SCIENCE GRADE 9

Name: _____________________________ Grade level: _______________

Section: ____________________________ Date: _____________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

FACTORS AFFECTING CLIMATE

Background Information for Learner

Climate is a general pattern of weather in a certain area over a long period of time.
Climate is weather averaged over some area (a single spot to the whole globe) for at least
a few years. Often, the climate of a region is viewed as its long-term average pattern of
seasonal weather. Any change in an average seasonal pattern is a climate change, even if
several such changes happen to cancel each other when the seasons are averaged together.
For example, if over a period of some years Philippines were to get less rainy season and
more dry season, its climate would have changed even if the total average amount of yearly
precipitation remained the same. On the other hand weather is a condition of the
atmosphere at a specific place and time.
Climate factors are the conditions that affect the climate characteristics of a particular
location. There are six major natural climate factors: air masses and winds, latitude, ocean
currents, elevation, relief, and bodies of water. Some are global factors that affect all parts
of Earth. Some are local factors that influence only small parts of Earth.

1. GLOBAL CLIMATE FACTOR: WINDS AND AIR MASSES

Winds and air masses help move energy around the planet. The zone near the equator
is hot. Here, as the air warms and rises, cooler air moves in beneath it. Movements of air
along Earth’s surface are called winds. The world’s wind systems are complex because of
two conditions. Earth spins on its axis from west to east. This causes the winds to veer
sideways. In the northern hemisphere the winds appear to move to the right. In the southern
hemisphere they appear to move to the left. •Land and water are not evenly distributed over
Earth’s surface. There is more land in the northern hemisphere than in the southern
hemisphere. Since land heats up more quickly than water, there is more warm, rising air in
the northern hemisphere. This changes the movements of the winds around the world.
Figure 2.14 shows the pattern of global wind systems. The wind that blows most commonly
in an area is the prevailing wind. For most of Canada, the prevailing winds are from the
west and are called the prevailing westerlies. Trade winds are winds that blow steadily
toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the
southern hemisphere, especially at sea.

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Figure 1 shows the pattern of global wind systems. The wind that blows most commonly in an area
is the prevailing wind. The prevailing winds are from the west and are commonly called the
prevailing westerlies. Trade winds are winds that blow steadily toward the equator from the
northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea.
As warm air rises, cooler air slides in underneath, and the warmer air moves along to
replace the cooler air. This creates a series of cycles of rising and sinking air above Earth’s surface.
2. GLOBAL CLIMATE FACTOR: OCEAN CURRENTS
Oceans make up about 70 percent of Earth’s surface. Within the oceans are massive
flows of water called ocean currents. Ocean current is a flow of water within an ocean
influenced by winds, gravity, and the spinning of Earth on its axis. Ninety percent of ocean
currents are cold deep-water currents. Cold currents begin in the polar regions and bring
cool water toward the equator. The remaining 10 percent of ocean currents are warm
surface currents. Warm currents start in the tropics and bring warm water into cooler
regions. These currents either warm or cool the climates of land areas nearby. The
movement of cold and warm currents creates a global ocean circulation system. This
system has been called a conveyor belt because the ocean waters travel around the world
in a long, slow loop. It would take about a thousand years for a single particle of water to
make one complete circuit of the global ocean circulation system.
3. LOCAL CLIMATE FACTOR:
ELEVATION
Elevation affects local climate. As elevation increases, temperatures become
cooler. This has to do with air density, or how close or far apart air molecules are from
each other. Air molecules are held together by gravity. The higher up they are, the harder
it is for gravity to hold them together. At higher elevations, air molecules are spaced farther
apart, meaning the air is less dense. The air is less able to trap heat from the Sun, so
temperatures are cooler. At lower elevations, air molecules are closer together, meaning
the air is denser. The air is better able to trap heat, so temperatures are warmer.

