Directions for the Global Winds Diagram
1. Using red and blue colored pencils, follow the teacher directions to color code the
convection currents.
2. Pick TWO colored pencils, one for Calm Regions and one for Wind Belts. Mark the
key with the selected colors.
3. Highlight 60oN, 30oN, 0o, 30oS and 60oS with the color selected for the Calm Regions.
4. Label 30oN and 30oS as Horse Latitudes with the selected color for the Calm Regions.
The Horse Latitudes are said to be named as such because when sailing ships loaded with
horses, sailors would generally get stuck in these calm areas with no wind. They could not keep
feeding their horses, so they had to send them overboard!
5. Label 0o as the Doldrums with the selected color for the Calm Regions.
The Doldrums are another calm region. These calm regions happen where wind belts meet and
run parallel to each other. If you are feeling down in the dumps, moping around and not doing a
whole lot, you are said to be “stuck in the doldrums.”
6. Rotate your paper 90o counterclockwise (left).
7. Using the Convection Currents on the right side (now the top) of the diagram, label the
following lines of latitude (90oN, 60oN, 30oN, 0o, 30oS, 60oS and 90oS) as HIGH (H) or
LOW (L) air pressure systems. **Label them in the space provided on the paper.
REMEMBER: Air sinks at high pressure systems and air rises at low pressure systems.
8. Rotate your paper back to normal. Label the following areas with the color selected for
the wind belts:
a. Between 90oN - 60oN and 60oS - 90oS as the Easterlies.
b. Between 60oN - 30oN and 30oS - 60oS as the Westerlies.
c. Between 30oN - 0o and 0o - 30oS as the Trade Winds.
9. Below the Key to the diagram, add the type of circular movement created in the
northern and southern hemisphere due to the Coriolis Effect. North = clockwise;
South = counterclockwise
10.Using the surface wind direction shown by the convection currents on the diagram and
the influence of the Coriolis Effect in the northern and southern hemisphere, draw a
curved arrow to represent the movement of air for each of the six wind belts. Use
the color selected for wind belts to draw the arrows. Draw these arrows between the lines
of latitude.
**REMEMBER! Air always moves from high pressure to low pressure. So start
drawing your arrow and then curve it in the correct direction according to the
Coriolis Effect.
Global Winds
____
____
90°N
60°N
____
30°N
Convection
Currents
____
0°
Warm Air
Cool Air
30°S
____
60°S
90°S
____
____
Global Winds Diagram Questions
1. What kind of winds would affect the following places?
a. Argentina:
b. Philadelphia:
c. Cuba:
d. Mexico:
e. Greenland:
f. England:
2. What winds would Columbus have used to travel from Spain to the Caribbean?
3. Which winds would he have needed to return to Europe?
4. Would winds have favored European explorers seeking to travel east around the tip of
Africa?
5. Where do you think the name “trade winds” came from?
6. Why are the Easterlies and Westerlies given those names?
7. What causes the differences in air pressure?
8. What results because of the differences in air pressure?
9. Why is air less dense and warmer at the equator?
10. What happens to the air at the poles since it is colder and denser?
11. Where does the cold air travel after it leaves the poles?
12. What causes winds and currents to curve because of Earth’s rotation?