold or too hot and rarely too wet or too dry) and for this reason is called equable or 2…………..

Britain’s climate varies between the north and south, and east and west.

Temperature

Most of the British Isles lies between latitudes 3………………………………….. This is far from the Equator, so the sun is only powerful enough to give moderate average temperatures. Winters, though, are much warmer than expected for such a high latitude

Winter

• Temperatures in winter are highest in the 4……….. and decrease 5……………………. This is caused by a warm ocean current called 6………………………………, which warms west coasts. Another reason is that the prevailing south-westerly winds blow across the relatively warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean raising west coast temperatures.

• Temperatures are highest in south-west England. This is mainly because the area is almost surrounded by the sea which in winter is 7………….. than the land.

Summer

• Temperatures in summer are highest in the south and decrease 8……………………. This is mainly because the sun is at a higher angle in the sky in the south, providing more heat.

• Temperatures inland are higher than those near the coast. This is because land warms up quickly in summer while 9…………… remains cool keeping temperatures in coasts relatively low.

Rainfall

             The annual rainfall totals are highest in the 10……………………. (especially of Scotland) and decrease rapidly to the 11………………………... Reasons for this are:

•   Mainly because the prevailing winds are from the west and are laden with 12………… when they blow landwards from the 13 .....................   

•  Most rain-bearing depressions approach from the west, so 14 ....... receive more rain.
•  North-west Scotland is particularly wet because high land receives 15…………………

There is also a contrast in the seasonal distribution of rainfall:

• Places in the west receive most rain in winter because of 16…………………………….. Depressions approaching the British Isles from the south-west are more frequent in winter.

• Places in the east get most rain in summer. Britain is too cool for 17…………………… apart from places in the east and southeast which have the highest summer temperatures. Thus, July is often the wettest month in the east of Britain due to this type of 18…………..