4. LOCAL CLIMATE FACTOR:

RELIEF
Geographers use the term relief to describe the difference in height between the
highest point and the lowest point in an area. Mountainous areas have high relief (large
differences between highest and lowest points), and plains have low relief (small
differences). Places of high relief can have a big impact on precipitation. As you can see
in Figure 4, relief causes one side of a mountain to have much higher precipitation rates
than the other. The windward side of the mountain receives more rain than the drier leeward
side. The mountain causes the moist air to rise. As the air rises, it cools. Moisture in the air
condenses and falls to Earth. This type of precipitation is called relief precipitation. Relief
precipitation is a rain or snow that occurs as a result of air rising over mountains.

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Learning Competency:
Explain how different factors affect the climate of an area (Quarter 3, Week5) S9ES-IIIe-30

ACTIVITY 1
CLIMATE AND LATITUDE

Directions: Climate Changes with Latitude. Places located at high latitudes (far from the equator)
receive less sunlight than places at low latitudes (close to the equator). Study the figure below and
answer the following questions.

Source: K-12 Learning Module

1. Which part of the earth receives most light?

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2. Which parts of the earth receive less light?
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3. What places on earth have low temperature? Why?
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4. What places on earth have high temperature? Why?
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5. How does latitude affect climate?
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Additional Information: Latitude
• The further away from the Equator, the colder the climate becomes.

High
Tropic of Cancer

Mid Cold
Warm

Equator Low Hot

Warm
Mid Cold

Tropic of High
Capricorn
Source: Pinterest.com
Remember:
The latitude of an area is its distance north or south of the equator. In general, the
temperature of an area depends on its latitude. Latitudes closer to the poles tend to have
colder climates. Latitude affects temperature because latitude determines how much direct
solar energy an area gets.

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 ACTIVITY 2A
Altitude and Climate

Directions: Read an analyze the text below and answer the question that follows.

Altitude is also one of the factors affecting the climate of a certain place. Air temperature
decreases as the altitude increases. It is because the air molecules are less compacted to each other,
resulting to a less dense air. Lighter air cannot absorb much heat, making temperature lower.

• As we go from surface of the earth to higher elevations atmospheric temperature

decreases
• Normal lapse rate- 10 C/165m height
• Atmosphere get heated from below

3000 meters- 10 0C

2000 meters- 170C

1000 meters- 23.50C

Source: clipart library.com

Questions:
1. What happens to the temperature as you go to a higher place?
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 ACTIVITY 2B
DIFFERENT PLACES IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THEIR ANNUAL AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE

Directions: Study the table below and answer the following questions.
Name of place Elevation above sea level (m) Annual average temperature ( 0C)

Baguio 1400 16.0

Loag 20 27.3

Tagaytay 640 22.7

Manila 10 27.7

Tacloban 20 29.4

1. Which place is the coldest? _____________________________

2. Which place is the hottest? ______________________________
3. Based on the data above, what is the relationship between altitude and the temperature of
a place?
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Remember:
There are many factors affecting the Earth’s climate. Two of them are latitude and altitude. Sun’s
rays strikes based on the latitude of a certain area. Areas near poles receives less solar energy
hence, lower temperature is absorbed while areas near equator receives much energy hence,
experience higher temperatures. Altitude also plays an important factor in the climate of a certain
place. Generally, the temperature decreases as the altitude increases. It is because the air density
in a higher altitude decreases, because the air molecules are far away in each other.

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 ACTIVITY 3
CLIMATE AND DISTANCE FROM THE OCEAN

Directions: Read and analyze the text below and answer the questions that follow.
The climate of a place is influenced by the bodies of water. Soil absorbs heat faster than
water. At the same time, soil releases heat faster compared to water. These slow absorption and
release of heat by the body of water greatly affect the climate. Places that are near the oceans have
moderate climate as the body of water regulates the temperature. Even as both soil and water
absorb the same amount of heat, the temperature of water rises more slowly than that of soil.
Because soil heats up faster than water, air temperature above the sea is lower than above the
ground during day time. Warm air thus moves out from land to sea, slowing down the rise of air
temperature above land. Thus, places without a body of water nearby tend to have higher air
temperature during day time.
At night, soil cools down faster than water, so the air temperature above ground is lower than that
above the sea. Warn air then flows from the sea to land, so the drop in air temperature above
ground is moderated. Places that are far from the bodies of water have extreme climates, as there
are no immediate bodies of water that will help to circulate the movement of cold and warm air.
The reason why the temperature of water rises or falls more slowly than soil is that water has
higher heat capacity. Because of this, water also absorbs more heat in warm days and slowly
releases it in cold days. That is why during summer, areas that are near a body of water will have
moderate temperature because water absorbs more heat. Similarly, during winter, surrounding
water slowly releases heat causing the cooling effect to become lesser than normal in the normal
landmass.

