Study Guides

Unit Summary

This unit explores the North and South Poles through their locations, climates, landscapes, wildlife and ways of life. Pupils learn to compare the Arctic and Antarctic using maps, images and geographical vocabulary to describe features of cold environments.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain what affects temperatures locally and why it is cold at the North and South Poles.

Key Notes

• Locally, air temperatures are affected by factors such wind direction and speed, shelter and shade.
• Globally, as Earth orbits the sun, temperatures are affected by where a place is and time of year.
• In the Northern Hemisphere winter, the North Pole is tilted away from the sun and is darker and colder as a result.
• While places in the Northern Hemisphere experience winter, the opposite happens in the Southern Hemisphere.

Vocabulary To Learn

• temperature: Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness of a place.
• axis: An axis is an imaginary straight line through Earth which rotates around it.
• thermometer: A thermometer is an instrument which is used to measure temperature.
• hemisphere: A hemisphere is half of Earth, usually divided into the Northern or Southern Hemispheres by the Equator.
• solar energy: Solar energy is the light and heat that come from the sun's rays.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• It is winter at the same time of year all around the world.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Antarctic wildlife Study Guide
• Arctic wildlife Study Guide
• Living in the Antarctic Study Guide
• Living in the Arctic Study Guide
• Locating the North and South Poles Study Guide
• The North Pole and the Arctic Study Guide
• The South Pole and the Antarctic Study Guide