CLIMATIC FACTORS: Altitude & Temperature
Name___________________Per_____
CA Standard ES 6b: Students know the effects on climate of latitude, elevation, topography, and proximity to large bodies of water and cold or warm
ocean currents.
Purpose: To see how winds from the sea affect the year-round temperatures of a city.
Background: In this exercise we shall study two pairs of cities to see how the year-round temperatures of a city are
related to its altitude. The first pair, Singapore, Malaya, and Quito, Ecuador, are both on the Equator. Singapore
is 10 feet above sea level, while the altitude of Quito is 9350 feet. The second pair of cities, Denver, Colorado,
and Kansas City, Missouri, are both at about 39° north latitude in interior United States. The elevation of Kansas
City is 750 feet, while Denver is 5290 feet above sea level.
Materials: 1) Graph paper 2) wall maps of World
PROCEDURE
1. Prepare the graph paper turning it landscape and by marking months of the year along the base line at 3-space
intervals on bottom margin, and temperatures from 0°F to 90°F at 10-degree intervals every 3 spaces upwards
along the left margin.
QUESTIONS – Place all answers on separate sheet of lined paper.
2. Choose different colors or symbols and plot the temperature curves, month by month, for all cities.
City
Latitude
Altitude
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
Year's Average
Year's Range
Average Monthly Temperatures (° F)
Singapore, Malaya
Quito, Ecuador Kansas City, MO
2°N
0°
39°N
10 feet
9350 feet
750 feet
80
55
30
80
55
35
81
55
44
82
55
56
82
55
65
81
55
75
81
55
81
81
55
79
81
55
71
81
55
60
81
54
44
80
55
34
80
55
30
81
55
59
Denver,CO
40°N
5290 feet
31
34
39
49
57
67
74
72
64
53
41
34
31
50
3. Compare the average annual temperatures of Singapore and Quito. Is the difference due to latitude or altitude?
State the relation indicated between altitude and average temperature.
4. Compute the year's range (difference between warmest and coldest months) for Singapore and Quito. Enter these
in the table. a) Is the difference between the ranges of the two cities large or small? b) Does altitude appear to
have much effect on range in this case? c) What accounts for the very small range in both of these cities?
5. a) How much lower is the average yearly temperature of Quito than that of Singapore? b) How much higher above
sea level is Quito?
6. Compare the average annual temperatures of Denver and Kansas City. What relation between altitude and
average temperature is indicated?
7. Compute the year's range for the two cities. Which has the larger range? What relation between altitude and
temperature range is indicated? Explain why:
8. a) How much lower is the average yearly temperature of Denver? b) How much higher above sea level is Denver?
9. What possible explanation can there be for January in Denver actually being slightly warmer than January in
Kansas City?