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Year 7 - Geography

The impacts of climate change on Tuvalu

Coasts: what shapes life at the coast?

Unit Summary

This unit teaches pupils how physical and human processes shape our coastline. Pupils will also learn about the threats and challenges coastlines face in a warming world.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain why some people in Tuvalu are at risk of becoming displaced due to climate change.

Key Notes

  • Tuvalu is a low elevation coastal zone.
  • Building coastal defences for small island nations can be challenging due to their low elevation.
  • The residents of Tuvalu could become displaced as a consequence of climate change.
  • A displaced person is someone who is forced to move due to something outside their control such as flooding.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • climate change: large-scale, long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperature
  • sea level: the average height reached by the sea or an ocean, measured between high tide and low tide
  • elevation: the height of a geographical feature or location above the mean sea level
  • to be displaced: to be forced to move due to something outside human control such as flooding

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • That sea level is constantly the same and that elevation is the same as height in general.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this geography topic using two clear key points.

Tuvalu is a low elevation coastal zone. Building coastal defences for small island nations can be challenging due to their low elevation.

2. Define this geography term and use it in an example. 'climate change'

large-scale, long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperature.

3. Correct this common geography misunderstanding.

Mistake: That sea level is constantly the same and that elevation is the same as height in general. Correction: Sea level changes with the tides; the measure that we use as a baseline is the mean (average) sea level. This is used to calculate elevation of geographical features; sea level is taken as zero and every 1 metre in height is 1 metre above sea level.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 7 Geography guide library.