1. How does a body of water regulate the temperature of a certain region/ country?
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2. Why do some areas that are far from bodies of water have extreme climate?
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 ACTIVITY 4
CLIMATE AND WIND/AIR MASSES
Directions: Read and analyze the text below and answer the questions that follow.

Types of Air Masses

Climate and weather conditions are controlled by a variety of factors. One of the most important
is Earth's air masses. Air masses are huge parcels of air with specific characteristics. What's
interesting about the characteristics of an air mass is that, not only do they describe the air mass,
but they also tell you where you can find that air mass on Earth.
Let's look at the different types of air masses found on Earth to see how this works. Air masses
can be divided into two main categories based on whether they are found over land or water. If the
air mass is found over land, this is a continental air mass. If the air mass is found over water, this
is a maritime air mass. This makes sense: continental air masses occur over the continents,
maritime air masses occur over the water, or marine environments. These categories are
represented by a lowercase 'c' for continental or 'm' for maritime.
The source region of the air mass helps us classify it even further, and for this, we have three
categories. Arctic air masses occur over arctic regions, like Greenland and Antarctica. Polar air
masses occur a little bit farther from the poles, like in Siberia, Canada and the northern Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans.
Finally, tropical air masses occur in the tropics, so along the equator and over Mexico and the
Southwest U.S. Makes sense, right? These categories are represented by the first letter of the source
region, but this time we use an uppercase letter. So, 'A' stands for arctic, 'P' for polar and 'T' for
tropical. That's pretty easy to remember!
Each source region can also be either continental or maritime, and to represent this, we simply
combine the category letters. This gives us six total types of air masses on Earth: maritime arctic
(mA), maritime polar (mP), maritime tropical (mT); and continental arctic (cA), continental polar
(cP) and continental tropical (cT).
Maritime air masses are going to produce moist weather because they occur over oceans, and
oceans are filled with water! The air blowing over the ocean regions, either arctic, polar or tropical,
picks up that moisture as it travels along. In maritime arctic and polar regions, this moist air is cool
(as you probably expected), and the maritime tropical air mass produces the warm, humid
conditions you would expect along the tropics, like Florida and the Caribbean.
In contrast, continental air masses produce dry weather. This is because the continents just can't
compete with the oceans when it comes to moisture! The continental arctic and polar air masses
produce dry, cold weather in the winter and pleasant weather conditions in the summer.

1. What kind of air mass is found on land?

2. What kind of air mass is found on seas and oceans?

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______________________________________________________________________________
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3. How do air masses affect the temperature of different regions of the earth?
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Closure/Reflection:
I learned that
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I enjoyed most on
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I want to learn more on
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Answer Key:
Activity 1
1. Equatorial part receives the greatest light and solar energy.
2. Areas near poles absorb lower solar energy or light.
3. Places near poles receives lower solar energy resulting to lower temperature and colder
climate.
4. Places on the equator receives more and direct solar energy resulting to high temperature
and warmer climate.
5. Places found on longer latitude like in the equators have warmer climate while places found
in shorter equator like near poles have colder climate.
6. Different parts of the Earth receive smaller or larger amounts of the Sun’s energy (at
specific times and over longer periods of time), depending on their location and the time of year.
Therefore, the differences result in variations in temperature, amount of precipitation, and other
aspects of seasonal change, which then create different ecosystems

Activity 2a

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