Lesson Factors that
Title: Affect Climate:
Ocean Currents
World Geography, Module 1, Lesson 5
Summary: World Geography, Module 1, Lesson 5 - Given information about ocean currents and the Gulf Stream, students
will create maps showing movement of the Gulf Stream. Given climate data from the Eastern United States
and Canada, Norway, United Kingdom, and France, Portugal, and Morocco, students will create charts that
show climate data by latitude and will draw conclusions about the impact of the Gulf Stream on climate.
RC/TEKS: RC2/4.A – The patterns and characteristics of major landforms, climates, and ecosystems of Earth and the
interrelated processes that produce them. SWBAT explain how elevation, latitude, wind systems, ocean
currents, position on a continent, and mountain barriers influence temperature, precipitation, and distribution
of climate regions.
Let’s See What You Know: Pre-Assessment Quiz
Ocean Currents: The Beginning
Watch this video clip about ocean currents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w_8mw-1HYFg
Source: Bill Nye The Science Guy on Ocean Currents, TheRealBillNye, YouTube
Now that you have a little background knowledge about ocean currents, study the map below and answer the
questions that follow.
Source: Surface Currents, Windows To The Universe.
1. What is an Ocean Current?
2. What makes them move?
3. How big are they?
4. Why are they important?
CHECK YOUR ANSWER:
1. The water of the ocean's surface moves in a regular pattern called surface ocean currents. In this map, warm currents
are shown in red and cold currents are shown in black.
2. The water at the ocean's surface is moved primarily by winds that blow in patterns because of the Earth's spin. Winds are
able to move the top 400 meters of the ocean creating surface ocean currents
3. Surface ocean currents can be very large. The Gulf Stream, a surface current in the North Atlantic, carries 4500 times
more water than the Mississippi River. Each second, ninety million cubic meters of water is carried past Chesapeake Bay
(US) in the Gulf Stream.
4. Surface ocean currents carry heat from place to place in the Earth system. This affects regional climates. The Sun
warms water at the equator more than it does at the high latitude polar regions. The heat travels in surface currents to
higher latitudes. A current that brings warmth into a high latitude region will make that region's climate less chilly.
The Gulf Stream
One particular ocean current is very important to our world; it’s called the Gulf Stream.
Click on the following video link to learn about Benjamin Franklin’s discovery of the Gulf Stream.
http://youtu.be/rR5TFWNLtOc
Benjamin Franklin discovered the Gulf Stream while he investigated the delays of European whalers and fishermen who were
traveling to the colonies in America. During his investigation and experimentation, he discovered the Gulf Stream. The map
that he created is below:
Source: Picturing the Gulf Stream Current: then and now, Windows to the Universe
The Gulf Stream is the warmest water in the satellite image. It reaches from the Caribbean to Delaware before heading east
- amazingly the same location where Benjamin Franklin mapped the current by hand over two hundred years before. He
used temperature measurements to identify the ocean current. The warmer temperature of the Gulf Stream shows up in
satellite images of Sea Surface Temperature data (SSTs). Purple and blue represent the coldest water and orange and red
represents the warmest water.
How do we determine the impact of the Gulf Stream on climate?
Before we determine the impact of the Gulf Stream on climate, we must first understand the many factors of climate.
Read the following information very carefully.
Every place on Earth has weather.
However, different places on Earth
have different types of "typical"
weather. Some places are dry, some
are wet, some are hot, some are
cold, and some are everything in
between!
You can find out what the weather is
like where you live by looking out the
window or simply going outside.
Weather refers to temperature,
precipitation (rain and snow), and
the wind's direction and speed.
Scientists who study the weather
collect information from different
places on Earth and come up with
averages, or typical types of weather,
for a particular place. This average,
or typical type of weather that occurs
during a year, is called the "climate.”
Source: The Remarkables, Free Images
Weather and Climate: Are they really that different?
What's the Difference Between Weather and
Climate?
The difference between weather and climate is a measure
of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere
are over a short period of time, and climate is how the
atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of
time.
Weather is basically the way the atmosphere is behaving, mainly
with respect to its effects upon life and human activity. The
difference between weather and climate is that weather consists of
the short-term (minutes to months) changes in the atmosphere.
Most people think of weather in terms of temperature, humidity,
precipitation, cloudiness, brightness, visibility, wind, and
atmospheric pressure, as in high and low pressure.
In most places, weather can change from minute-tominute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and season-toseason. Climate, however, is the average of weather
over time and space.
An easy way to remember the difference is that
climate is what you expect, like a very hot summer,
and weather is what you get, like a hot day with
pop-up thunderstorms.
Want to learn more? NASA has great resources for understanding the difference between weather and climate.
Sources of images used for this section as they appear, top to bottom:
Frost on ivy, Frosty Marco, Free Images
Electric city, Evgeni Dinev, Free Digital Photos
Ride in the Sun, Dino De Luca, Free Digital Photos.net
Drifting Snow, Free Images
Wet weekend, Free Images
Prev
Next
So What is a Climograph?
A quick way to get an idea of the climate of a
particular place is to look at a "climate-graph," or
climograph. A climograph is what scientists create
to show a particular location's average temperature
and precipitation during the year.
How to Read a Climograph
To understand the climograph, scroll over each area of the image below.
Sources of images used for this section as they appear, top to bottom:
Climograph, Boston, Mass., University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
Downtown Boston, Wikipedia
Climograph of Paris, France, University of Nebraska- National Drought Mitigation Center
Eiffelturm und Marsfeld, Taxiarcos228, Wikipedia
Map, American Liberal Progressive Media
Activity: Map of the Gulf Stream
Now it's your turn to analyze the effects of the Gulf Stream by using climographs. Click each numbered
location below.
1. Record the information you gather on your own paper.
2. Compare locations based on precipitation and temperature to determine patterns.
3. Answer the following questions:
o Where are the most comfortable places to live located?
(Hint: Are they located on a particular continent or hemisphere?
o
Where did you find the highest temperatures in the summer?
o
Where did you find the lowest temperatures in the winter?
o
What patterns or trends did you find based on your chart?
(Hint: Did you find similarities in the recorded information?)
o
Is there a pattern in precipitation as you move north or south?
o
How does temperature change as you move north or south?
Sources of images used for this section as they appear, top to bottom:
Map, American Liberal Progressive Media
Blank World Map, Top 50 States
Climograph: Boston, Mass., University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
Downtown Boston, Wikipedia
Climograph: Richmond, Virginia, University of Nebraska- National Drought Mitigation Center
Skyline of Richmond, Virginia, jcon9, Wikipedia.
Climograph: Miami, Florida, University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
Miamiskyline 20080113, Wikipedia.
Climograph: Halifax, Canada, University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
Halifaxskyline, Joshubr, Wikipedia.
Climograph: Oslo Norway, University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
BygdØy Lovely, Kon-Tiki Museum, Wikipedia
Climograph: London, England,, University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
City of London skyline from London City Hall, Diliff, Wikipedia.
Climograph: Paris, France, University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
Paris: Eiffelturm und Marsfeld, Taxiarcos228, Wikipedia.
Climograph of Portugal, Villa Leisure
Ponte25Abril, Vitor Oliveira, Wikipedia.
Climograph: Casablanca, Morroco, University of Nebraska-National Drought Mitigation Center
Casablanca, Morocco, Karimobo, Wikipedia