Year 3 - Geography
Climate change
Climate zones: what are they and why do they matter?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit introduces climate zones around the world. Pupils use maps and climate data to spot patterns, compare environments, and explore how plants and animals adapt to different conditions. The unit also introduces climate change.
Lesson Summary
You can recognise that sudden changes in climate have an effect on living things.
Key Notes
- Climate is changing due to human activity releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing a climate crisis.
- Climate crisis means the world's climate is changing faster than plants and animals (including humans) can adapt to.
- Increased temperatures and changes to rainfall patterns threaten the food and freshwater supply for living things.
Vocabulary To Learn
- greenhouse gases: Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat.
- climate change: Climate change is a large-scale and long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperatures.
- drought: Drought is when there is a long time without enough rain and can cause a water shortage.
- heatwave: A heatwave is a period of time in which the weather is a lot hotter than usual.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- That greenhouse gases come from greenhouses or are caused by greenhouses. This often happens when pupils don't know what a greenhouse is or how it is used.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this geography topic using two clear key points.
Climate is changing due to human activity releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing a climate crisis. Climate crisis means the world's climate is changing faster than plants and animals (including humans) can adapt to.
2. Define this geography term and use it in an example. 'greenhouse gases'
Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat.
3. Correct this common geography misunderstanding.
Mistake: That greenhouse gases come from greenhouses or are caused by greenhouses. This often happens when pupils don't know what a greenhouse is or how it is used. Correction: Explain what a greenhouse is, where we can find them and how they work. Greenhouses provide artificially warmer conditions to make plants grow quicker and healthier. The are often made from glass, which traps heat from the sun inside the greenhouse.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 3 Geography guide library.